Chennai racer Preetham becomes first Indian to take MOTO GP Test
Indian bike racers have been making their presence felt in the international arena over the past two years. (BikesZone has been consistently covering it here.) Especially amongst them is Chennai bike racer and National Champion of Champions 2007 Preetham Dev Moses, whose consistent performances have now helped him achieve yet another milestone.
Preetham became the first Indian bike racer to test for MotoGP at the Zuhai International Circuit in China on 1st and 2nd September 2008. Due to delay in getting funds the testing was done on a GP 125 cc Aprilia bike instead of the GP 250 cc bike. In testing, Preetham’s achievement was very close to the lap record time in the 125 cc GP.
The ace racer from Chennai had earlier received a wild card entry from FIM for 5 races in the MOTO GP this year. But lack of sufficient sponsorship and delay in getting enough funds has restricted his participation to two races only. For the first time in the annals of Indian motor sports, a racer from India will be seen action in the two races of MOTO GP this year. Preetham will be racing on a 250 cc Aprilia bike in the MOTO GP races to be held in Malaysia on 19th October and in Valencia, Spain, on 26th October. Preetham’s manager for these two races is Chuck Akslind who is also the team manager for former MOTO GP world champion Kenny Roberts Moto GP team.
Despite lack of more sponsors and substantial shortage of funds the last one year has seen Preetham achieving many highs. Late last year he had also become the first Indian to finish second in the Malaysian Super Series 600 cc open category missing the title by a whisker. In March this year he received a special invite to race in the fifth round of the UAE Super Sports Championship at the Dubai Autodrome. And in a grid of 20 which included racers from Great Britain, Switzerland, South Africa. Italy, Saudi Arabia, Dubai etc., Preetham won acclaim by performing splendidly to finish third and fourth in the two races respectively.
Good sponsorship and continuous support is what Preetham needs at this critical juncture. If the financial hurdles are cleared, Preetham with his tremendous will power to succeed is sure to garner more laurels for the nation in the coming days.
Preetam testing on a GP 125 cc Aprilia bike instead of the GP 250 cc bike
Preetham is sponsored by Airtel, TVS & Red Rooster Racing and co-sponsored by Xtreme Sports Bar & Livelife.
