Mahindra & Mahindra announced on Friday its entry into FIM Road Racing World Championship (MotoGP), the top competitive event in motorbike racing.
While planning to participate in the 125cc class in the 2011 season, M&M hopes this global platform will give its two-wheeler division a major marketing push while also helping it develop new technologies for commercial use.
With a home base in Italy, the ‘Mahindra Racing' team will receive technical and design support from Engines Engineering that it acquired in 2008.
“At two-and-a-half years, we are the youngest kid on the block in the domestic two-wheeler industry. With MotoGP, we will be able to shorten our learning curve. This is a huge opportunity for brand-building and be part of the global market,” said Mr Anoop Mathur, President, Two-Wheeler Sector & Member of the M&M Executive Board.
Another official said entering the 125cc segment made sense given the prevalence of most Indian buyers in this category. However, with MotoGP taking off the 125cc category from 2012, M&M will enter the higher 250cc category.
Mahindra Racing will be represented by 19-year-old Danny Webb from the UK and 18-year-old Marcel Schrotter of Germany.
Its first race will be held at Qatar in March. The only other Indian team in the top rung of motor racing is Mr Vijay Mallya's Force India F1 team. While F1 is expected to be held at a circuit near Delhi this year, MotoGP is also looking at including India in the 2012 season.
Asked if M&M plans to include Indian riders in its team, an official said, “The first focus is to prove the team. We will scout for Indian riders after we have established ourselves on the world stage.”