Exciting supercross battle on the cards

An attraction:High-flying at the MRF National Supercross Championship at the Codissia grounds last year.

It will be an action packed entertainment of a different kind this Saturday at the Codissia Complex, the venue of the historical World Classical Tamil Conference.

The big boys of supercross from across the country will be here to show off their skills in air and on the ground during the second leg of the MRF National Supercross Championship exclusively for the two-wheelers.

Supercross is an off-road motorcycle race in a closed course consisting of a winding dirt trail with jumps, sharp turns and a combination of various obstacles over a muddy terrain. It is rated amongst the top three spectator sports in the world.

The opening event in Bangalore attracted over 140 riders. “We expect a similar number of entries for the second leg as well,” said Shyam Kothari of Pune-based Sportstrek, the organisers of the event for the past 10 years.

He said there will be nine events as against seven last year. The new additions this year will be the privateers and the foreign open class.

“They are not factory riders but purely private individuals. We have also reduced the number of jumps this year to see the race faster.

In the last edition we had 28 jumps but we have trimmed it down to 20 this year.

So, the speed is really going to be high. We have balanced the number of jumps and speed to make the event absolutely exciting.”

The event will also witness a rider exchange programme between Sri Lanka and India. “This year, the top riders from both these countries will ride in the host country bridging the gap of this sport internationally and thus enhancing the level of competition,” said Mr. Shyam.

Ishan and Nuwan from Sri Lanka, astride their KTM and Yamaha, will vie for honours in the Coimbatore event.