Chennai, Sep 3 - International racing returns to the city after a lapse of 13 years with the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) hosting the fourth Petronas Asia Road Racing Championship for two wheelers this weekend at the refurbished MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
The event, being held under the banner of Sidvin Festival of Speed, will comprise of three classes - the featured Supersports 600cc, the Underbone 115cc and the Honda-MRF UAM Nations Cup for the single-make Honda 125cc Stunner machines.
All the three classes have attracted full grids with championship leaders Chalermpol Polamai of Thailand (600cc) and Fitriansyah Kete of Indonesia (Underbone) in the fray.
As many as 10 Indians will be participating in various categories and they include: Krishnan Rajini and Preetham Dev Moses (Red Rooster Racing), Alisha Abdullah (Castrol Amrutanjan Team Blue Arrow Racing), Emmanuel Jebaraj (Ten10 Racing), Dilip Rogger (Blue Arrow Racing), Vivek Pillai (Blue Arrow Racing), K Jagan, TK Vishwanath, Harry Sylvester and Karthik.
Releasing the schedule at a media conference here Thursday, MMSC president Ajit Thomas said there will be free practice sessions Friday, followed by qualifying rounds Saturday and the races Sunday.
Vicky Chandhok, chairman of FMSCI's international racing commission, said the track has been upgraded to conform to the safety standards laid down by the Asian Motorcycle Union (UAM) whose officials had visited the venue a few months back.