2016 Bajaj Pulsar Festival of Speed - It’s time for finale!

Interest in motorcycle racing has seen a lot of increase in the recent past. With many manufacturers organising their own one make series regarding the same. But motorcycle racing as a sport has been restricted to riders from the southern part of the country as Tamil Nadu is the only state to have two race tracks. Bajaj Auto holds the distinction of being the segment leader when it comes to performance motorcycles with its “Pulsar” brand setting the tone for rival manufacturers as the benchmark in the segment. To make motorcycle racing accessible to bikers from across the country, the Chakan based two-heeler giant has come up with the Bajaj Festival of Speed concept. 

The Bajaj Pulsar Festival of Speed was held across 6 cities in India with a total of 42 races being conducted. The cities were the event was held included Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. While the races were be open for all 200cc and above Pulsar customers, Pulsar RS200 customers received a special chance to compete for the grand finale. In total 6 riders from each city were selected for the final round that will be held on April 16th at the Madras Motor Race Track, Chennai. The entire cost of their travel, stay, and training for the Bajaj Pulsar Festival of Speed has been undertaken by Bajaj Auto for the 36 finalists.  Also every rider will be professionally trained for the grand finale in MMRT, Chennai to hone their racing skills before heading to racing action. 

The 36 finalists will be split into group of 12 riders each. A qualifier race will be held with this three set of riders and 6 finalists will be selected from each group for the final. The grand finale race will see the 18 top riders from the six cities battling it out on the tarmac to emerge victorious. The race winner will also get the distinction of being awarded the first ever Bajaj Pulsar Cup trophy and he will be rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh for his effort. 

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Another interesting aspect of the Bajaj Pulsar Festival of Speed is the fact that the bikes that the riders will race will be completely stock. Unlike other one make series in which the motorcycles are modified for track racing, the Bajaj Pulsar RS200 will be in absolute standard form similar to the one found in any Bajaj Auto showroom throughout the country. This means that the rider will not get any undue advantage of tuning the bike for the race and it will be the sheer race craft that will distinguish the finalists in the race. The above also showcases the performance aspect of the Bajaj Pulsar RS200 in stock trim and the fact that any owner can take his bike and got to the race track and have fun.

Having ridden the Bajaj Pulsar RS200 at the Chakan track of Bajaj and in Chennai we can vouch for ourselves how much fun the flagship Pulsar offering is on the race track. Underneath the sculpted body panel with its imposing face is a 200cc liquid-cooled, single-cylinder heart pushing out 24.5PS of maximum power and peak torque of 18.6Nm. The fiery powerplant has been mated to a 6-speed transmission. The bike just doesn’t impress with its straight line performance as the perimeter frame on the Pulsar RS200 endows it with brilliant handling dynamics which makes it a great bike on the race track or on the mountain twisties. Features and technology is something that Bajaj has always been on the forefront with and the Pulsar RS200 gets equipped with projector headlamps, LED tail lamp and DRL, back lit switches, triple spark, 4-valve DTSi tech, fuel injection, monoshock suspension and a semi digital instrument console with shift light indicator. Safety hasn’t been overlooked as the Bajaj Pulsar RS200 is the first Bajaj offering to get ABS as an optional extra.