India's Sarath Kumar makes history at Monza

The young lad hailing from Chennai crossed the line in fourth position but was promoted to third place after third place finisher Andrea Mantovani, was disqualified due to engine irregularities. This achievement has handed him the honour being the first ever Indian motorcycle road-racer to have secured a podium finish at in international motorcycle racing series in Europe.

At the previous round of the championship held at Imola, Sarath became the first Indian rider to have scored points in the championship. With his third place finish at Monza, Sarath has climbed upto fifth position in the point standings with 22 points while his team-mate and winner of the first two rounds, Ricardo Morreti is placed second with 50 points. Morreti had a tough weekend and was forced to retire at Monza due to mechanical failure on his race bike. The next two CIV races will take place on June 23rd and 24th at Mugello's Autodromo Nazionale.

Commenting on his position Sarath Kumar said, "A podium finish at the Italian Championship is a dream come true for me! I got off to a good start and was able to recover a lot of positions up to the 14th place. It was my first time in Monza, a circuit I am quickly getting accustomed to - it’s a really fast one! I want to thank all my technical staff, my manager and team Mahindra for their support.”

Riccardo Moretti, "I was able to take the lead when at Variante Ascari the engine of my bike turned off. I was able to get back to the pits and after that to get back on track, but the problem emerged once again and I had to withdraw from the race. It was a very unlucky day on a track that we did not know, and that gave us many issues. I hope to change this DNF and do better in the rest of the championship because I want to be back to first place in the standings."

Mufaddal Choonia, COO, Mahindra Racing said, “All of us at Mahindra Racing are absolutely delighted with Sarath’s achievement! We have had a good start to the season with our first two wins and are very pleased with the progress made by him. It’s unfortunate for Moretti, but we can make it up in the next round.”