India will debut in MotoGP, the world’s premier motorcycle championship, next season when the motorcycle maker Mahindra 2Wheelers enters the race that may give a big push to the company’s marketing and brand-building efforts.
The two-wheeler arm of Mahindra & Mahindra will participate in the 125cc category of the world’s oldest motorsports event started in 1949 and having 18 Grand Prix races across 14 countries from March 2011.
Marketing experts believe the association with MotoGP will provide an ideal platform for Mahindra to showcase its two-wheeler technology and give its brand a boost in a market dominated by Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto.
MotoGP, established as a world championship by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, has three racing categories: 125cc, where the maximum engine displacement is 125cc; Moto2, the 600cc four-stroke engine category; and MotoGP, where competing bikes must be prototypes with maximum engine capacity of 800cc.
