Mahindra to debut at MotoGP world championship

Mahindra Group today announced its two-wheeler racing debut with the introduction of foreign riders, Danny Webb and Marcel Schrötter, who will be competing for its team Mahindra Racing at MotoGP, the road racing world championship.

Schrötter from Germany and Webb from UK will compete for Mahindra in the 125cc category for the 2011 season starting in Qatar in March.

''Mahindra Motorcycles will compete with the best in class, and it will be an ideal opportunity for us to showcase our strengths in the engineering and IT domains,'' said Anand Mahindra, vice chairman and managing director, Mahindra Group.

''MotoGP is the ultimate test for the finest talents in motorcycle racing and an immensely popular championship with a cult following. Our participation will also help us leverage the power of global branding for the Mahindra Group.''

Mahindra's entry into the MotoGP Championship follows its acquisition of Engines Engineering of Italy, a company that has been constructing race bikes and providing specialised components and technical support for teams in MotoGP since 2003.

Danny Webb, who will be competing in his fifth season in the 125cc class, said about riding for Mahindra, ''It is a privilege to ride for the first Indian team to enter the World championship. There seems to be a real buzz about India in international sport at the moment and it would be great if we get a good Indian following.''