2020 was a difficult year for mankind due to the outbreak of COVID-19. In Vietnam, although the epidemic situation was successfully controlled, the entire country was always on “alert” and sports activities also had to be ready to “pause” at any time if the epidemic situation became complex, including the Vietnam Motorcycle Racing Championship (VMRC) 2020.
With 3 smooth and exciting stages, the audience of VMRC 2020 thought they would become the luckiest audience in Asia with a complete season. However, in November last year, the epidemic situation showed signs of complex development again, so the organizers decided to cancel stage 4 to support the anti-epidemic program of the whole country. This decision, although regrettable for all racers, organizers, and Honda Vietnam, the health of the community is the number one priority of the entire VMRC championship.
It was not until December 2020 that the epidemic situation was brought under control again. At this time, both the organizers and Honda Vietnam (as the largest consulting and sponsoring unit of the championship) were preparing to bring back the VMRC 2020 championship, determined to fulfill the promise of the most complete VMRC 2020 season. The fast decision was made to hold stage 5 of the championship on January 24, 2021, at the Dai Nam race track.
With what happened at stage 3 in November, speed enthusiasts are looking forward every day to see the roar of Honda machines on the racetrack. Stage 3 can be considered as one of the best quality stages in VMRC with the progress of the racers and the effectiveness of technical adjustments. The competition has been pushed to a new level, making the overall VMRC ranking become extremely tense.
In the Honda NSF100 – Vietnam Talent Cup category (the first and only professional category currently using a motosport model to compete, for racers under 18 years old), after 3 rounds, it is extremely interesting with the outstanding performance of racer Nguyen Ton Anh Phu with 41 points. This racer has always shown superiority and dominance in each stage, in which stage 3 can be considered a “crazy” performance when he was hit but still managed to rise from the bottom and win the first place in the stage.
However, Anh Phu cannot feel secure yet because behind him are Tran Le Minh Phu and Vietnamese-American racer William Vinh, these two racers currently have 35 and 30 points respectively. Many predictions suggest that the podium for the return phase of the NSF100 category will continue to be a collision among these 3 racers.
Next, the Blade 110 category also had an impressive “transformation”, especially in stage 3 when the Blade 110 bikes were improved with suspension and steering systems, along with performance adjustments, showing much more impressive power. It is worth noting that the racers in the Blade 110 category this year are also very young and are performing extremely well.
After 3 rounds, the Blade 110 category has shown the superiority of racer Phan Minh Phung with 48 points, far ahead of the second-place racer Tran Nguyen Phuong An with 31 points. At this point, Minh Phung is almost touching the championship title with a gap of 17 points, which is a difficult distance to equalize.
The MSX 125 category, by the third round of VMRC 2020, has become the category with the largest engine displacement of the championship. Honda Vietnam decided to make a bold move by bringing the latest version of the Honda MSX 125 to compete in VMRC 2020, increasing the engine displacement of this model to 170cc, making it the most powerful bike in the VMRC 2020 championship.
After 3 rounds, the MSX 125 category is witnessing the almost absolute dominance of racer Nguyen Duc Thanh with two first-place finishes and one second-place finish. Duc Thanh has proven himself worthy of being in the team of Honda Racing Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the Winner 150 category is also impressing. The Honda Winner X bikes in the VMRC 2020 season have been improved in terms of steering and transmission systems, bringing smoothness and better acceleration.
Currently, the situation in this category is extremely tense, with the top 5 racers only 4 points apart. The current leader is Nguyen Ngoc Nhan with 33 points, followed closely by Tô Ha Đông Nghi and Lê Vũ Trường Giang with 32 points each. Nguyễn Tiến Thành and Nguyến Hoàng Đăng Khoa also show no significant difference with 30 and 29 points respectively. With this situation, the return round of the Winner 150 category is expected to be “blazing and challenging”.
Finally, in the UB130 category, the participating teams in this year’s championship have shown a more professional image and more impressive machines. This is also the category that gathers the “elite” racers who are considered to have the highest level in Vietnam at the moment, such as Bùi Duy Thông, Lê Khánh Lộc, Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Đoàn Trường Lợi,…
Currently, this category is fiercely competitive, with the competition between Le Hung Huu Tin (37 points), Le Trong Vinh (33 points), Huynh Minh Sang (31 points), and Le Khanh Loc (28 points). The champion of the UB130 category is currently very difficult to predict because the level of the racers in this category is not much different, and the teams always bring “surprises” through each stage.
Teams such as Thien Le Racing, Phu Tung AE DNA, and Dong Nghi Racing Team are currently leading the standings for teams in the UB130 category. With their strength and professionalism, the race for the championship team of VMRC 2020 is almost a “three-horse race” among these 3 teams.
With stage 4 canceled, the championship now only has 2 stages left, and stage 5 will be the pivotal stage, aimed at maintaining the hopes of the pursuing racers. As for the leading racers and teams, getting through stage 5 means they have almost touched the championship of VMRC 2020. Therefore, there will definitely be no more concessions or overly cautious calculations. The audience is eagerly awaiting the performance of the racers.
Returning after a 2-month hiatus since stage 3, the performance of the racers has also caused some doubts, but Honda Vietnam and the teams have stated that thanks to the preparation of plans to cope with the epidemic, although the championship was interrupted, the training programs for the racers continued as usual. Moreover, in the past 2 months, the technical team of Honda Racing Vietnam has fine-tuned the participating bikes, promising to bring even more powerful and faster machines.
The stage 5 of VMRC 2020 will officially take place on January 24, 2021, at the Dai Nam race track, sponsored by Honda Vietnam. The race will continue to be a fierce competition in 5 categories: Vietnam Talent Cup (NSF100cc), Blade 110cc, MSX 125cc, Winner 150cc, and UB 130cc. It is guaranteed to bring a fierce, passionate, and exhilarating “Speed Day”.
The race will be livestreamed on the official Vietnam Motor Racing Fanpage https://www.facebook.com/Vietnam-Motor-Racing-813850712144385. Please visit this fanpage to update the latest developments and results of VMRC 2020.
Trang Nguyen (Forum.autodaily.vn)
