Although only halfway through the journey, the VMRC 2023 championship has been more dynamic, intense than ever and clearly demonstrates the spirit of sportsmanship as well as the improving quality, worthy of being the largest speed playground in Vietnam.
Vietnam Racing Motor Championship or VMRC is a tournament sponsored by Honda Vietnam in coordination with the Vietnam Motorcycle Sport Federation, with the aim of building a safe and healthy playground for those who are passionate about speed and want to pursue the profession of racing seriously; at the same time, improve the competitive level of athletes in the country and internationally.
Development milestones over the years
Since 2018, VMRC has been organized in the form of a season-long championship – scoring each stage and having seasonal tryouts. Each season will include multiple stages and each athlete will earn points based on their performance. This competition format is also applied similarly to professional competitions internationally, typical of the intercontinental championship ARRC (Asian Road Racing Championship) – where the Honda Racing Vietnam team has participated for many years and achieved good results.
Moving to 2019, the VMRC tournament has become more consolidated with the completion and enforcement of the official competition rules. The tournament’s referee team has also been trained by foreign experts.
At the same time, in 2019, the VMRC tournament decided to open a new competition category called the Vietnam Talent Cup, aimed at finding young talents to continuously add to the lineup for the tournament as well as the Vietnamese racing team on the international field. The talent category is for young racers aged 15-17 using NSF100 bikes, along with the traditional amateur and professional categories.
The following years were marked by the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic that covered the whole world, affecting all areas from economy, culture, society to sports. Vietnam is also a country heavily affected and the VMRC tournament is no exception.
However, in 2022, when the pandemic situation has subsided and Vietnam has recovered and developed, the VMRC 2022 tournament overcame a series of difficulties and officially resumed under the eager anticipation of fans, after two years of absence.
2022 is also a milestone year when VMRC “Advances to the North” for the first time, with the races held at My Dinh – Hanoi. From here, the professional motorcycle racing movement is no longer confined to the southern region but has spread widely; attracting more fans, attracting attention and encouragement from the community.
Moving to 2023, the VMRC tournament continues to have changes, maintaining its position as the most professional and attractive speed arena in Vietnam. Firstly, it should be mentioned that the Vietnam Talent Cup category has allowed the expansion of the age range for competition from 15 to 13 years old, in order to improve the ability to find young talents.
The two familiar venues, Dai Nam – Binh Duong and F1 My Dinh – Hanoi, will host the races of the VMRC 2023 season as usual. However, it is noteworthy that at the 2nd stage of VMRC 2023, the BTC has redesigned the track structure: reducing the length from 2.2 to 1.8 km; but at the same time, increasing the number of corners to 15 – to increase the difficulty and demand fierce competition from the riders; thereby improving the quality of the competition.
Professionalize each competition category
Speaking more about the structure of the competition categories at VMRC 2023: the racing is divided into three categories, including: Talent System, Amateur System, and Professional System. All three systems apply the same rule of scoring each round (the first person in each stage earns 16 points, the second earns 13 points, the third earns 11 points…) and add up the total points to calculate the overall performance for the season.
Young talent system – the future nursery
In the three systems, the young talent system has only one format, which is NSF100 – the only place where racers use original bikes, as the NSF 100cc bikes are specially produced by Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) on special orders and designed specifically for racing purposes, without any commercial versions for street use.
Although they have a “mini size” of WxHxD: 1,956 x 595 x 911 mm, weighing 73.6 kg; with a seat height of only 681 mm to suit the “speed seeds” aged 8 – 16; but in return, the NSF100 bikes are equipped with a specially designed frame and engine system to be able to operate continuously at high speeds. The power of the bike comes from the 4-stroke engine with a capacity of 99.2 cc, paired with a 5-speed manual transmission; delivering a power output of 8.3 horsepower at 9,500 rpm and a maximum torque of 7.4 Nm at 7,000 rpm.
The Vietnam Talent Cup NSF100 can be considered the cradle of finding young talents in the motorcycle racing discipline; to timely discover new elements for training, development, and providing potential faces for the speed playground in the future. This is also a model applied in many places around the world as well as countries in the region, for example, the Asia Talent Cup, or the Thailand Talent Cup (the arena that once won the championship cup of the 2019 season belongs to Cao Viet Nam – the current number one racer representing the Honda Racing Vietnam Team in the annual international competition ARRC).
Returning to the VMRC 2023 season, the NSF100 format has witnessed the very stable performance of racer #40 Nguyen Trung Kien. Despite just turning 18 and only getting acquainted with the professional sports discipline for just over 2 years; but Kien has won two stage victories, temporarily leading the overall standings with 32 points.
Amateur system – a scale and healthy development environment
Next, the amateur racing system in VMRC includes the categories: Blade 110, Winner X 150, and CBR150R – using the respective commercial models of Honda, but have been modified by engineers for racing purposes.
Among them, special mention must be made of the Blade 110, as this is the racing system with the highest engine power ratio due to being carried out by Honda Vietnam engineers. Specifically, the engine is upgraded, with a 54mm cylinder piston, camshaft, rocker arm; the carburetor and exhaust are also upgraded to the maximum. The bike is also replaced with a 5-speed manual transmission from the original 4-speed automatic transmission to make it easier for the riders to get used to.
This category is for riders aged 18, athletes with little experience in competing in higher systems. It is also worth noting that VMRC also brings together female racers and foreign racers, surpassing all boundaries of gender or nationality, for all those who love the sport of speed, passion, and desire to challenge and assert themselves.
In the Blade 110 category this year, the leading rider in the overall standings is the young talent Le Tran Kim Thanh wearing the #04 with 29 points thanks to three finishes in the first two stages and finishing first in the second stage of VMRC 2023.
Next is the Winner X 150 category – which uses the familiar commercial design Winner models but has been slightly upgraded, which does not include the engine. The Winner X 150 bikes participating in VMRC are modified by the Honda Vietnam engineering team with front/rear shock absorbers, ECU, high-performance air filters; and redesigned footrests and handlebars to suit the movements of the athletes on the track.
Until now, the Winner X 150 category of the VMRC 2023 season has noted the great efforts and outstanding achievements of rider #79 Tran Gia Huy. Despite only getting acquainted with the VMRC professional playground from 2022 in the young talent system NSF100; but thanks to good results, Gia Huy has been promoted to compete in the Winner X 150 category after just one season. And the #79 has quickly proven that the BTC’s decision was completely accurate when he won two stage victories and temporarily led the VMRC 2023 season, with 32 points.
Meanwhile, the CBR150R format is the nearest to reach the dream of international professional racing. To compete in this category, athletes must have a good racing history, stable performance, and of course, superior skills and experience.
Therefore, the competition in this category is always fiercely competitive with thrilling close battles, but collisions (and almost none) are rare – demonstrating the professionalism of the riders.
In this format, the CBR150R bikes are also retained engines – similar to the Winner X 150 system; but has adjusted the footrest with front/rear Ohlins shock absorbers. Due to the original design of the CBR150R bikes as Sports bikes – very suitable for operation on the racetrack – the exterior of the bike does not need any additional intervention.
In this category, the second place after two races remains unchanged – with the current leader in the overall standings being rider #17 Nguyen Hoang Dang Khoa with 32 points thanks to two stage victories. Second place belongs to #96 Nguyen Nhat Truong, earning 26 points from two second-place finishes in the first two races. The third position with 22 points – belongs to #19 Nguyen Vu Thanh after finishing third in both races.
Professional system – an uncompromising arena
And finally, it is worth mentioning the professional racing system with the UB150 format. Unlike the talent and amateur systems – which are provided with bikes by the BTC – in the professional system, the clubs (or referred to as “garages”) are the ones to self-upgrade, adjust their own bikes according to their own secret recipe, to push the original Winner X bikes to their limits to gain the most “horsepower” for their “purebred” racers.
Therefore, the attractiveness of this format comes not only from the competition of the riders but also from the competition of each club, to see which bike is the strongest – at the same time showing the honor and face of the garages.
It can be said that the VMRC 2023 competition is increasingly consolidated over time; deserving of the position as the only professional playground for speed enthusiasts. At the same time, this is also a place to nurture young talents, provide opportunities for competition, and develop the legal racing movement, in order to improve the level of athletes in Vietnam. The upcoming races of the VMRC 2023 season will surely provide fans with more exciting battles, thrilling close duels, and especially at the F1 My Dinh Arena in the future.
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