CHENNAI: At the age of 13, ace Indian rider Kavin Samaar Quintal was drawn into motorsports, thanks to his grandfather Pratap Kumar and uncles Krish Kumar and Kirthan Kumar. The motorsports buffs have participated in the motor races at Sholavaram and Sriperumbudur tracks. Watching the races that his uncles participated in made him also choose the sport. Following in their track, Kavin made a stunning debut in the 2024 FIM JuniorGP World Championship taking a top-10 finish in the Stk European class in Round 2 at the Circuito do Estoril, Portugal. A crash in Out Lap of the qualifying session saw Kavin start from the 30th position.
The stock race was red flagged due to rain in the second lap but Kavin had already moved up to P19. Starting from P30, Kavin took on the wet conditions and fierce competition with aplomb. Navigating the treacherous conditions with ease, he overtook bike after bike to cross the finish line in an impressive 9th position among 32 riders. “I’m happy and proud to finish in the top 10 of the second round of JuniorGP. As for preparation, the tracks were new and I did not have funding to train on all the tracks, however I was familiar with the 600cc machine and that helped me to perform well,” Kavin told this daily from Spain.
Recollecting the race in Portugal, the 19-year old student of Sir Mutha School, Chennai, had a lot of difficulty in negotiating the wet track, starting from the grid again and competing against some of the best riders in the world. “I trained and practiced at Jerez in spain. At Portugal (JuniorGP) there were a few setbacks, I did not qualify due to a crash in the out lap. I started the race in 30th and moved up to 19th in two laps, but it was red flagged due to rain and was restarted. I restarted the race from 30th again and moved up 21 positions and finished the race in 9th position,” narrated Kavin.
“Since it was my first race, though it is the second round for the JuniorGP, I had to gauge the competition on the track. I clocked 23:19.001sec for the 11 laps, just 34.866sec adrift of the winner Adrian Rodriguez of Spain and just 16.092sec off fifth-placed Lorenzo Della Porta, the current championship leader and 2019 Moto3 Champion. Covering a distance of 46 km over 11 laps, I also clocked a top speed of 219.4kph,” he added, insisting that it was a good learning experience.
Kavin made his debut as a 13-year-old and became the youngest rider to bag points in the FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Championship in 2018. He switched to Talent Cup in 2019 when Honda brought in the NSF250, a Moto3 spec bike to India, and was among the eight top riders for the NSF250 Talent Cup. After making the elite club, he became an Idemitsu Honda Talent Cup champion in 2021 and 2023. He was vice-champion in 2019 and 2020. Kavin made his international debut in the Asia Talent Cup in 2020 and represented India twice in the Asian Road Racing Championships, with a top-10 finish in 2023. Riding a 600cc monster, in the Sunday Suzuki Road Racing Championship 2023, he had a pole and a win in Round 3. “Honda India Talent Cup NSF 250 was the first race I won and it is always special. But it is at the Asian Talent Cup race where I understood my heart lies in racing. I took up the sport seriously. The Suzuka Sunday race Stk 600 championship 2023 in Japan was the one that helped me graduate into the Junior GP,” he said.
The youngster insisted that with every race he tries to learn something and improvise. He also noted that sponsorship and getting familiar with various tracks are still a big burden for young racers. “Fifty Motorsport, a Spanish team, has been very supportive, encouraging and constantly helping me improve. The general difficulties that I face are getting familiar with the tracks, as it’s my first time in Europe, bike setup and tyre management. Better financial support, better and appropriate riding gear, better tracks, encouragement for young riders are the need of the hour. I have been coached by several people, but my current coach is Tadayuki Okada,” said Kavin. His next race will be Round 3 (FIM JuniorGP) at Barcelona from May 16 to 19.