Indian racer Yatindra Shirole comes fifth in Malaysian Superbike Championship

Yatindra Shirole, a professional motorcycle racer from Pune, has finished fifth in the Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship. The 26-year-old competed on a Honda CBR1000RR in the 1000cc Superbike B category, scoring 53 points in the championship.

Yatindra says that he initially struggled to cope with the bike’s setup, which further added to his woes. Still, he managed to come fifth in the overall standings in spite of not being able to score points in two rounds of the five round series.

This year also saw India’s top motorcycle racer K Rajini come first in the premier class of the 1000cc Superbike A category, trumping the likes of Cameron Donald, Steve Martin and Leonardo Sacchetto. As both the Superbike categories (A and B) are conducted together, Yatindra also got the opportunity to race alongside these international racing icons.

The Pirelli Malaysian Superbike Championship is a five-round championship series conducted at the Sepang International Circuit. It pits the best of Malaysian riders against top riders from other countries in four different categories - 1000cc Superbike Championship, 1000cc Superstock Championship, 600cc Supersport Championship and an Open 250cc Championship.

Like most of the racers in the country, Yatindra has been struggling to score sponsorship ever since he started racing in 2010. Fortunately, having a strong financial background has helped him fuel his passion. He even had fund himself for this campaign in the Malaysian Superbike Championship, and going by the way things are in India, Yatindra seems pessimistic about being able to get a deal for the next year.

For the 2015 season, Yatindra rode the competition number 15 Honda CBR1000RR for the Team Archean. He plans on continuing to race in the Malaysian Superbike Championship in 2016, though he will have to hunt for a new team as Team Archean has decided to withdraw from the series.