Mahindra Racing Misses Podium; Moto3

The first round of Moto3 was completed this Sunday at Qatar. The Qatar GP is held under floodlights and has a great difficulty level.

The Qatar track is built in desert conditions, this creates various obstacles such as, unexpected winds, sand being blown on to tracks, no grip on the track as it isn't used often.

Indian manufacturer Mahindra has their own team in the Moto3 class. They also supply bikes to another three teams, making eight bikes in all.

Mahindra Racing is the youngest team in Moto3 to supply bikes to other teams. No team who have opted for the MGP30 will be sad, with their bike.

Miguel Oliveira of Mahindra Racing proved their bike can run up with the top runners of Moto3. He finished fourth and just missed out of a podium.

We do not exaggerate; however, the race was a fight to finish for the third spot on the Portuguese rider lost out by 0.015 of a second.

The winner was declared in a photo-finish and Mahindra have proven they can fight for podiums this year. It is a great achievement by the Indian manufacturer.

Teammate Arthur Sissis did not race due to severe tonsillitis, it wasn't his decision it was a team decision. The Australian explained he could only do a few laps after which, he could not concentrate and would not be able to compete.

Mufaddal Choonia, CEO Mahindra Racing, explains,"My heart is still beating at 200 beats per minute - it was an incredible race. Hats off to Miguel, and hats off to the technical team, who managed to do something almost unbelievable."

He further added,"I think. We were less than three tenths from victory and in a photo-finish for the podium. I don't think we could ask for a better start to the season. I am phenomenally satisfied: it shows that all the work over the winter was in the right direction."