Of late, Indian bike racers have been making waves in the international bike racing arena. And last weekend saw one more rider from Chennai, Preetam Dev Moses - current Champion of Champions on the national racing circuit finishing second overall in the Malaysian Super Series 600 cc expert category which concluded in Malaysia last weekend. Preetam missed the championship by just one point.

Preetam who was leading in the championship at the beginning of the last round did well in the qualifying session to take 3rd place on the grid which had racers from Italy, Norway, Italy, Great Britain, Singapore & Malaysia in the fray.

Race 1 saw Preetam off to a flying star and take the lead in the very 1st lap at C1. He retained the lead till the 13th lap when Nils Uchida Zakariasen of Norway passed him to gain the lead. Nils retained the lead til the last to take the chequered flag. Lap 14 saw Massimo Nanni of Italy also moving up past Preetam, but Preetam clawed his way back in the last lap to move up past Massimo to finish second.

Race 2 saw Preetam once again shooting into the lead in Lap 1 and retaining it till Lap 6 when he was overtaken by Nils. In lap 10 Massimo passed Preetam and later Nils to grab the lead. However despite leading comfortably, Massimo allowed Nils to win the race. Had Massimo won the race, it would have been Preetam taking the championship title. Another drawback for Preetam was the lack of infrastructure and track time. While Nils and Massimo based themselves in Malaysia for three weeks before the event and had engineers brought in from Singapore to build their engines, Preetam was unable to anything on that score due to lack of funds. The other 2 racers also had the advantage of additional track practice for almost 3 to 4 days every week.

Preetam is now planning his 2008 season in consultation with his current sponsors. The final details will be announced by the second week of January.. Urgent financial support is the need of the hour for this promising rider to achieve more honors for his country at the international level. His employer Airtel has sponsored his vehicle. He is also receiving support from TVS Motor Company, VASIHNOVI Engineers and Wilsh Lubricants. Malaysian company SOL Helmets have also lent him support in the last three rounds this season.