2019 IMOTY winner to be announced in Mumbai today

Team OD Published: December 20, 2018, 05:02 PM IST

In existence for 12 years now, the IMOTY (Indian Motorcycle of the Year) is the most prestigious and most coveted two-wheeler award in the country and has been rewarding the best motorcycles launched in India since its inception. In a first for this esteemed award, the jury round for the 2019 IMOTY was held at the Buddh International Circuit, India's only Formula One graded racetrack. In keeping the tradition, this year's jury once again comprises the best two-wheeler journalists in the country, representing India's top automotive publications, which is what makes the IMOTY the most important two-wheeler award in India. The winner of this year's IMOTY award will be announced today evening at a glittering dinner in Mumbai.

The contenders for the 2019 IMOTY at the Buddh International Circuit, which was the venue for this year's jury round

The jury for the 2019 IMOTY includes Abhik Das and Rahul Ghosh from Auto Today, Arup Das and Jared Solomon from AutoX, Aspi Bhathena and Sarmad Kadiri from Bike India, Aninda Sardar and Sirish Chandran from evo India, Pablo Chaterji from Mans World, Raunak Ajinkya and Kartik Ware from Motoring World, Abhay Verma and Shubhabrata Marmar from OVERDRIVE, Devesh Shobha and Debabrata Sarkar from Top Gear India and Vikrant Singh from Bikewale.com, with the chairman this year being Shubhabrata Marmar, Editor, OVERDRIVE. The above mentioned journalists are easily the most experienced hands when it comes to evaluating two-wheelers and test new motorcycles almost every single day. The jury got together at the circuit to first sit down and assess the shortlisted motorcycles on parameters like design, build quality, performance, value for money and more, before riding them on track.

Shubhabrata Marmar aka Shumi is the chairman for the 2019 IMOTY

2018 saw well over a dozen motorcycles get launched in the country, but the jury whittled the final short list down to 12. These included the BMW G 310 R, BMW G 310 GS, Hero Xtreme 200R, Honda CBR650F, Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, Suzuki GSX-S750, Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT ABS, SWM Superdual T, Triumph Tiger 800, TVS Apache RTR 160 4V, TVS Apache RR 310 and the Yamaha YZF-R15 V 3.0.