Suzuki Gixxer Cup was hosted in Chennai last weekend. The 5 day event also witnessed Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup, alongside the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2016.

The Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup is the first of its kind series which provides young and aspiring Indian racers a launchpad to the international racing arena! The first round of the Road to Rookies Cup was held in conjunction with Round 2 of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup, where 8 talented young riders between the ages of 13 to 16 years participated in 3 races with the elder and more experienced novice riders from the Gixxer Cup.

The action began with an introduction and orientation workshop conducted by Suzuki and Red Bull for the Rookies – theory classes, track ride through, sighting laps and practice sessions interspersed with feedback sessions from Suzuki’s highly qualified team of racing instructors.

Thursday was dedicated to Free Practice for all riders – Gixxer Cup Open, Gixxer Cup Novice and the Road to Rookies Cup. While the older riders got a chance to accustom themselves to the new and improved braking setup on the race machines, this gave the Rookies some additional time to get accustomed to their race machines for the coming 3 days of incredible racing.

This round had 3 races each for Novice / Rookies and Open – with some incredible racing! Living up to its reputation, the Suzuki Gixxer Cup races did not fail to disappoint the spectators and the racers alike, with very close nail-biting finishes and amazing sporting spirit and camaraderie among the fellow competitors!

Race 1 saw Sachin Choudhary take the first position ahead of Varoon and Alexander in the Rookies category, while Amarnath Rajan, Antony Peter and Joseph Mathew made up the podium for the Novice category. The Open Race saw last year’s podium finisher Meka Vidhuraj take the first position from R Rajinikanth and Vishwadev Muraleedharan in a very closely fought battle among 4 equally talented riders separated by 7/10^th of a second!

Race 2 was the perfect opportunity for Sri Lankan Rookie Aaron Gunawardena to display his top form as he started the race from last on the grid (due to a crash in Race 1) and yet finished first with a hairs breadth of just 1/1000^th of a second!

The Novice category was won by Amarnath Rajan followed very closely by Antony Peter who was just 7/100^th of a second behind.

Meka crashed out of the Open race, leaving R Rajinikanth to battle with Vivian Gladwin and Vishwadev Muraleedharan for the top 3 positions.

Aaron made it a double by winning Race 3 in the Rookie category from Varoon and Alexander while Amarnath narrowly clinched first spot from Antony Peter with 3/100^th of a second in yet another thrilling Novice Race.

The Open race witnessed an amazing comeback from Meka, who started last on the grid and eventually ended 2^nd after Vivian Gladwin and just a tenth of a second ahead of Vishwadev!

The results for all 9 races are:

1. Rookie Race 1
   Laps: 4
   1^st: Sachin Choudhary 9:19.705
   2^nd: Varoon 9:20.037
   3^rd: Alexander 09:29.225
   Best Lap: Varoon 2:16.892
2. Novice Race 1
   Laps: 4
   1^st: Amarnath Rajan 9:04.774
   2^nd: Antony Peter 9:05.213
   3^rd: Joseph P Mathew 9:06.261
   Best Lap: Joseph P Mathew 2:13:281 (100.3 kmph)

3. Open Race 1
   Laps: 6
   1^st: Meka Vidhuraj 13:28.003
   2^nd: R Rajinikanth 13:28.145
   3^rd: Vishwadev Muraleedharan 13:28.614
   Best Lap: Vivian Gladwin 2:12:232 (101.1 kmph)

4. Rookie Race 2
   Laps: 4
   1^st: Aaron Gunawardena 9:05.809
   2^nd: Varoon 9:23.893
   3^rd: Alexander 9:29.492
   Best Lap: Aaron Gunawarden 2:12:772 (100.7 kmph)
5. Novice Race 2
   Laps: 4
   1^st: Amarnath Rajan 9:05.810
   2^nd: Antony Peter 9:05.883
   3^rd: Peddu Sri Harsha 9:10.865
   Best Lap: Amarnath Rajan 2:13.621
6. Open Race 2
   Laps: 6
   1^st: R Rajinikanth 13:36:688
   2^nd: Vivian Gladwin 13:37:359
   3^rd: Vishwadev Muraleedharan 13:39.738
   Best Lap: Vivian Gladwin 2:13:204 (100.4 kmph)
7. Rookie Race 3
   Laps: 4
   1^st: Aaron Gunawardena 9:07.216
   2^nd: Varoon 9:23.711
   3^rd: Alexander 9:28.228
   Best Lap: Aaron Gunawarden 2:14:348
8. Novice Race 3
   Laps: 4
   1^st: Amarnath Rajan 9:07.142
   2^nd: Antony Peter 9:07.172
   3^rd: C Raj Kumar 9:08:101
   Best Lap: Antony Peter 2:13:971 (99.8 kmph)
9. Open Race 3
   Laps: 6
   1^st: Vivian Gladwin 13:32:558
   2^nd: Meka Vidhuraj 13:33:316
   3^rd: Vishwadev Muraleedharan 13:33.408
   Best Lap: Vishwadev Muraleedharan 2:13:072 (100.5 kmph)

The riders across all 3 categories were extremely pleased with their Suzuki Gixxer SF race machines and the enhanced braking in the front and rear disc brake addition from last years bikes. They cannot wait to get back on track for the next round of the Gixxer Cup and Road to Rookies Cup from the 1st to 4th September 2016 at MMRT Chennai.

News Source: Suzuki Motorcycles and Scooter India Press Release