Suzuki Gixxer Cup Season 2 Kicks-Off

After tasting success last year, the second season of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup has now commenced. The Suzuki Gixxer Cup is a one make race series that is organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) and approved by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). The event returns as a support race for the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship.

The 2015 season of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup had two categories - the Novice Class (for participants under 23 years) and the Open Class (above 23 years). This year however, Suzuki has added the Road to Rookies Cup in collaboration with Red Bull. This new category gives young riders from the 13 to 17 years age group access to the Rookies Cup that is held in Spain. It will be a stepping stone for these young riders to display their riding skills and can later compete in Moto3, Moto2 and eventually in MotoGP.

The first round of the 2016 Suzuki Gixxer Cup received great response in both the categories with participation from neighbouring countries as well. The Novice Class had a total 39 entries while the Open Class had 24 entries. The riders had their practice sessions on Friday to get acquainted with the upgraded Gixxer SFs that now feature rear disc brakes for better braking control. To setup their bikes as per their riding style, the participants gave feedback to the technical crew who then fine-tuned the machines with tweaks to the brakes and other minor adjustments.

Round 1 of the 2016 Suzuki Gixxer Cup saw two qualifying sessions for the Novice category and one for the Open class. 20 riders were selected in the Novice category while only 23 riders made it to the final grid in the open class. Spectators also got to witness an exciting Race 1 where international participant, 13 year old Aaron Gunawardena took top honours after a hard fought battle with Joseph P Mathew.  

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Sunday once again saw Aaron clinching victory in the Race 2 of the Novice Class, forcing Joseph to settle for second place. The grand finale was the Gixxer Cup Open race which had the seasoned riders fight it out on track. A close battle among the top riders led to a crash forcing the stewards to temporarily stop the race. After the restart, a close battle between the top 3 riders ensued with the 2015 frontrunner Meka Viduraj crashing out in after an intense battle with B Ranjnikanth. Vivek Mani finished second while Prabhu V took the final step on the podium.  

The second round of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup will be held on July 8-10 at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai. In this round, the Suzuki Gixxer Cup series will take an interesting turn as the riders of the Road to Rookies Cup will run alongside the Novice riders on the same grid.

Suzuki Gixxer Cup Round 1 results: 

Novice Race 1 (Laps – 6)

1. Aaron Gunawardena 9:03:050

2. Joseph P Mathew 9:08:852

3. Amarnath Rajan 9:17:098

Best Lap: Aaron Gunawarden 1:21:161 (93.1 kmph)

Novice Race 2 (Laps – 6)

1. Aaron Gunawardena 9:15:735

2. Joseph P Mathew 9:16:580

3. Amarnath Rajan 9:20:722

Best Lap: Joseph P Mathew 1:20:645 (93.7 kmph)

Open Race 1 (Laps – 10)

1. B Rajnikanth 15:17:444

2. Vivek Mani 15:29:148 

3. Prabhu V 15:30:765

Best Lap: 1:21:224 (93.1kmph)

Open Race 2 (CANCELLED)