2017 Suzuki Gixxer And Asia Road Racing Championship Round 4: Race Report

The intensity at the Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida, was at its apex as racers gnawed at each other in a closely fought battle to grab top honours. But it was Joseph Matthew from Coimbatore who took home the Suzuki Gixxer Cup championship while fighting off competition from the defending champion Sachin Chaudhary from Ahmedabad. 

Joseph Matthew finished second behind Sachin Chaudhary in the first race while in the second race, he couldn't even manage a podium finish. So how did he snatch the title from the defending champion? All thanks to his consistent performance in the previous three rounds as the man had already accumulated 56 points out of a total of 60. He inched past Sachin by earning 8 points in the first race itself. As for Sachin, he had to make do with the runner up trophy despite earning a distinction of 20 points by finishing first in both the races. 

But Sachin’s brilliant performance didn’t go in vain as the gritty rider from Ahmedabad took the second spot overall in the Suzuki Gixxer championship by gathering a total of 49 points. Concluding the top three of the race was Aizawl’s Malsawmdawngliana with a total of 43 points from the four rounds of racing. Other noteworthy performances were from Aizawl’s Lalmawipuia, who finished fifth today, ending the championship in fourth place with 42 points. Mumbai boy Sanjeev Mhatre finished second in the final race to end the championship at fifth place with 32 points.  

The race proved to be even tougher but a learning experience nonetheless for the Gixxer cup participants as the international riders from Asia Cup Road Racing also took part in the same race.

The winner of the ACRR was India’s Sai Rahil Pillarisetty, who went past the chequered flag with a total time of 17:28.411 in the second race, with Japan’s Miu Nakahara hot on his heels, finishing just 0.19 seconds behind him. Another Japanese, Mei Sakurai, finished third with a time of 17:35.910. 

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