Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup: Round 1

The Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) hosted the second round of the 2016 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship, which features one-make racing series of Suzuki, TVS and Honda. Round 2 also featured the first set of races of the RedBull Road to Rookies Cup that ran alongside the 2016 Suzuki Gixxer Cup.

The Road to Rookies Cup is an attempt to foster young racing talent, and for its Indian chapter, seven riders aged 13-17, will race in two rounds at the MMRT on the 2016 Suzuki Gixxer Cup bikes. From the seven, the top two racers will be sent to Spain for the international Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in October this year.

Race weekend one for the Rookie cup was held from August 13-14 and comprised three races. Of the seven racers, 13-year-old Aaron Gunawardena from Sri Lanka, has emerged as a strong contender for the ticket to Spain. Although he crashed out on the first race on Saturday, he managed to bag top spot in both races held on Sunday, and even lapped the MMRT quicker than all the Novice category riders in Race 2.

Chennai boys Varoon S(13) and AS Alexander stood 2nd and 3rd respectively, in all three races over the weekend. If they manage to perform consistently in Round 2, one among them is sure to win an entry into Spain in October.

Prior to Round 1, the Rookies Cup riders underwent a day-long training session at the MMRT which comprised an introduction and orientation workshop conducted by Suzuki and Red Bull. The session included theory classes followed by track rides and practice laps.

A similar training session will be organised before the second and final round, for which, the Road to Rookies Cup will return to the MMRT in September. The top two racers headed for Spain will be shortlisted by the end of Round 2.

Here are the results for round 1 of the Road to Rookies Cup:
Race 1
1st – Sachin Chaudhary (16), Ahmedabad
2nd – Varoon S (13), Chennai
3rd – AS Alexander (16), Chennai

Race 2
1st – Aaron Gunawardena (13), Sri Lanka
2nd – Varoon S (13), Chennai
3rd – AS Alexander (16), Chennai

Race 3
1st – Aaron Gunawardena (13), Sri Lanka
2nd – Varoon S (13), Chennai
3rd – AS Alexander (16), Chennai