Suzuki Motorcycle India Private Limited (SMIPL) hosted the second round of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup. The event lasted for two days, commencing on July 10 and finished on July 12, 2015. The championship was held at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai; interestingly, this also happens to be the oldest race track in the country.
Today’s (Friday, July 17) schedule was quite a hectic one for the racers, and consisted of rigorous practice and qualifying sessions. Participating in these sessions were riders from the Novice and Open category. Since the first innings of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup took place in May 2015, the riders had become acclimatised with their race machines – Suzuki’s Gixxer SF race series. According to the Japanese manufacturer, its race bikes garnered very positive feedback from the riders.
The number of applicants for the Gixxer Cup was such that, Suzuki had to split novice category into two separate batches during the qualifying round. The organisers then had to determine the final grid of the top 20 riders. The Novice round was the scene of intense racing for the top 4 positions, with the podium finishers from Round 1 scoring the same positions in both races. As for the Open races, the first race had a group of 4 leading riders who swapped places in the fight for the podium. These riders were closely followed to the finish by another group of 7 riders, the latter battling for the lead positions. The second race witnessed more overtakes than earlier. The Suzuki Gixxer Cup also reeled in the only female rider at the Madras Motor Race Track; and Round 3 will be held during the weekend of 7th – 9th August at the Madras Motor Race Track.
The following were the winners of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup Novice and Open categories:
- Novice Race 1
Laps: 6
1st: Vishwadev Muraleedharan 07:50.103
2nd: Malsawmdawngliana +2.363
3rd: Amarnath Menon +4.708
Best Lap: Vishwadev Muraleedharan 1:16.589
- Novice Race 2
Laps: 6
1st: Vishwadev Muraleedharan 07:46.498
2nd: Malsawmdawngliana +0.085
3rd: Amarnath Menon +0.697
Best Lap: Amarnath Menon 1:15.945
- Open Race 1
Laps: 6
1st: Anath Raj 13:26.065
2nd: Sathish Kumar +1.060
3rd: Prakash SK +1.298
Best Lap: Anath Raj 2:12.201 (101.2 kmph)
- Open Race 2
Laps: 2
1st: Ananth Raj 4:35.370
2nd: Arvind Ganesh +0.117
3rd: Abhishek V +1.539
Best Lap: Anath Raj2:13.993 (99.8 kmph)
Atul Gupta, Executive Vice President, Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd. said, “We were extremely pleased to witness how easily Novice and Open riders could maneuver the Gixxer SF, and how rider-friendly the bike was. The biggest advertisement and endorsement for any product is when customers are enthusiastic and enjoy using it. Suzuki is proud to promote motorsport culture in India and we hope to have even more riders participate in the coming rounds of the Gixxer Cup.”
View more images in the gallery below:
