Road to Racing

The Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup is open to young racers from 12 to 17 years of age to identify talented racers and put them on a career path to becoming an international racer

Back for its second year, the Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup takes young talented racers and sets them on a career path towards becoming a world-class motorcycle racer. Of course, it is only the best of the best that are selected, and at the end of this season the chosen racers will be sent to compete in the Rookies Cup 2018 in Spain. From there, opportunities can arise to give the sharpest riders a chance to race in Moto3, Moto2 and, finally, MotoGP. It is a long and arduous journey, but each of the youngsters out on the grid at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore could be looking at making a name for themselves in the motorcycle racing world.

The young racers had a qualifying session on Saturday, followed by the first of the two races, while the second race was held on Sunday.

RACE ONE

Sri Lanka’s Jaden Gunawardena set an impressive time during qualifying to earn the right to start Saturday’s race on pole, ahead of Varoon S at P2 and Mizoram’s Lalhruaizela finishing up the front row. Jaden had a great start, and immediately started pulling away from the rest of the pack. At the end of eight laps he cruised across the finish line with an impressive nine-second lead over Lalhruaizela, while it was Lalnunsanga, also from Mizoram, who finished third.

RACE TWO

Sunday’s race once again saw Jaden start from pole, but this time he was challenged several times by Varoon and Lalhruaizela. Finally, Jaden was able to pull away but the pair behind him kept swapping places until, at the end of eight laps, it was Varoon who secured second place, just a 10th of a second ahead of Lalhruaizela.

We will watch the competition unfold at the second round of the Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup when the event returns to the Kari Motor Speedway for the second round of the series in August.