Team Suzuki Press Office – December 6.
Joseph Mathew clinched the 2018 Suzuki Gixxer Cup Championship at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC), Greater Noida in India at the weekend; his second victory in the popular and exciting one-make series.
It was a weekend full of speed and thrills for the motorsports enthusiasts as the final round of Suzuki Gixxer Cup Championship and the Asia Cup of Road Racing, in association with JK Tyre Motorsport, was conducted under the guidance of FMSCI.
Mathew won the title with a total of 60 points from his first-place finishes at the previous six races held at Kari Motor Speedway earlier this year. Meanwhile, it was Aizwal’s Malsawmdawngliana (47 points), who was neck-in-neck with Bengaluru’s Syed Muzammil Ali (41 points) for the second spot in the championship coming into the final round, after he won Race 2 on Sunday.
Putting their machines at best at the race track, Bhopal’s Vidhan Dubey emerged as the winner for Race 1 and Aizwal’s Malsawmdawngliana was the winner of Race 2 of the fourth round of 2018 Suzuki Gixxer Cup. First time race winners of the 2018 season, Vidhan and Malsawmdawnglianga clocked race times of 23:32.566 and 23:18.163 respectively. The fastest lap of the weekend was recorded by Sachin Chaudhary of Ahmedabad at 2:52.322 minutes during Race 1.
Suzuki Gixxer cup racers also got an opportunity to test their mettle against Asia’s best racers where they lined-up on the common grid for both races with the participants of Asia Cup of Road Racing. Cheered on by a boisterous home support, India’s Karthik Mateti recorded the fastest lap time of 2:52.223 in Race 1, ensuring his victory, clocking an overall 23:32.214 minutes, ahead of Sri Lanka’s Hansika Abeysinghe (23:33.299 minutes) and Australia’s Max Stauffer (23:44.722 minutes).
In Race 2 of the Asia Cup of Road Racing, India’s Malsawmdawngliana from Race 2 emerged a winner, clocking a total of 23:18.163 minutes, ahead of Stauffer (23:18.288 minutes) and Sri Lanka’s Hansika Abeysinghe (23:21.979 minutes).
As well as testing themselves against leading riders in other Asian countries, the championship also provides the perfect proving ground to prepare for their future international careers as they have to adapt to new languages, food and weather conditions while dealing with new racing challenges.
Suzuki Gixxer Cup 2018 Championship
Joseph Mathew (Chennai) 60
Malsawmdawngliana (Aizwal) 47
Syed Muzammil Ali (Bengaluru) 41
Race 1: (8 Laps)
Vidhan Dubey (Bhopal) 23:32.566 2:55.148
Anthony Lalawampula (Aizawl) 23:32.717 2:54.490
Clinton Corderio (Mumbai) 23:32.912 2:55.054
Race 2: (8 Laps)
Malsawmdawngliana (Aizawl) 23:18.163 2:53.796
Sachin Chaudhary (Ahmedabad) 23:19.143 2:53.116
Sanjeev Mhatre (Mumbai) 23:21.089 2:53.546
Asia Cup of Road Racing:
Race 1: (8 Laps)
Karthik Mateti (India) 23:32.214 2:52.223
Hansika Abeysinghe (Sri Lanka) 23:33.299 2:55.055
Max Stauffer (Australia) 23:44.722 2:55.900
Race 2: (8 Laps)
Malsawmdawngliana (India) 23:18.163 2:53.796
Max Stauffer (Australia) 23:18.288 2:53.188
Hansika Abeysinghe (Sri Lanka) 23:21.979 2:53.772
