JK Tyre Partners With Suzuki To Churn Out Young Bike Racers

After supporting the motorsport industry in various events for over two decades, JK Tyre is now all set to foray into the world of two-wheeler racing, with a mission to produce world class bike racers for the country. The company has tied up with motorcycle giant Suzuki for a two-wheeler racing series that will become part of their National Racing Championship. The series will give an opportunity to aspiring racers from all over the country to prove their mettle. The championship series is comprised of two categories- one for children in the age group 12-16 and the other for over 16-year-olds. The latter will be a part of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup. Close to 25 youngsters will be selected and they will race in the National Championship, which will be held in Coimbatore in the month of July. Also read: 2016 Suzuki Gixxer SF Race Bike: Track Review

The young rookie category will also act as a training ground for the international programme Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup. This will allow the champion to participate in the prestigious selection programme for the Red Bull Rookie Cup – Road to MotoGP in Spain.

To make it convenient for every Indian, JK Tyre Motorsport will hold selection rounds in four different parts of the country: Bengaluru in the South (June 4), Aizwal in the East (June 10), Pune in the West (June 18) and National Capital Region in the North (June 25).

Aspiring bike racers can register themselves for any of the rounds and reach the selection venue at the designated time and date. They will be provided Suzuki Gixxer bikes and will have to abide by all safety norms. The riders will participate in straight shootouts with each other, besides going through a personality test by JK Motorsport experts.

The names of the shortlisted bikers will be announced on June 27. They will then be induced into a training programme in Coimbatore where they will make the transition from rookies to professionals. The training programme will include technical lessons, racing classes, and personal fitness training by a renowned fitness expert.

“We have charted the career of almost all our international racers right from their karting days till now,” pointed out Sanjay Sharma, JK Tyre’s corporate communication & motorsport head. “Now that we have entered the two-wheeler market with our tyres, this is a logical step forward. We want to create champion bikers,” he added.

“In other words, a youngster simply needs to have the talent and the passion for biking. JK Tyre, just like they did for youngsters with karting, and our car and formula racers, we will take care of everything here too. We will even ensure that they are groomed by image managers so that they can appear on world circuits confidently,” said Sharma.

“This is great news for Indian motorsport. We are confident a new breed of motorcycle racers will emerge as a result of this partnership,” said Satoshi Uchida, managing director, Suzuki Motorcycle India. “Motorcycle racing is an exciting sport and is gaining more popularity amongst the youth. Given JK’s dedication to Indian Motorsport and Suzuki’s racing spirit & passion, we shall do our best to turn enthusiastic bikers into champions,” he added.