Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup - Aaron impresses, Varun and Alexander show consistency

Red Bull has brought the Rookies Cup qualifiers to India in association with Suzuki. The qualifiers are running alongside the Suzuki Gixxer Cup and consist of youngsters aged between 13-17 years. And what a show these youngsters put up at the first round of the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT). In the four races that took place over the August 13 and 14, 2016, a number of guys shone brightly. In race 1, it was Sachin Choudhary who took the first spot while S Varun secured the second spot with AS Alexander came third.

Race 2 saw the top spot going to Sri Lanka's Aaron with S Varun coming in at second position and AS Alexander again scoring the third position. Race 3 saw the top participants repeating their performances as Aaron secured the first position, S Varun coming in at second spot with AS Alexander crossing the line behind them. One factor to be noted here is that since Aaron is from Sri Lanka, this year, there may be two entries from India and one from Sri Lanka to head to Rookies Cup qualifiers in 2017.

The second and the final round will be held at MMRT in September. Even Yoshiaki Harada and Suresh Babu, who are closely watching the races, were left impressed by Aaron. But Indian riders are no less competitive and with one more round to go, it is difficult to guess who will be picked by Red Bull to represent India on the international level. The ones selected from this tournament will be spent to Spain for further training and then race in the Rookies Cup qualifiers in 2017. If successful there, they will be backed by a set of professionals just like a factory team. Suresh Babu even said that racing for the age group of 13-17 years would be permanent fixture. Here's hoping Indian government also takes steps to ensure youngsters get to hone their skills on a bike/car and are able to represent Indian in the big leagues.