Suzuki India and Red Bull join hands to launch Road to Rookies Cup 

Red Bull in association with Suzuki India launched its new talent scouting program for young riders between 13-17 in India which will lead way to the MotoGP RedBull Rookies Cup.

Red Bull Rookies Cup is a talent hunt program which runs along with the MotoGP World Championship events and inducts successful riders to the Moto3 World Championship category. 

In an event held in Chennai, Suzuki and Redbull launched the new program among the Indian media fraternity with ace Indian Motorcycling champion Rajini Krishnan as rider mentor and Lithuanian stuntman Aras Gibieza as event ambassador.

This racing program is aimed for the very first time in India for kids aged 13-17 and this will immensely help young racing aspirants to get a feel of professional racing and a chance to enter International racing at a young age, allowing them to lead-up to the Rookies Cup, Moto3™ and from there, eventually Moto2™ and ultimately the MotoGP™ World Championship.

Rajini Krishnan commented "“Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup is going to be of huge help to the young riders. It is a first time ever that we’ll have a category in this sport for the 13-17 age group in India. This is going to help Indian racers to be a part of the MotoGP™ programme overall: In India, all riders start after the age of 20. I myself started racing at 20 as you only get your license at 18, unlike Spanish and Italian kids, who start at the age of five and have dedicated schools for training. I am hopeful that the Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup will change things in the motorsport scene within India.”  

The Suzuki Gixxer Cup which was launched in 2015 was huge success and this year it will also feature and run the RedBull Road to Rookies Cup. Suzuki Motorcycle India with its mutual partnership with Red Bull is committed to giving this new and exciting project its best.

Satoshi Uchida, Managing Director, SMIPL: “We saw a hugely positive response after entering the Indian racing arena last year and clearly felt the need to improve upon the laurels from our first season of the Gixxer Cup. This year, we bring Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup, a world-renowned platform, to the young Indian riders for the first time, while sticking to the Gixxer Cup format alongside. We can’t wait for the season of exciting racing to begin!”