Suzuki Gixxer Cup Endurance Race: An Experience

Paired up

This was a two-man effort. And my teammate was Aadil Naik.  

A fellow journalist of the young, enthusiastic and keen variety, Aadil writes for Motoring World. Now, since the teams were picked by draws, we had no say regarding who our teammate would be. So, the two of us sporting beards and not dying to get our hands on the winner’s trophy the next morning, was just mere coincidence. Also, while some others spent time getting to know their teammates better, and chalk out a detailed strategy for the race the next day, Aadil and I grabbed dinner and decided to call it a night.

Hour long fun

The race in question was of the endurance variety. It would go on for an hour; with each team sporting two riders; and no rider could ride for more than 25 minutes at a stretch. Which meant over the course of the hour, there would at least be two stops for rider changes.  

Now, who would ride when and for how long was to be the key between winning and losing. So, Aadil and I didn’t bother with that. Like I said he was enthusiastic and I was lazy, so, naturally, he’d go out first and would handle the bulk of the riding.  

The only thing we decided upon was that we’d stick to the golden rule of racing – To finish first, one must first finish. 

Racing spirit

And so, the next morning, following a Le Mans sort of start, Aadil went on his way putting in some quick laps. Now, I can’t really tell you how well he did. Or, whether he indulged in some close racing. Or, even if he nailed the line through C5 and C6. And that’s because, well, as soon as he started, I went and retired to the pits, in front of the fan, with the phone in my hand as I tried furiously to refresh my social accounts to kill all the inactivity on it! 

Twenty minutes in, it was my time to ride. And all Aadil had to say was ‘take it easy’. Some handover, motivational speech that. 

Now, given I had crashed on my first lap during the practice session the day before, and then couldn’t get the bike running again thereafter, I wasn’t willing to make the same mistake. Remember the golden rule – one must first finish. So, running low on confidence and with a slower set of riders I did take things easy. No one was overtaking me, I wasn’t close to any one for a dogfight, and because this was an endurance race, I just settled into a comfortable rhythm.  

And that was a big mistake. What I should have done was ride more aggressively. I should have tried to take advantage of the slower riders and put in some gap between them and us. And, I should have gone around the bowl in a higher gear. But, I didn’t do any of this. I think I mistook it for a track day outing instead of a race. So, round and round I went, lap after lap enjoying myself, and working on my throttle control and sight lines. 

Finish line

Before I knew it, my twenty minutes were done. And so, were the next twenty and the chequered flag was out. Then came the results. And we had finished fourth. Two minutes behind off the podium. Which if you think about the average lap time, wasn’t close at all.  

Could we have finished on the podium? Hell, could we have won? And the answer is yes. Everything is possible in racing. For instance, the guys in front could have crashed. Repeatedly. 

But, the bottom line is, win or lose, podium or not, I had a great track weekend. And when you haven’t chosen racing as a career, to get to go out and race with nothing to lose but your ego, it’s fantastic.