CS Santosh’s BigRock Motorsports wins ISRL title

Rally heavyweight CS Santosh’s team BigRock Motorsports has been crowned the first-ever winner of the Ceat Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL). The team clinched the title in dominant fashion on home turf, after the farmer’s protest forced a last-moment change in venue from Delhi to Bengaluru.

1. Matt Moss defeats Jordi Tixier by four points in 450cc international class
2. BigRock Motorsports outscored Mohite’s Racing Team by 82 points

Indian Supercross Racing League winners

For its inaugural season, the ISRL featured four different classes – 450cc international, 250cc international, 250cc India-Asia mix and, finally, Junior 85cc. Some big names from the Indian racing community – including CS Santosh and Arjuna award winner Gaurav Gill – along with brands like Reise Moto, fielded their own teams. Honda, KTM and Kawasaki provided the bikes for different teams.

Heading into the finale, BigRock Motorsports held a lead of 50 points over former Volkswagen Motorsport factory driver Dhruv Mohite’s team. The other teams put up a tough fight at the finale, with BB Racing’s Jordi Tixier, SG Speed Racers’ Hugo Manzato, BB Racing’s Athison Ruadreo and Mohite’s Racing Team’s Ben Prasit Hallgren all scoring wins. Tixier even made it a clean sweep after winning the All Stars race, featuring the top finishers from the senior classes.

But BigRock Motorsports played the team game, pushing just enough to avoid any unnecessary errors. And it paid off, with the team emerging as the champion in all three classes, outscoring Mohite’s Racing Team by a massive 82 points.

Matt Moss defeated Tixier by just four points to win the 450cc international title. Reid Taylor took home the 250cc international trophy after defeating Manzato by 15 points. And finally, Thanarat Penjan outscored Ruadreo by 10 points to win the 250cc India-Asia mix title.

Speaking about the road ahead for BigRock Motorsports, now that the first season has wrapped up, Team Principal Ashok George said,  “We’ve been running in-house races for a while and this [racing in ISRL] extends that storyline that we’ve built. So, in that sense it is a very long-term plan for us and a big part of that is tying up with our partners all around the world, creating a rider development programme that is comprehensive.”

“With a lot of the guys and girls that we have now, over the course of the first season we have seen a massive improvement in how they ride. So, we are hoping that we can keep that going.”

BB Racing finished third overall, followed by SG Speed Racers in fourth, Reise Motorsports in fifth and Gujarat Trailblazers in sixth place.

Despite the last-minute change of venue, over 8,000 spectators turned up at the Bengaluru finale. “We have set a new global record with the maximum physical representation anywhere in the world for a Supercross event,” said Veer Patel, co-founder of the ISRL.

“It gives me immense pleasure to see our collective dream to take shape in reality. I am confident that with the support of FMSI, FIM, racing teams and all partners we will make India as the focal point for Supercross in the world.”

Also see:

Indian Supercross Racing League: CS Santosh’s BigRock Motorsports leads after Round 1