India’s Geoffrey Emmanuel, the 18-year-old from Chennai, marked his debut in the Malaysian Superbike Championship 2023 with podium finishes in both races astride a Honda CBR 250 machine at the Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over the last weekend.
Participating in the 250cc category (A Class) of the championship, Geoffrey (Gusto Racing India) finished third overall, starting from P3 on the 27-bike grid, in both races despite limited seat and track time at the SIC. He narrowly missed second spot by less than tenth of a second in a tight finish in Race-1.
Summing up his performances, Geoffrey, who also takes part in the FIM World Junior Championship, said: “It was a very challenging weekend for me. We had barely three days to set up the stock CBR 250 bike apart from I learning the track. Racing at the SIC was a big opportunity for me and another step towards achieving my goal of making it to the MotoGP.
“The race itself was very competitive, but I managed to hold my position till the finish and am absolutely delighted that I made the podium in both races. I would like to thank my team for its support and the work the boys put in to transform the stock bike into a race-spec machine in such a short span of time. The podium finishes have motivated me to work even harder to realize my racing dreams.”The championship comprises six races to be run over three rounds to be held at the same venue. Round 2 is scheduled for September 8-10 and the concluding round will be held on December 15-17.