Rakshith Dave misses Malaysian SBK Championship title by a whisker
Sepang, 19 December 2023: Indian teenager Rakshith Dave bagged two podium places in the third and final round to clinch a creditable runners-up spot, in his debut season, in the Malaysian Superbike Championship 2023, which concluded here at the Sepang International Circuit.
Rakshith, who made his international debut in Round 1 with a stunning double victory in his class went on to bag the second place in the highly-competitive Championship in Malaysia.
In Round 3, Rakshith won two podiums, a second and a third place in the MSBK 250 B Race category but had to be content with the second in the overall standings of his class for the championship. In the in the 8-lap Race 1, he timed 20min, 53.558sec and later clocked 20:41.903 for a second place in Race 2.
Earlier, astride a Honda CBR250RR, Rakshith won both the Round 1 races in his class in the Malaysia SBK 250cc category (B category), at the famed MotoGP circuit, the Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur. Rakshith bagged the ‘Week-end Warrior Trophy’ in the first round.
Chennai’s Rakshith, 15, a Class X student of Lady Andal, said: “I am very happy to take a second place in the prestigious Malaysian Super Bike Championship. I am really elated and this gives me a push to continue my dreams. I thank my family, my team and crew who have worked really hard for this season and I hope to launch a new and better season soon.”
Rakshith made his debut at the Madras International circuit in 2020 after he was selected for the Honda India Talent Cup and took a podium in his very first race. In the next two years, he scored many victories and podiums and graduated to NSF 250 class and went on to take part in the inaugural MiniGP India series in 2022. In 2023, he not only won the second place in the Idemitsu Honda 2023 Championship but also won the overall title in the teenage class of the MMSC Sprint Rally.
The highlight of 2023 for Rakshith came when he was selected to represent India in the Asia Talent Cup 2024 to be held over six rounds across as many countries. He was one among the 10 riders to be selected from the Asia Pacific Region.
The MSBK championship consisted of six races over three rounds at the same venue in Sepang. After winning both the races in Round 1, he came back strongly to win the second race in Round 2 after some technical issues with the bike prevented him from starting Race 1. In Round 3, he achieved another two podiums to finish the season on a bright note with 111 points, just 4 points behind Muhd Izrul Huzaimie Amran who won the 250B class title.
