It seems that Hero MotoCorp does not want to be left behind in terms of developing motorsport talent in the country. The Indian motorcycle manufacturer’s latest brainchild is the Hero Dirt Biking Challenge (HDBC), a pan-India talent hunt programme that targets enthusiasts and budding riders who want to learn the art of rallying and off-road racing, and pursue it as a career. Sounds interesting? You can visit www.hdbc.in to enroll!
After online submissions, the first rounds will be held in 45 cities over multiple weekends. The selected participants will then progress towards regional rounds that will be held across 18 cities. Participants will get a chance to train with the Hero MotoSports rally team, and the top riders will be coached by Hero MotoSport riders Ross Branch, Joaquim Rodrigues, Sebastian Buhler, and Franco Caimi.
Furthermore, the top 100 riders will progress to a five-day bootcamp where they will be trained by Indian Dakar racer CS Santosh. The bootcamp will conclude with a race and the top 20 participants will face each other at the finals, which will be held at Hero MotoCorp’s R&D centre in Jaipur.
The top riders will then be trained in Jaipur and mentored by the Hero MotoSports Team Rally over a period of five days before the final race to choose the eventual winner. The winner and two runners-up will be rewarded with an Xpulse 200 4V, along with sponsorship contracts worth Rs 20 lakh from Hero MotoCorp.
Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Growth Officer, Hero MotoCorp, said, “The Hero MotoSports Team Rally — the rally-racing team of Hero MotoCorp, has been India’s flag-bearer in international rally racing and we are now bringing that expertise to mentor the youth in India through HDBC. This will give a further boost to the off-road riding culture in the country. Thanks also to the Hero Xpulse 200 4V, the youth have now got an accessible option to pursue their passion in off-road riding. I am sure this first-of-its-kind initiative in the country will open doors for riding enthusiasts and provide India with its future champions. We wish all the participants the very best of luck”.
It is indeed great to see another Indian manufacturer step up the game in terms of enriching the motorcycling and motorsport culture in the country. Speaking of which, Hero recently also launched its XClan Community. Have you heard of it? If not, check it out here!