TVS Racing Diaries: Sarthak Chavan from Pune attains India's first podium finish at the third season of ARRC

Records are meant to be broken. Never in the history of mankind will you find a single record with no attempts to break it. Racing functions on that very premise. Chase top speeds, lap times, track records, shave a few grams off the machine, get the best aero package and so on, all while strictly adhering to all the laws and rules that govern the sport. TVS Racing has been one such entity in India that has been chasing success at the highest levels of the sport since 1982.

One of the key operative philosophies of TVS Racing is to democratise racing. The One Make Championships have been instrumental in churning out some of the best riders our country has seen. One that I am particularly interested in is the TVS Asia One Make Championship. This is a part of the Asia Road Racing Championship weekend for a third consecutive year in 2024. In this series, TVS makes use of their highest-spec machine until date — the TVS Asia OMC bike based on the TVS Apache RR 310. This mean-looking machine means business. Carbonfibre and titanium everything, forged pistons, bespoke Ohlins suspension and Brembo braking components. Properly committed bike, this.

My colleague Mandar got to ride this brilliant machine and the words to describe my jealousy aren’t suitable for this medium, so I’ll refrain from expressing my emotions here.

Since the first season, TVS has been making constant upgrades and revisions to make the bike that much more committed to the cause and has also managed to smash its own records along the way. For this year, it gets a new electronic throttle control system with an auto blipper function and an enhanced traction control system. It has also ensured a new lap record in the TVS ARRC class at Chang International Circuit with a time of 1:48.338 seconds bettering the previous record by well over a second. Even the top speed record which stood at 215.6kmph has now been increased to 216kmph.

Also new to the third season of this racing series is the addition of up and coming ace rider Sarthak Chavan from Pune in Maharashtra. At 17 years old, he is already making waves in the motorsport fraternity by being the first Indian to stand proudly on the podium at the ARRC.

In the first race of this season, Sarthak Chavan started strong and managed to float between first, second and third place for the first half of the race, engaging in a tough dogfight with Hiroki Ono and Ramadan Rosli. At one point, he got pushed to fifth place. But Sarthak kept his head down, and continued to put on a stellar display of racing, taking back his position on the podium, passing two racers on the start/finish straight.

In the second race, after having spent time getting familiar around Chang, the young Indian managed to better his position from race one and finished a solid second place breaking yet another record for the weekend. On this, an elated Sarthak said, “When I reached Thailand, I was incredibly excited to race but the weather was quite hot and humid. One big challenge was managing the tyres because we only had two sets for the weekend. Despite the challenges and harsh racing conditions I faced during the races, I felt super proud to see my nation’s flag flying high as I finished in third position in Race 1 and second in Race 2 during the first round of the 2024 championship. The competition was tough but I enjoyed every moment and turn."

Japanese rider Hiroki Ono, who won both the races, said "This is my first full season. I left Japan feeling very excited. I had a big crash in the first session on Friday . This big fall caused serious damage to the machine and also injuries to me. It was the first time I had fallen on a TVS machine. Although I was injured, I didn't break any bones, so I was able to pull off a great time attack in the qualifying round and set a course record As expected, both Race 1 and Race 2 were close races and we enjoyed some fierce battles. In both races, I was able to win by giving it my all in the end. In Race 1, many riders recorded great times. The level of competition is higher this year than last year, but my goal is to win and take the series title. I will stay focused and do my best in the next round in China. I am grateful to everyone at ARRC and TVS."

The first round of the TVS ARRC is off to a flying start and seeing the Indian flag on the podium is every Indian motorsport fan’s dream. The likes of TVS Racing and Sarthak Chavan are realising these dreams and taking the benchmark and pushing it that much further. This third edition of the TVS OMC at the ARRC also marks the entry of Korean and German riders, in addition to the usual Japanese, Malaysian, Thai and Indian riders, making the competition that much more serious and the victories that much more rewarding.