TVS Racing Diaries: Chatting With Aravind K P

When did it start?
“In the tenth standard I went to watch the Manipal Supercross where TVS Racing was going up against Yamaha. I had seen few races on the telly but it’s different experiencing it live. And I wanted to be like them, giving out autographs and all. I’ve been an athlete all my life so I was competitive all the time.
My parents had set an 80 per cent cut-off for my twelfth standard exams to get a bike. I scored 84.7 and they had to get me a one. But I wasn’t 18 as yet. So I had to wait for 8 months to take it to college and I was a total menace on the streets. My mechanic Prakash told me I probably shouldn’t do this on the street and kill myself or kill someone else. He suggested I try local dirt track racing.
The first race I participated in the student class; I was running second till the end where I crashed. I picked myself up and finished 8th. That was a harsh reality check. In that event a Bangalore rider borrowed my bike as his got damaged and he won in the Indian open class. That’s when it all clicked for me and I took to the sport.
As a return favour those guys invited me to come to Bangalore and practice with them. I shattered a few bones here and there during the sessions, as well as the local races that I took part in at the time. Fortunately for me, a couple of months later the Gulf Dirt Track National Championship happened at my home town of Mangalore so I didn’t have any expenses to transport the bike. I entered my RX and YBX and borrowed a Fiero. I beat the factory riders at that event. I won races in the next round in Bangalore and in the middle of the post-race party I received a call from TVS asking whether I would like to race with them. And that’s how my association began.
I was invited to the factory to sign a deal and complete formalities. That’s when I realized that dirt track is not the only thing, there was also Supercross and as I came to know later on, I was really bad at it. I had good ground speed but poor fitness. It almost came to a point where TVS didn’t want to keep me for Supercross anymore, Arvind Pangaonkar (the team boss) said dirt track is over, we got the championship and it’s good enough for me. Then Ravindra, the tuner at that time, said I deserved another season of Supercross.

I practised to the point where my knuckles bled. Ravi would come in the morning and take my seat off because I would sit a lot and ride, that’s not correct for Supercross. I wasn’t able to ride even two laps while standing, panting and puffing. I worked hard and the following year started showing results. I won the Group D classes, moved onto Group C, won even there and even the Group B. But I desperately wanted to ride the Group A. Back then C S Santosh was the man, he still is but he was riding the 4-strokes. I was given the 2-stroke to learn my trade. There was speed but there was no consistency. I would be fast for 2 or 3 laps and then I would do something wrong or just go off the track and I would crash all the time. Santosh had already trained in Australia and Dubai and he was also training in America. So I approached TVS and I told them that even I need to go and I went to California for four months. I got back and everyone was astonished. I won the championship in the following years.

How important was TVS Racing?
“I couldn’t afford it when I started out and the first year it was not a paid contract but I could race for free. I had a lot to learn so everything was coming free, until then I was fine. I didn’t have to spend anything so it was okay and once I started getting better I got a contract for three years and then after that, the next contract was two years. But I should appreciate TVS’ gesture when I got hurt in 2012. My contract was due for renewal and I got hurt very badly in Sri Lanka. Every doctor they consulted, every doctor I know told me, you are almost done. TVS brought my contract to the hospital and I signed there. They supported me, it’s an emotional thing because if not for them I would be done.

How did bike rallying come about?
I started out in 2006 but was not very successful. I never finished. First stage I would be fastest then second stage DNF. First loop fastest, second loop DNF. I was constantly asking TVS for a rally bike but then they had Joshua and Pradeep HK who were already established. So I would race my private bike and to my bad luck I crashed and broke my arm in 2007. In 2008 they wanted a rider because Pradeep was hurt and they had three bikes and two riders but I was also hurt. I got aboard the rally bike in 2009 and straightaway won the championship. Last year is when I won my first Dakishin Dare in the fourth attempt. I came second at the Desert Storm this year but no luck previously. Even in the Raid, I crashed and broke my hand in 2014 but came back the following year and won it.

But the Raid or Dakshin Dare is not even one-tenth of the Dakar
The elements are different. The Raid is much too dangerous and because of valleys and the uncertainty of things. But Dakar is definitely ten times harder. Everything is a different kind of challenge, like the terrain is going to be much harder, rocks are also going to be much bigger but I think that I’m on a better bike there. Here when things start to go wrong you either soldier on to finish or bow out.
How can an Indian guy match the fitness and build levels of the Europeans or the Americans?
It’s being efficient on the bike. That’s one of the things I’ve been good at – fitness, but strength wise they are far ahead. Part of it is because their genes are better. Everyone is six-foot plus and they all weigh about 100kgs and they make that rally bike look really small. They are all huge, can kill anyone with their bare hands. But you can be efficient. It comes with skill, with time and also the more time you spend on the bike, you find a sweet spot where you can use less of your energy and be efficient.

How different is the Sherco Dakar bike from the bikes you’ve been riding?
It’s totally different. I’ve never ridden any bike like that. It’s more like a like a tanker because it has 40 litres of fuel and it will not stop because it’s so heavy. You can’t set it up properly. You have to choose an in-between suspension setting – you cannot have a suspension for full load because once you do 200 kilometres there is no fuel in the bike and then the suspension is so hard one small bump and you are taking off hundred feet. So you have to understand the medium side where it will not throw you off but it is not going to buck you over also, so that is one major challenge. And then the bike is heavy, 150 kilos. You can’t sit and turn the bike, you have to stand. There is no sitting and riding, only on straights you are sitting otherwise you are always standing and at times in corners you steer the bike with power because you cannot turn the bike around. It’s like a quad – steering is to counter-steer, handle bar is to counter-steer, power is to steer, so when you power the bike it will turn automatically and counter-steer to keep it where you want to go.

Are you taught how to work on the bikes?
Yes, that is in my training. When I’m not riding I service my bike, take everything off and put everything on the bike even if I don’t have to change anything in it. On the bike, we carry lots of spares like levers, brake pads, air filters and a few tools. Most of the parts are just clip-on, you don’t even need a tool to open it.
Whenever I go to California, I service my bike myself because if a mechanic even touches your bike there, he will charge you 100 dollars. Who will pay 100 dollars? You can ride for five days with that money!
Is there a lot of competition between you and C S Santosh?
Not really. I think we have always been competitive and factory-wise, definitely, Hero would want to finish ahead of me and I always would want to finish ahead of him. Definitely there’s competition so that’s what we are going to check in January 2017 I guess. He’s doing his best and everyone goes there to give their best, so whatever happens, happens.
As far as speed is concerned, I’m good. I’ve always been there, it’s not like I’m way off pace, but there are other factors also. His bike has got better top end, my bike doesn’t do that much of top end, and it’s not just riding skills which matter, there’s navigation etc. I’m sure I can be better.
Did Santosh going to Dakar pave the way for you?
Definitely. And not just the Dakar, I should say in every other aspect. Even in my California training, even in my Supercross career, even in my international races, even international rallies now, he is always paving ways if not for his flamboyant moves or his coverage of doing that by himself. Personally speaking I don’t think anyone else would have done it but now since he’s there others can also go there. I always wanted to be there but if not for the TVS Racing support that would just be a dream. In five years I would still be saying that I want to do Dakar. Now because he did it everyone else also wants to do it. So that definitely paved the way, and woke everyone up.

The Dakar ride is a dream come true?
Definitely yes. I should say it is more than a dream. The dream was to get to Dakar but the making of the dream has been much better than I thought it would be. My teammates are really fun, everything is really well planned and organised and there’s not much hardship. I didn’t have to run corner to corner to do this or that, things are set and organised really well. Initially when the Dakar thing came up, they were like why don’t you go and train, I was like when we have a team I think we should go there and train because I will be riding that machine. Both my teammates are world enduro champions, junior champions twice and senior champions twice, and they are really good. The terrain where I used to go and practice was mad. First day I went I was done in half an hour of riding. Take me to a Supercross track and I can do this all day but here I just can’t.

Has your fitness gone up by 50 per cent?
“More than 50 per cent. Confidence has also gone up. I was scared of rocks because I’ve had bad incidents with rocks because of a bad bike; it just takes one second for the rock to put you down. If you crash on a rally bike, your chance of finishing is 50 per cent less because there is so much on the bike and it’s so heavy and when it hits the ground everything breaks. If your navigation tower breaks you’re done with it and the mechanic will also have a hard time. And then you reach the end late and you don’t have time to work on the road books and the mechanic also has very little time to repair the bike, it all becomes very hard.

What is the plan come January 2nd?
Do every day as best as possible, keep my bike in one piece and keep my cool and not rush into things. Just learn, because I have a lot of learning to do, because everything is new and don’t do anything stupid, be consistent and do what I did in OiLibiya and get better everyday. Primary concern is to finish so after that whatever comes, comes.