Santosh gears up for Dakar

Bengalurean confident of a good showing

After treading the unchartered territory of Dakar Rally in 2015, rallyist CS Santosh is all set to complete a hat-trick of appearances as he prepares to tackle the 2017 edition of one of the most gruelling races in the world in January.

Being the first Indian at the Dakar Rally was a matter of pride for the Bengaluru rider and he did not disappoint as he finished 19th in 2015, riding a KTM sponsored by Red Bull.

In 2016, it was a different ball game as he had to deal to with a lot of difficulties. Besides having to fund himself, he lost his navigation system halfway through the event and had to contend with physical injuries owing to the unforgiving nature of the rally. Santosh had to retire after just two days.

But the 32-year-old has put the past behind him. Displaying grit and self-confidence he said, “The Dakar is gruelling. You can go in fresh on the first couple of days but things change with every passing stage.

“I have set myself a few goals for this edition but I don’t want to reveal them. I am ready and an going there to be among the top riders.”

Earlier this year Santosh signed up with the Hero team, who will be sponsoring him at Dakar next year and he will be astride Speedbrain 450cc motorcycle.

Having seen difficult times with lack of sponsorship, Santosh was grateful of the budding partnership, which has seen him particpate in two international rallies in 2016 -- the Merzouga and OiLibya rallies in Morocco.

His rides in Morocco may have given him practice but Santosh observed that he would have to tackle a variety of unknown terrains in South America.

“When the Dakar used to happen in Africa, it was a wide open desert and dunes but with South America we also have to negotiate Caminos (dirt roads).”

“You can’t really practice for a cross-country track. All we have is a road book and scroll of paper to help us and warn us of what to expect on the track,” he added.
  
A mouth-watering clash will be in the offing as Santosh takes on a familiar face in National champion KP Aravind, when he hits the track on January 2, but he played down the “rivalry”.

“There definitely will be a feeling at the back of my head that I’ll have to finish ahead of him. I’m sure we’ll both push each other so that’s good. We have been team-mates in the past so there isn’t much of a rivalry as yet. It will probably be a TVS (Aravind will represent TVS-Sherco) versus Hero scenario. But overall, I share a good relationship with him,” he added.

The death of rallyist Subhamoy Paul during the Raid de Himalaya shook the motorsport world but Santosh chose to look at it from a different perspective.

“The only guarantee in life is that we all die. I knew him (Paul) well and he loved racing on his dirt bike. It’s sad we lost him but he died doing what he loved,” he signed off.