Introduction
I’ve never been a track guy and I attribute it to mainly two reasons -- one there were no racetracks around me, and two, it is an expensive affair. Which is why I love off-roading, because all I need is a motorcycle with good suspension travel and ground clearance, and I can enjoy some good trails. Moreover, racing never enticed me the way dirt riding did. As a result, whenever there was a racing school invite from TVS or any other track schools, we ended up sending people who had a thing or two for racetracks. So this time when the invite for the TVS Young Media Race Program came, I had to volunteer because everyone in the team had attended this TVS school, except me!
TVS YMRP
TVS is one of those companies who always believed in grooming young journalists and media professionals. They have been doing this for years and it looks like they will continue to do it in future. And I’ve seen how the BikeWale team got better at riding after attending the Young Media Race Program. After all, this is the closest the team ever got to racing. All of them had a lot of fun and this time around, it was my time.
Training
The qualification round of YMRP is a one-day program. This time, there were a total of 39 participants. And only 16 of the riders would make it to the racing season. But for most of these riders, riding on a racetrack was a first-time experience. So a few hours of training were planned. The topics covered in these sessions revolved around understanding the track and various flags, riding posture along with throttle control and braking. There was also a session around the best way to go through a corner – basically, racing lines. Some of these sessions were followed by practice on the track. All of us had 15-20 minutes of riding time and in every session, we had a trainer who was leading the track, and also observing the riders one by one. Based on the riding styling, the feedback was given on the track and also off the track.
The Bike
TVS uses its Apache RTR 200 race bike for such training and races. I’ve ridden this motorcycle in the past, and also on the same race track. This race bike is quite perfect for someone wanting to learn the art of racing. It has all the necessary ingredients – a chassis that is agile and easy to turn in. The 200cc and 24bhp-producing engine with all its ECU mods and race exhaust has respectable power to churn out adrenaline-filled performance. Plus, a lot of cycle parts have been removed to drop the weight of the bike.
The Qualifiers
The initial plan was to have a free practice of 15 minutes, then a water break followed by the qualifiers. But as we were running behind schedule, we were told to wrap up the free practice as well as the qualifying run within 15 mins. So I used the first lap to warm up the tyres, and also a bit of sighting. From the second lap onwards, I started pushing to the limits. The Race Apache was being used to bring out the maximum potential, but I made the mistake of entering C4 in fourth gear. I lost some time there, and again in the C10, I accidentally shifted to fourth gear. These two mistakes did take away a few seconds.
But in the fourth lap, I didn’t make any mistakes and that lap turned out to be my best one at 2:23:478 and I qualified in the third position. The only way I feel I could have made better time is if I weighed a bit lighter. At the time of this qualifier, my weight stood at 95kgs and that is also going to be a big disadvantage for me in the upcoming races.
What's next?
Now, I have a total of three races with the first one happening from 14-16 June. This media race will be a part of the TVS One Make Championship. Post this race weekend, there are two more – one in August and the final one in October. My goal for this race season is to come back with lots of learning and also have a bit of fun on the track.
Gallery
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TVS Apache RTR 200 4V Right Side View
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