Aravind gears up to make Dakar debut

Indian motorbike rider Aravind KP is all geared up to make his debut in the world's challenging and dangerous cross-country off-road motorsport event 'Dakar Rally' to kick start in Paraguay from January 2, covering about 10,000 km of gruelling South American terrain.
Bangalore-based Arvind will represent the Indo-French team 'Sherco TVS Rally Factory' along with two other riders -- Joan Pedrero (Spanish) and Adrien Metge (French) -- who have the rich experience of the Dakar rally. Aravind will be the second Indian to compete in Dakar after CS Santosh.
The annual Dakar race, considered the world's toughest motorsport event, is often fatal. Since its inception in 1978, Dakar has claimed lives of many participants -- mostly motorcyclists. This year's route will take competitors across Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina.

To take on the deadly Dakar, Aravind and his team are undergoing thorough training on the Sherco TVS RTR 450 bike for last few months with a single aim to finish the rally, that will cover 10,000km of every kind of terrain, sand dunes, mountains, river beds amids extreme temperature.
"The Dakar rally is very tough. It is an overwhelming feeling to be part of Dakar. Training is going really well, we have done some bike testing getting ready to go. My goal is to take every single stage as it comes and finish the rally," 30-year-old racer Aravind told PTI.

"There will be long days of racing and 10,000km of track to cover to get to that finish," he said, adding that he is getting good training under his Team Manager David Casteu who has been the world rally champion for last 13 years.

Even though Aravind is an amateur rider in the Sherco TVS Rally team, but he feels that he "at par" with others. He has proved his mettle at the OiLibya Rally of Morocco in October finishing 25th position overall, thereby qualifying for Dakar.
He also has won 15 national championships in dirt track, rallies and motocross. He is the first Indian to win an overseas Motocross Championship in Sri Lanka.

Talking about Aravind's preparation for the event, the Team Manager Casteu said that Sherco TVS Rally team is working hard for Dakar and "Aravind is progressing well in terms of riding style and temperament. He is now more in tune with the requirements of handling the treacherous event".
The training is all about making racers to be mentally alert and physically fit to take on the deadly route for 12 days, he added.
Aravind, who is preparing at a training base in South France, said that he has learnt from the OiLibya rally a lot and claims himself a "better rider" in terms of navigation.

Satisfied with the 'Sherco TVS RTR 450 bike' that he will ride in Dakar, Aravind said, "The bike is wonderful. I am used to that now. I am practising on that bike. Engine is superb."
As far as daily routine to be followed during the rally, he said that the race would begin at 4 am and finish at 6 pm.
"Thereafter, we need to spend on road-books for two hours and then have dinner and sleep. So, hopefully we will get 7-8 hours of sleep," he said.
Being a vegetarian, Aravind said that it did not matter much as he complements with food supplements and multi-vitamins to get the body in shape.

As the team gets ready for Dakar, Arvind Pangaonkar, Head of Team TVS Racing, said, "Dakar Rally is the epitome of high endurance racing. Completing Dakar is itself a big achievement. Our partner Sherco is giving Aravind KP best training both in navigation and riding in sand dunes and rocks for the rally.
"At this stage, not even top 10 teams talk about winning. We will surely try to do best to finish in higher position."
Learning lessons from last two Dakar rallies, TVS Motor Company Vice President Marketing Motorcycles Arun Siddharth said, "We have been able to do lot of improvement in our research and development of our bikes with respect to performance, endurance and reliability. We have already applied in our new rage of bikes like RTR 200.