Off the line: TVS Young Media Racer programme round one

There’s something about a proper race weekend that brings out a different version of yourself. The visor drops, nerves sharpen into focus, and even the jokes in the paddock carry a strange tension. After qualifying for the ninth edition of TVS’ Young Media Racer Program last month, it was time to swap drills with duels.

We were back at MMRT on an overcast day, with the 16 of us ready to race. For me, it wasn’t just about racing again. It was about measuring how far I’d come since the selection round and, perhaps more importantly, how far I still had to go.

Practice makes panic

Unlike the structured, drill-based sessions of the selection round, practice this time was raw and unrestricted. All of us had to draw chits and were allotted a new bike based on the number we picked. I had 25 minutes on track to get acquainted with my new bike, test my limits, and shake off the cobwebs. But just as the rhythm was settling in, chaos struck: one of the riders had a crash, and their motorcycle caught fire. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the session was red-flagged and cut short.

In those brief laps of the practice session, I recalled all the pointers my colleagues Dinshaw and Zaran gave me and focused on making the most of this time. I pushed myself harder than before, experimenting with tighter lines, more aggressive corner entries, and cleaner exits. The track felt tighter too, with fewer riders but a faster, more focused group this time.

Overtakes were frequent, and lines felt sharper. But even more worrying was the casual disregard for safety flags by some. While this was just a media race, it wasn’t a game, and safety should be paramount, both on and off the track. I found myself making a recurring mistake, and it was coasting. I lost time because of it, and I knew if I wanted to chase a sub-2:20s lap, that would have to change.

Two-tenths and a fifth

With practice cut short, qualifying felt more important than ever, and each of us had just 15 minutes and no margin for error. I was riding a different bike this time, and while the clutch felt a bit heavier, the brakes slightly sharper; it was otherwise the same fierce, raspy Apache RTR 200 4V I’d bonded with during selection.

Fortunately for me, everything clicked a little better this time, and I qualified in 5th place again. However, I did so with a massive improvement in lap time with a 2:20.205, shaving nearly five seconds off my best from last month. This was the boost in confidence I needed.

Five laps, four rivals

The race itself was a five-lap dash – short, sharp, and bursting with adrenaline. My launch wasn’t ideal, and I dropped back to around 7th or 8th off the line, which left me with having to claw my way back through traffic. The real fight began midway through the race, and it was a four-way duel for 5th place. In a nutshell, it was intense, personal, and aggressive. There were elbows out, knees scraping, and barely a bike’s width of room at times. 

Some of the riders were a little too keen, with a few near misses that had my heart in my throat. But I held my line, stayed calm, and fought my way back to where I started, back in 5th place. But more than the position, it was the lap time that stood out, 2:19.057, which is my fastest yet. I didn’t crack the podium, but I did crack the mental ceiling I’d unknowingly built for myself.

This round gave me perspective. I’m not the fastest guy on this grid, not yet anyway. That would be 4 seconds away, but I’m closing the gap, lap by lap.

There’s work to do – less coasting, sharper launches, and maybe even some off-track fitness to shave off those last few seconds. The goal for the next round? A sub-2:15s lap. Ambitious? Sure. But that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

Also see: Back in the saddle: TVS Young Media Racer programme qualifier round