Smarter, stronger Santosh targets Dakar success

BENGALURU: After a 36th-place finish in his maiden appearance at the Dakar Rally - the toughest off-road motorsport event in the world - CS Santosh's second season was disappointing as a broken navigation tower forced him to retire midway.
However, the Bengaluru lad will return to South America a wiser man when the 38th edition of the dreaded cross country rally gets under way in Asuncion, Paraguay, on January 2.
Santosh, who earned a two-year contract with Hero Motors after two seasons of struggle as a privateer, expects a stronger finish this time. "I am competitive and I am not going there just to participate. I want to figure among the top drivers. It's a new team and a new bike. So we first have to finish. If we do that, the results will show," said Santosh, who will be riding a Speedbrain 450cc bike.
But the country's most-accomplished off-road rider considers his third season a fresh beginning. "Last year, I was a privateer. The budgets were small. The motorcycle wasn't 100%. I was new and I didn't know what to expect. Very few people from Asia have actually taken part. For me, it was unchartered territory. It was just sheer will power that was driving me to finish the race. In my second Dakar, I had technical issues. The third Dakar will be a fresh beginning," he said.
After successful testing sessions at two rallies in Morocco with his teammate Joaquim Rodriques of Portugal, Santosh felt he is up for the challenge. "This year my speed is lot better than the past seasons. The rallies in Morocco were to test myself and the bike in a real race situation. So physically, I am stronger, mentally I am smarter," he said.
Describing Dakar as physically grueling and mentally challenging, Santosh said: "You don't have time to recover. There are sub-zero temperatures, high altitudes, then deserts where the temperature is 45 to 50 degrees. For the body to cope with this is a huge stress," he added.
It will be interesting to see the fierce competition between Santosh and his statemate and good friend KP Aravind, who will make his Dakar debut with the TVS-Sherco Rally team. "You will have this thing that you have to finish ahead of him. I'll push and he will in turn push. So overall its good. We are competitive. It's TVS vs Hero. You have that thing running at the back as well. But overall, we have a good relationship," Santosh said.
Santosh's immediate priority is training. "I will spend a couple of weeks testing new bikes and then take it to the Himalayas. I am heading to Europe for training," he said. The rally begins in Asuncion on January 2 and passes through La Paz (Bolivia) before ending in Buenos Aires (Argentina) on January 14, covering 9,000km, including 12 competitive stages.