The Dakar Rally is considered the most gruelling test of both man and machine and Indian rider CS Santosh became the first Indian to get a taste of it. We talk to him about his experience at this endurance rally
1. Santosh, you must still be recovering from the Dakar high..has it all sunk in yet?
Thank you so much for having me. I think so the Dakar feeling is slowly sinking in.. The more I share my experience with people and hear back from what they thought..I realise what Dakar meant to them. It's slowly trying to sink in but, I'm not fully there is yet but, it will take its time.
I was just talking to friend of mine recently and he said "I don't know what you did but you pulled rabbit out of your hat." So, I just had to sit and think about what I've gone through at Dakar and being there for such a long period and the kind of things that I saw. Making the finish just puts a smile on my face and I think all the perseverance and hard work paid off.
2. Besides being the first Indian to complete the race, what were your top 3 moments?
I think one of the top three moments obviously was when I had the Indian flag on me and when the international media came up to me and they presented the question saying that " Now you represents 1.3 billion people in Dakar and you are the first person here from India. How does it feel" That moment with the the flag on my shoulder was quite memorable. I think that was the first moment I remember and then the other moment obviously has to be at the rally. There was a river crossing I had to make I just gambled you know... I have never done a river crossing before and I just went for it and at the end the gamble paid off. It could have gone either each way. The other big moment was being able to finish the entire rally.. just thinking to finish in Dakar and what it means to me personally. These were the top 3 moments for me at Dakar.
3. You had a few injuries, did you at some point think you might have to give up?
The fact is that Dakar was always going to be long and hard and when you go to an event like that I had the mentality of a fighter. And I knew I was there in for a struggle and in for a fight. I knew as long as my body and mind were able to fight...Somehow I will make the finish. Not for a single moment at Dakar did i think of giving up without finishing. I did think that I make my chances really hard by hurting myself.
4. What did Dakar teach you?
I think in a rally like this, you have to be able to learn and read the terrain. I really started to do that more than focusing on the road ahead. I learnt to be able to read the trees ahead, the electric lines, or whatever else that is there in the surroundings. I also think so it's safer to go faster in a rally like this as you don't want to be caught up in the dust or a slow rider. Its just makes your life very- very dangerous and especially when you are doing high speeds and you are trying to pass the guy front of you and it's so much dust and you never know it could be the edge of the cliff or end of the road or fence. So I know I have to be to be faster for a safer rally.
5. Did you manage to interact with other riders and learn from them?
I got along well with the South African rider his name was Ryan Dungey, he was also part of the KTM factory Team and he consistently finished in top 10's. He was always there to tell me what to do and he was the one with Alex Doringer who is the head of motorsports for KTM. He told me that you need to make the finish and he emphasized on the fact that I need to make the finish first time around. I now understand why he actually wanted me to make the finish. You are able to learn much more when u finish the rally like Dakar and with this experience in the bank I know how much I can improve.
6. How was your experience with the KTM factory team?
You know they give me access to pretty much for everything that Mark Coma would have access to in the team . and for me able to have Mark coma with tyre when you needed them for title it's a very small sacrifice that's what I look it as . I was so happy I could be a part of his in a way I was a part of its winning effort u know I take that away and I know what goes around that comes around and I think its a good thing to go from here .
7. Is Dakar 2016 already on your mind now?
You know what almost at the end of the rally when I had 3 days to go, I was just thinking what I am going to do when all this is over because when usually when you start you start you wanna finish the rally you wanna be done with it. But I was just thinking about how I need this madness around me and I was all thinking about 2016 and how can I do it better so I am really really excited about my prospects are in Dakar .
7. How did you get into racing? What drives you?
You know as a kid growing up, I remember I had a insatiable thirst for adventure so I think that's what drives me. That's what behind all this. That's why I always progress from one to another, it wasn't about winning races here in India. It's always trying to push boundaries and challenging myself. I think Dakar seems like an impossible challenge and at the end of the day, it's a triumph of the human spirit through thick and thin of life. That's what Dakar embodies and that's what I love. I think you will see me going back for more and more similar sort of adventure in my life . You know the hardship I faced as a racer helped me be prepared mentally able to sustain myself at Dakar and so I take the positives from that. That's the only way I look it at and yeah it is tough but, I think you need to perceive it that way to do whatever you want in your life.
8. Do you think this Dakar performance will help get more sponsors?
I hope so because I just been back like 4 days and I haven't really had a time to talk to everybody who might be interested. But you know what's interesting that how much interest I had in India, I know its not just the people I follow. With Dakar, people actually started getting connected in a emotional level. I have never seen people come to me telling it's a good job not just congratulating but actually there with me living 13 or 14 days in Dakar and I'm really really touched by it.
10. What plans for 2015? Any domestic and international races you will be competing in?
In 2015, I'm giving time to improve my speed a little bit. I have five rounds of the world cross country rally championship and obviously the best riders in the world are there. I'm going to compete in that and this will in a way help me build up for Dakar which is going to come around again in no time. So, the emphases this year will be on speed and trying to improve it!
