Born in Bangalore, India, among the mangos of his wealthy family’s plantation, Santosh Chunchunguppe Shivashankar’s interests should naturally have turned toward cricket: the national sport.
However, the 31-year-old — better-known as CS Santosh — is instead discovering the dangers of fesh-fesh as the first Indian to compete in the gruelling Dakar Rally.
“I tried badminton, golf, tennis, cricket, but I just couldn’t stick to it. And then it was the motorbike, and that was it. For me it’s destiny,” CS Santosh said.
Photo: Reuters
Far from his family’s mango and perfume business, CS Santosh has been battling one of the most treacherous traps of the world of rallying: fesh-fesh, a clay as fine as flour that gets everywhere and suffocates a vehicle’s engine.
He fought through this perilous dust to finish 50th in the second stage in Argentina — described as “torture” by Spanish race leader Joan Barreda Bort — and was 53rd overall going into yesterday’s fourth stage through Chile.
CS Santosh had sacrificed everything to follow his passion for motorcycling, giving up his studies and persevering after a life-threatening accident.
“It was my first rally, in 2012, in Abu Dhabi,” he said. “I was on the floor, gasoline was leaking and suddenly everything was on fire.”
Suffering third-degree burns, he was transported by helicopter to hospital and today still bears the scars, largely on his neck.
However, the accident did not snuff out the triple Indian rallying champion’s passion and he has competed in the toughest races the sub-continent has to offer.
He raced twice in the Raid De Himalaya, winning in 2012, and won the Desert Storm rally in Rajasthan last year.
Master within his borders, he then competed in the World Cup rally, which had three stages last year: Morocco, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
In Abu Dhabi, he made it into the top 10, finishing ninth overall.
Competing in the Dakar Rally is CS Santosh’s ultimate dream.
“It’s just a dream for me, the first time I saw those images on TV, I just told myself: ‘You have to do it one day.’ It’s like the Everest of rallying,” he said.
“At home, we all ride motorbikes, to commute. That’s why my dad bought me one, but I also went on to compete, which is something else,” CS Santosh said.
“I had never imagined doing the Dakar. Offroad rallies are more than racing so the Dakar is the ultimate adventure,” he added. “What worries me about the Dakar is the uncertainty. I really can’t predict what can happen. The best thing is to try and adapt, and try to bring it home every day.”
“Nevertheless, my goal is to make it in the top 20. I hope that the fact I’m the first Indian to do it will open the eyes of many people,” CS Santosh said.
“Rallying is getting bigger in India, and there are more and more people riding motorbikes. If I do well, it’ll show that there isn’t only cricket in India,” he added.
In the meantime, the KTM rider’s short-term goal is simple: “I just want to be back at the bivouac every evening and I want to see Buenos Aires again, in 11 days.”
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
RSS