In my last report, I had mentioned that my only goal at the YMRP 8.0 is to win. I was hungry for it too. I had clocked the fastest time among 39 riders competing for a spot at the championship but now it was time to prove that was not a fluke. The time to prove myself was now, it was time to sink or swim. So, with that in mind (no pressure, right?), I was not only looking forward to Round 1 but had started preparations by way of mentally memorising the tracks and lines through each corner via on-board footage available on Youtube.
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From the time that we had clocked in the selection rounds, I was aware that my main competition would be Praveen Kumar representing Rev Nitro. A Chennai local with in-depth knowledge of the track. Our first practice was scheduled for Saturday morning and all I kept thinking about before it was ‘practice your race starts’. When the moment finally came, the pressure of not missing out on valuable track time ensured it definitely slipped my mind. Thankfully, the only solace was the fact that the pressure might have been too great for others too because no one else had practiced them either. At the end, I managed to clock a time of 2:17.550, which was actually an improvement of four seconds over the last round. Surprisingly, Aakash Bhadra from Top Gear took 2nd place, while Prateek Kunder from Bike India was 3rd and Praveen 4th.
It was Saturday evening and finally time for the actual qualifiers. There was a cloud cover to help with the heat and practice had boosted my confidence but falsely so. My aim was to get ahead of the pack and have a free track to try and set the fastest time without any distractions. The only problem was we started in order of bike numbers and I was number 5. As a result, a three-way race between three riders including myself ensued in a pursuit to get ahead. I managed to do so with a few laps left and managed a time of 2:16.460. I had qualified on pole, with Praveen Kumar, Prateek Kunder and Aakash Bhadra finishing behind in that order.
It was finally Sunday morning and time for us to race. Although I felt calm, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. The lights go out and the lack of practice starts catch me out. I drop back to 5th and now have to start the pursuit behind the leading group. As I start pushing, a few close calls remind me I'm pushing the bike harder than it likes. Yet, the fastest way to get ahead was to start pushing harder than others, especially through the corners. I really wanted the win and the pressure of not doing so was far greater than the embarassment of crashing out. Despite a few instances of the rear stepping out and the front trying to give way, I was finally on Prateek's tail in the second place position. His weak spot was corner speeds and I realised that exactly what I had to exploit. It was only fitting that despite trading places a few times, where I managed to get the race-winning overtake was at the last lap on the last corner.
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