Although we had known as far back as April that Hero MotoCorp's foray into motorsport had roped in India's top off-road biker CS Santosh and that they had their sights set on the Dakar Rally - the toughest off-road motorsport event there is - they didn't make as big a song and dance of it as one would have expected them to until a week ago.
A makeshift tent at Hero's high-tech Center of Innovation and Technology at Amer, not too far from Jaipur was the setting for India's biggest two-wheeler auto company to introduce the bike, riders, technical and support team that would lead the Hero Motosports into the final FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship round in Morocco, the OiLibya Rally.
The seven-day long rally that starts from tomorrow is the final Cross-Country World Championship event of the year before all the participants - factory or privateer - make their way to South America in late December to start the 2017 Dakar Rally.
It is a routine that Santosh is familiar with having taken part in cross-country rallying's biggest dance twice before. Except this time there is one crucial difference.
The online fundraising efforts to make even the entry fee to the event or pay for his ride are history. As is the uncertainty of whether he would even have a ride at all.
With factory backing has come the freedom to pound multiple laps of a motocross circuit in Spain, work on road-book training along with all the cycling and other fitness related activities to stay sharp on a bike.
For Santosh's teammate Joaquim Rodrigues - aka J-Rod - being drafted by Hero Motosports was the opening for new doors for the Portugese whose previous experience has included motocross and enduro.
It is his first foray into cross-country rallying but between himself and Santosh, he has proved to be the safer pair of hands at the moment. All that experience of riding in Europe has to count for something, after all.
Rodrigues finished ninth overall in the Afriquia Merzouga Rally in May, which was Hero Motosport's first competitive outing while Santosh was 16th out of a total of 76 riders.
At the heart of Hero's attempts to make sure its attempts to position itself as something other than mass consumer bike manufacturer is a motorcycle that it has next to nothing to with technically. Even though you see Hero pasted all over it, the Speedbrain 450 rally bike is a German import that is maintained and tuned by Speedbrain Rally, an outfit that has worked with heavyweight factory teams like BMW and Honda at the Dakar Rally with a fair amount of success.
The engine is an old BMW powerplant that has been constantly upgraded while the bike itself is very much a work in progress.
Having been previously used in Dakar Rally events in Africa, the bike traditionally has had a rear bias due to the wide open blasts that characterized the event when it ran from Paris to Dakar in Senegal.
However, on the relatively more twisty stages that make up the route since the event shifted to South America in 2009, a more nimble bike is required. It is an issue that is currently being worked upon in order to give the riders the confidence they need to push to the maximum in January.
Although before that, they will need to come up against pretty much the same riders and manufacturers that will go up against them in the Dakar Rally.
Dr. Markus Braunsperger, Hero MotoCorp's Chief Technical Officer, has said that the aim for Hero is to win the Dakar, otherwise there would be no point to teaming up with an outfit as accomplished as Speedbrain. Although, one can't really expect it to happen right away.
An avid rider himself, Braunsperger spoke of the bigger picture of Hero's involvement, which was to "bring the Dakar to India". And not just figuratively it seems. With the country boasting a varied and rugged terrain, it has always been seen to be an off-roader's dream come true.
To bring a Dakar Series or even an FIM Cross-Country event to the country would be a huge boost to the growing adventure-tourer segment of India's motorcycle market.
All that is secondary, however, to the immediate challenge of posting a good result in Morocco so that momentum can be carried forward to South America.
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