Divyank Kushagra Bansal 
The TVS Young Media Racer Program (YMRP) is an annual motorsports tourney in which automotive journalists don their leathers and test their riding skills by racing on the country’s premier racetracks. Now in its seventh edition, the YMRP has tested and trained over 150 journalists, produced exciting finales and crowned worthy champions. In 2023, WION Drive was invited to send a rider, and, a draw of lots later, yours truly found himself in the saddle of a ‘race spec’ TVS Apache RTR 200!
Championship Format
The YMRP has a straightforward format. In the first phase, all invitee journalists are put through a preliminary one-day training and selection round. This year, the participants — your writer amongst them — congregated at the Madras International Circuit for a series of practice sessions interspersed with practical and theoretical training sessions.
These sessions aim to introduce riders to the basic concepts of track riding — ideal racing lines, braking points, entry and exit speeds for different corners, gearing, track decorum, and communication with track marshals — as well as the finer nuances of racing.
Post the training sessions, the riders go through a qualifying stage to determine their spots for the tourney. This year, more than 30 journalists from across the country locked horns for just 16 spots on the grid. After a taxing (but absolutely thrilling!) qualifying, yours truly managed to clinch eighth place, cementing my spot in this year’s championship rounds.
In the second phase of the programme, selected riders compete over a set of three race weekends. These races are organised as part of the TVS One Make Championship, which runs on the sidelines of the MRF MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC). For the media riders, this is a real treat because it gives the YMRP a genuine race weekend ambience, and the riders get access to the feedback and wisdom of experienced racers.
The Motorcycle
Nothing too dramatic: the ‘race-spec’ TVS Apache RTR 200, is fundamentally the same as the road-legal variant that can be bought on the street. The performance mods are limited to a free-flow exhaust, a modified camshaft, and race-spec TVS Remora tyres. Grab rails and other dispensable accessories are removed to shed weight. At this point, with both men and machines primed to hit the track, it’s time to race.
The YMRP is contested over three races held at different venues over three months. Here’s how things panned out in 2023.
Round One – Kari Motor Speedway (KMS), Coimbatore
One month after the qualifying round the 16 riders met at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, Karnataka, for the opening round. This track is considered one of the most technical circuits in the country.
On the Saturday of the race weekend – over the practice and qualifying sessions – the riders got better acquainted with the track. Most of us managed to better our practice lap times in the qualifying session. Race day!
It felt like the real thing! Lined up on the grid, like MotoGP pros, tense, and ready to throttle down as soon as the red lights turned green! As the race began (to no one’s surprise), the more experienced riders emerged as the front runners. As these riders set the pace, the chasing pack was where all the drama unfolded: lots of close overtakes with riders swapping places with each passing corner.
I started and finished the race in ninth place. It sounds uneventful but it really wasn’t: to hold my own in the middle of the pack during all those constant challenges from the rear was no mean task. Overall, it was a thrilling experience – the main agenda of the YMRP is to learn, apply and enjoy. And this is exactly what I managed to do, in spades!
Round Two – Madras International Circuit (MIC), Chennai
In August, the YMRP bandwagon headed to the Madras International Circuit in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, for the second leg. Despite a gap of two months, the lessons from the first round were fresh in our minds. And the practice sessions reaffirmed my confidence. The bike felt stronger than ever, and the corners of the MIC did not intimidate me as much as I had expected.
At this point, it is worth mentioning that the two tracks – KMS and MIC – are quite different from each other. KMS is a narrow and technical track with a preponderance of low- to mid-speed corners. The MIC, on the other hand, is a much faster and wider track, with several high-speed corners and long straights.
Having spent time at KMS earlier, my outing at the MIC seemed a bit less challenging, although more demanding in terms of outright speed. As the practice sessions came to a close, and we made our way back to the pits, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my name was in the top five! It had felt like a good session, but I had certainly not predicted this result.
This breath of positivity, however, did not last for long. Due to an unfortunate incident involving a fatal crash in one of the following sessions, the entire weekend had to be called off, and the second round was cancelled.
Round Three – Madras International Circuit (MIC), Chennai
The finale! Towards the end of October, TVS invited the riders back to the MIC for the third and final round of this year’s YMRP. To compensate for the cancellation of the previous round, the organisers decided to conduct two races in the finale. That meant four sessions over the race weekend instead of the usual three: practice and qualifying on Saturday, followed by two races on Sunday.
Since this was the finale, and I had already had a good practice session here during the training sessions, I was able to focus a bit less on the results and more on the experience at hand. In brief, here’s what transpired, and what I have learnt from this experience.
Lesson #1 – Trust your Instincts
For this round, bikes are allotted through a ballot. By the end of the first lap, I spotted a potential problem on my bike (#7). While it seemed to perform fine in all other gears, in fifth gear, the performance seemed to plateau, and the bike felt slower than usual on the straights. Post the practice session, I gave this feedback and the TVS mechanics sprang into action. The entire clutch assembly was replaced. When I took the bike out for the qualifying session, not only did I get the desired level of performance, but the clutch lever also became lighter, which meant a lesser load on my left hand. The new clutch also contributed to better acceleration in lower gears. I wasn’t surprised when I managed to lop off a couple of seconds off my lap times.
Lesson #2 – Set your Goal
The aim is to win, right? It is not that simple. In our case, the grid could be easily divided into three distinct groups – the experienced riders at the front, the amateur riders (with prior track experience) in the middle, and, newbies bringing up the rear. I was part of the middle rung; with that clarity, I decided to focus my energy on the middle group rather than try and challenge the leaders. This meant aiming for sixth place, which would place me in the top rung amongst the amateur group. The strategy worked and I secured P6 on the starting grid for Race One on Sunday.
Lesson #3 – The Art of Catching Up
In Race One, a lacklustre start off the line meant I dropped back into eighth place by the end of the first corner. Now, losing two places right at the start of a short five-lap race can be demoralising. It does not leave much scope for catching up especially since, on this occasion, the riders ahead had a significant weight advantage. Undeterred I continued my charge and focused on gaining time through the corners. Lo and behold! By the end of lap four, I was within catching distance of the rider in P6 (Vedant Jouhari from Drivespark). In the second half of the final lap, not much separated Jouhari and me and he crossed the line 0.3 of a second ahead! From a spectator’s viewpoint, we were neck-and-neck. Ultimately, this proved that catching up is an art – one that can be mastered if you just remain focused on gaining time. Proof of this – my lap time (2:17.740) in Race One happened to be my personal best around the MIC!
Lesson #4 – You Can’t Overtake at Every Corner
It sounds contradictory but sometimes it pays to stay patient, even though you are in a race. In Race Two I was placed in seventh position on the grid and again, fell behind by two spots almost at the very start. This time however, I was able to catch up to the tail of the rider in P7 (Dhruv Paliwal from autoX) much quicker but made one crucial mistake: trying to overtake on every single corner. An unsuccessful overtake adversely affects your lap time and allows the other person to gain distance and time on you. I kept trying and that meant giving away an unassailable advantage to Paliwal, as well as allowing riders behind me to catch up. Nonetheless, the battle with Paliwal was one for the ages and something both he and I will remember. I felt short by a whisker – an astonishing 0.1 of a second to clinch P7!
Lesson #5 – Believe in Yourself
Last thoughts? I did not make it to the podium, but given my level of skill and experience, that was never the goal. What I did learn at the TVS YMRP is 1) Compete with yourself, and 2) Work diligently at improving your riding skills. Better skills lead to more confidence, which leads to results. Even off the track, just the fact that I finished YMRP a significantly better rider than when I entered it meant that the program had achieved its goal.
