TVS Off-Road Track Day – Training With Aravind KP

TVS Off-Road Track Day

It’s all about dirt, muck and off-road here; everything grips in a different manner

The first time I visited TVS’ Anekal Track was 2 years back when TVS Racing announced their plans for Dakar with Sherco. This time around as a part of the one-make racing, TVS got us some off-road training so that we understand the difference between road and off-road racing. Also, as a part of skill development, international racers tend to take up flat-track or supercross as training while they are into road-racing. At the track, Aravind KP welcomed us with some crazy jumps and literally everyone was thrilled to get the day started.

To start off, we knew Aravind KP would train us but TVS had also got Abdul Wahid Tanveer who is a TVS Factory Racer for off-road. After the jumps and photo-op session, we started the day with an introduction and Aravind told us what the schedule is going to be for the whole day. But as we geared up and got ready, the first thing we actually did was exercise and stretch as our lazy body parts needed some wake-up call. Next up was the body positioning, where Aravind told us what to do while Abdul showed us how to do. And then we were put into groups of four each while I was in the second batch.

Aravind was riding the RTR 300 FX while Abdul was on the RTR 450 FX and we were given the Apache RTR 200 4V in a complete dirt-spec. These are the motorcycles which are used to take part in the National Championships under the Group B category. None of our 200’s had a headlight neither were there any body panels. There were cardboard sheets on some sides and the only metal/plastic part present was the tank and the front mudguard. Once we got acquainted with the bike, we started off with the figure-8 on the flat section. At one cone we had Abdul while at the other one was Aravind with a stick in his hand!

After completing the figure-8 we had to complete single-sided loops along with those cones. This is when I got a stick from Aravind to my leg as I wasn’t keeping it high enough while cornering in the dirt. All we had to do was maintain a body posture which is completely opposite to the one we have during road-racing. Elbow up-high in an attack position, knee locked onto the tank and be as much ahead on the bike as possible. After the figure-8 and the loops, we had a 15-min break while the team set up more cones.

Consistent throttle gives you traction, chop it off only when you brake

The next training was like a Slalom test where all the cones were put in a line and we had to ride from one end to another while standing up. In off-road riding, we have a different body posture for standing up too, knees locked to the tank while the back stays straight and chin facing handlebar. Even here the elbows stay up high in an attack position. We had to complete the Slalom, take a u-turn and come back without keeping our feet down. We did this for 20-mins and I tell you, we were tired to the core! All of us had an idea of how unfit we were and everyone got a breather as we took some rest.

The next session was complete laps along the Supercross course and everyone was finally excited to do what they had come for! But on the brighter side, now everyone knew how to tackle the different terrain as the 3 hours of training since morning would come into play. All the batches did the track laps and I was moved to the first batch as I was performing better and better during the training sessions. During my lap, Abdul was riding behind me for almost 2 complete laps and gave me instructions on the mistakes I was doing. While he went ahead to check on other riders, my luck got better and Aravind followed me for a complete lap and again instructed on how to improve my body position.

We had a lunch break after that and as we came back Abdul and Aravind told us individually what mistakes we were doing and a majority of it was in the braking section. So they set up cones again on the flat area and trained us on how to complete our braking. By the end of it, everyone got a chance again to get out on the track and let it all out! Abdul and Aravind were quite happy with our improvements that by the end of it they were going all out, popping wheelies next to us and taking jumps while we were going around it. While no one was watching I popped a few wheelies for myself too and the RTR 200 would take it out without breaking a sweat!

By the end of the day, I requested the TVS team to allow me to ride the RTR 300 FX but I was denied. However, I didn’t feel bad because the whole day had been tiring yet full of learning. It would have been fun to ride the RTR 300 FX which looks like a proper motocross motorcycle but the RTR 200 is nothing less. It never felt slow or left out, it rather felt too fast for some corners. To summarize, just one complete day of training does not bring out a champion but it taught us enough to manage our day-to-day riding. While it will also help in the one-make race as I would more be focused on managing my body position and have better throttle control.