Red Bull Motorsports
MotoGP
Racer Rajini is looking for more ways to succeed
Nine-time national champ Rajini Krishnan tells us about his racing academy and upcoming grass-roots championship as he hopes to find India a MotoGP racer.
Indian motor sports currently boasts having multiple professionals partaking in championships across the globe. However, a career in motorsport remains a doubt in many minds that hope to take up either Formula racing or bike racing at a young age. That was the case a decade ago as well.
But the uncertainty was no deterrent for nine-time Indian National Motorcycle Racing Champion, Rajini Krishnan, who has seen out the lows to make a name for himself and inspire young riders to take up professional racing as a career.
Claim to fame
The 37-year-old is vocal about the dire situation of motorsports in India, but he hasn’t given up on racing and still wants to make the country proud every time he steps onto the race track. He also wants to aid the growth of the sport through his academy, Rajini Academy of Competitive Racing (RACR), and the upcoming India Cub Prix Championship, which he will be organising.
But how did the journey begin for Krishnan? It was because of a fascination for machinery that he picked up while working at an autorickshaw shop as an adolescent.
“As a young bike enthusiast, I used to help my brother at our autorickshaw lining workshop in Chennai. I used to work there from the age of 10,” recalled Krishnan.
“I learnt the art of riding when I turned 16-years-old and was blessed with a Yamaha RX 100 bike at the age of 20. That two-stroke machine I got in the year 2000 was my most prized possession at the time.”
He won 1000cc class at 2015 Malaysian Superbike
© Munish Raja
And thus, his racing journey began. The Chennai-born racer joined the Yam Boys Racing team mid-season during the 2002 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship, racing the last two rounds under the guidance of a mechanic-cum-coach named Saravanan. He went on to dominate the Indian racing scene, taking nine national titles between 2003 and 2012 in multiple categories.
Initially, Krishnan’s parents weren’t aware that he had started racing and were oblivious to the dangers of the sport. But his first national title victory got him the support of his family which he is grateful to have enjoyed all through his career, especially the financial aid.
Along with success in India, Krishnan set his sights on international accolades. His first title came in 2006 in the Malaysian Super Series in the 150cc category. This was followed by podium finishes in the 2009 Asia Road Racing Championship in the premier SuperSports 600cc class. In the 2012-13 season, Krishnan became the Losail Asian Champion (Qatar) in the 600cc category. He later followed it up with the 2015 Malaysian Superbike Championship title in the 1000cc class. During this time, he also became the first Indian to compete in the FIM World Endurance 24 Hours Championship in 2010.
Despite all the achievements thus far, 37-year-old Krishnan still strives for more. Currently, he is working hard to accumulate a budget that will help him attain a wild card entry for at least one round of the 2018 Moto2 championship. He is in advanced negotiations with sponsors and multiple teams on the grid.
Develop young Indian talent
After all the notches in his belt, Krishnan hasn’t forgotten where he started from and wants to help develop young riders. He wants to pass on the valuable experience he gained so others don’t have to go through the same struggles he had during his formative years of racing.
Keeping this in mind, Krishnan launched RACR in September 2015. His academy has one primary aim; guide Indian racers so they can challenge the international riders in global championships.
“When I started racing there was no training academy in India, which did hamper my progress. I didn’t want anyone else to go through the struggles that I went through,” he said.
“I wanted to transfer my knowledge to the young generation so that they can achieve better results and do it quicker than I could manage. So, I felt that a training academy is the best way to help nurture future World Champions from the country.”
RACR hopes to give racers a competitive advantage
© Rajini Krishnan
Training bikes came from Triumph India & TVS Motor
© Rajini Krishnan
Receiving racing instructions at RACR
© Rajini Krishnan
Rajini Krishnan with the team and racers at RACR
© Rajini Krishnan
Krishnan revealed that even though the Academy received technical support in the form of training bikes from TVS Motor and instructor bikes from Triumph India, they haven’t received any financial backing. Most of the finances for the academy have been put up by him. Despite the drawbacks, he feels the academy has been fruitful in helping young talent develop.
“I believe the training academy has been a successful one. If there was financial sponsorship, we could reduce our training rates. But for me, a bigger concern is that the country needs more race tracks. That would encourage racers from all over India to participate and allow us to test the abundant talent that is in our country,” he said.
“I feel the federation on the whole, and also race organisers, need to do more to promote racing like is done with cricket, football and even kabaddi. The idea should be to raise awareness among the general public.
“We certainly need more spectators at the races. That will only happen if the organisers advertise the event more. As we see with cricket, when spectators flock to stadiums, sponsors readily come on board. The same will be the case with racing. When the audience increases, companies will be more inclined to financially support participants, teams and even the organisers.”
RACR is using the Malaysian Superbike platform — currently with two bikes in the 250cc class ridden by Prabhu Arunagiri and Ritesh Sapre — with an aim to get into the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship as an Indian team. After that, they hope to enter the European circuit.
Rajini hopes to compete in Moto2 next year
© Munish Raja
The academy also runs various training sessions through the year and has brought several international instructors for its programmes run in Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolhapur since its inception in 2015.
Apart from Arunagiri and Sapre, the academy has other active members racing in various categories in the National Championship, including Naresh Babu, Anup Kumar, Ajai Xavier, Hari Prashanth, Alexander AS, Nitish, and female riders Ann Jennifer and Kokila Shankar.
Upcoming racing programme
To further unearth hidden talent from all corners of the country — especially since amateur racers don’t always find it convenient to travel to the racing circuits at Chennai, Coimbatore and Noida — RACR will be organising the India Cub Prix Championship.
The idea of the series is to take racing to the masses by replacing conventional circuits with tracks on tarmac roads in cities, popular karting tracks, or even huge parking lots/compounds in cordoned off areas. The hope is that this strategy will bring in more participation than ever before and provide amateur racers with an opportunity to experience motor racing.
“India Cub Prix Championship is aimed to be a grass roots motor sport series, where the objective is to discover new Indian motorcycling talent that can be groomed for the highest levels of international motorcycle racing. We hope to pave a way to the Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup,” said Krishnan.
The Cub Prix programme has been a popular road racing event in Malaysia since 1994, with a similar aim to produce future riders by providing them a competitive grass-roots level racing championship. The series CP130 category winner Hafizh Syahrin has been a regular competitor in the Moto2 championship, while many others have raced in other championships around the globe.
“Unlike normal motorcycle racing, the emphasis in Cub Prix will be on skill development rather than high speeds — typically it will be less than 100 kms/hour on short and technical tracks (of about 800 meters to 1km), where flat-out acceleration and high top speeds are less common.
“The motorcycles and scooters used will be the regular street bikes with four-stroke engines and single cylinder, brought up to the Federation of Motor Sports Club of India (FMSCI) race specifications,” Krishnan explained. Races will be held with highest standards of safety and that riders will need to be equipped with all prescribed safety gear.
The idea, for now, is to run the bikes and scooters categories between 100cc to 150cc classes for the age group of 13 to 23 years in the cities of Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Jaipur.
Krishnan has proved that he can take on international riders in the past. But with age not on his side anymore, he hopes to find other forms of success by giving India a MotoGP-class rider through his Academy and grass-roots championship.
Road to Rookies Cup gives young Indian racing enthusiasts a chance to qualify for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, a stepping stone to international motorcycle racing.
