NEW DELHI: Young motorbike racer Sarath Kumar's aspirations have suffered a rude jolt due to financial constraints. Sarath, who had secured a Mahindra ride to compete in the CIV Italian Championship this year, has been forced to put that on hold after failing to secure the necessary expenses for competing in the races.
The Chennai rider had earlier in the season become the first Indian to achieve a podium finish in the Italian Championship with a third-place finish in Monza recently. "Mahindra Racing is providing me with a bike to compete in the Italian Championship, but I have to take care of rest of the expenses. The expenses include about Rs. 1.5 lakh for my tickets and an additional Rs. 50,000 for food and other things. It has got increasingly difficult for me to arrange this amount," Sarath told TOI on Thursday after his return from Malaysia, where he was competing in the Super Series.
"The one-way train fare is about Rs. 15,000 while taxi from airport to Mahindra guest house costs about Rs. 2,500. During the race weekends, I didn't even get a hotel room and slept inside the team truck on a cot," he added.
Sarath comes from a family of modest means and his mother Shanti is a beautician in Chennai. To support his expenses and family, the young rider had to drive taxis around Chennai.
"Apart from the travelling costs, there is the additional burden of buying the racing leather, helmet and boots which totals to Rs 2 lakh per kit. I usually require about three such kits over a season. I also have to provide about Rs. 25,000 per month for supporting my family," the 20-year-old said.
Mahindra, on their part, believe they are extending as much support as possible. "The contract with Sarath had stated that he had to take care of the travelling along with other supportive expenses. When I came to know about his financial troubles, we extended help but Sarath told us that he had to take care of some personal issues and we understood his problems," Mahindra Racing team principal Mufaddal Choonia said.