Finishing at a respectable 36th place, CS Santosh tasted success at his very first Dakar Rally in 2015. This year however, he had contrasting outcome. His Suzuki was marred with issues from the very first day and at the 12th stage, his machine finally gave up. While the Dakar website shows a ‘DNF’ against Santosh Chunchunguppe Shivashankar’s name and though the man himself terms his 2016 outing as a “huge disappointment”, there were quite a few positives too.
Speed
Unlike in 2015, this year’s Dakar showcased Santosh as a lot more confident and a more complete rider. He was attacking from first day itself. On hindsight, he thinks it was a bad decision because since he was in attack mode even during the harsh part of the rally (when the route was flooded post a torrential downpour); he ended up filling up his air box with some fresh water at one of the river crossings. However, it was this very attacking attitude which took him from 128th position at the end of the first stage to 79th place on the fourth stage – his last day on the saddle. This, despite CS Santosh admitting that “The Suzuki lacked top end speed; it was short by at least 40 km on KTM.”
Never-say-die attitude
Last year, the world saw a rider who just didn’t want to give up even when he had fractured his foot and had to be lifted off his bike. This year, the Bangalorean started right from where he left off last year – showcasing the same fighting spirit. His bike had a number of problems and yet he was intent on making it work. “For about 40 km I was riding with just one hand and holding the navigation tower in the other. The tower was moving all over and the wiring kept getting short circuited at regular intervals. I almost had to walk my bike across the finish line at the check point of stage 4,” said the 32-year-old. Unfortunately, it being a marathon stage, he couldn’t get any help from his crew bringing a premature end to his race.
Physically fit
While CS Santosh has always had an athletic built, but after the Dakar 2015, he realized that if he were to succeed, he’ll need to raise his fitness levels. He’s spent the better part of 2015 working on his stamina to make sure that his body can last through those gruelling marathon stages of Dakar. This meant that despite a disappointing early finish, not even once did he feel that his body would give up. The failing of the human element was out of contention. Alas, it was the machine element that failed him.
Hungry for success
“I was initially very disappointed [after my race ended at stage 4]. But as I stayed back and saw other riders finishing the race, it lit a fire inside me. I have a lot of belief that one day I’m going to be one of the top guys. I don’t just want to be at the top, I also want to earn respect,” these were the words of the 2015 Raid de Himalaya champion.
Focussed planning
It seems that CS has got it all planned out for the rest of the year. There are a bunch of things on his check list. When asked about his plans for 2016, Santosh said with conviction, “This year I HAVE to do two rounds of Cross Country Championship, mostly, it’ll be Morocco and Chile rounds. I also want to stay in Morocco and ride for at least 10-15 days.”
Looks like CS Santosh has understood that there’s no point crying over spilled milk or a submerged air box. Though he’s had an early sunset at this year’s Dakar, if you ask him, his day has only started.
