Chennai: India’s Aishwarya Pissay, having fully recovered from the injury she suffered last year in Spain, is all set for her second international event, the first round of the FIM Bajas World Cup commencing in Dubai with a ceremonial flag-off on Friday.
Bengaluru-based Aishwarya, 23, sponsored by TVS Racing, Mountain Dew, Scott Motorsports India and Big Rock Dirt Park, will be competing in the 450cc, women and junior categories, astride a non-TVS bike. The event has attracted over 100 riders from 25 countries.
Aishwarya, who was injured after a crash in the Spanish Baja last year and was out of action for nearly six months, said: “This is an exciting start to my international racing season. I have been training really hard over the last few weeks in the sand dunes, which has been a tremendous learning experience. I am thankful to my sponsors TVS Racing, Mountain Dew, Scott and Big Rock Dirt Park for believing and supporting my dreams to represent India on the global motorsport stage.”
This will be Aishwarya’s second attempt at an international rally. In 2018, she competed in the Baja Aragon. However, her debut on the global stage ended with a crash that required lengthy rehabilitation. In the past couple of months, she has been training at the Big Rock track run by ace cross-country rider CS Santosh, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. She also went in advance to Dubai to train on the sand dunes.
The first rider will leave the start at 06.45hrs on Friday, March 8th for a 50kms liaison section before starting the opening selective section of 201.60km, one hour later. The second timed section of 204.03km takes place on Saturday, March 9th. In a total of 607km, 407km will be timed against the clock.