ON THE FAST TRACK
Winner of six championships in both off-road and on-road events, racer Aishwarya Pissay is changing the motorsports scene in the country and is encouraging young riders to build a career for themselves
Aishwarya Pissay’s love for riding began at 18 when she started going for weekend rides with her friends. Soon after, she participated in a show on MTV that covered 8,000 km from the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to Cherrapunjee in Meghalaya over 24 days. “My friends suggested that I should hone my riding skills on the race track and that’s how my journey began,” says 23-year-old Pissay, who is based out of Bengaluru. But, it was only in 2015 that she started training for racing at Apex Racing Academy,
Bengaluru, and decided to make a career out of racing. Spotted by TVS Racing during one of the races, she has now been part of their factory racing team for three years. Passionate and driven, she is the only Indian racer to win both the Road Racing and National Rally Championship in 2017. Coming from a conservative Maharashtrian family where racing was not considered a career, she has carved out a niche for herself and is an example for other bikers who want to take it up.
Can you tell us about your journey and challenges as a racer?
I can’t say that my journey has been smooth, but due to support from family, friends and TVS Racing, it has been exciting so far. Motorsports in India is considered to be a dangerous sport and is not seen as a career option for women. Fighting these odds only made the journey challenging, but I was confident about my decision to be a professional racer. I have learned from my struggles to never give up. During one of the races sometime back, I broke my collarbone in a crash and had to undergo a surgery. Nobody expected me to race for a few months, but five days later, I did and won. Even last year during Baja Aragon in Spain, I had a big crash and was bedridden for three months. Everyone told me that I was not yet ready for international rallies and should train more. But, I didn’t bow down to that and this year, I am leading the women’s category at Baja Championship.
Should racing as a career be encouraged in India?
While there is sufficient talent in the country, lack of awareness about motorsports, limited infrastructure and parental pressure to focus on academics make the sport a not so popular career. But, there are manufacturers committed to motor racing and they are working closely with the governing bodies of Indian Motorsport to garner interest among young riders. The safety standards have also gone up over the years and racing training academies are now equipped to train and educate racers about the sport.
How can motorsports be promoted?
The Indian motorsport scene has gradually evolved but it has also become competitive. Being a man-machine game, it requires strong financial support and that makes it difficult for aspiring riders to pursue it professionally. So, to make the sport accessible, it is essential to cultivate the right talent at the right time, provide facilities to those training, and offer an enabled platform to young riders to scale up for global competition. No racer can excel by only doing best on a race weekend as it needs full-time commitment.