Santosh feels "physically and mentally" stronger for his third Dakar outing

The Indian rider made his debut in the grueling cross-country rally in 2015 abode the KTM, and grabbed headlines in the country having finished 36th overall.

In his second attempt, aiming to end up inside the Top 20, the Bangalore-born rider in a semi-private entry with the Suzuki, was forced to retire in Stage 4 itself.

For 2017, Santosh reckons he is better prepared than ever, having signed up for a factory effort alongside Joaquim Rodrigues with Indian manufacturer Hero, who joined hands with proven German off-road operator Speedbrain.

Before leaving for Dakar, Santosh spoke exclusively with Motorsport.com on the run-up to the rally and his preparations as well as expectations from the outing.

The rally in 2017 will start in Paraguay running around Argentina, before moving to Bolivia and returning to Argentina for the final leg, covering a total of 8,786 km:

Q) Time for another go at Dakar, the lead up to 2017 edition has been different for you. How has been the preparation?

"The preparation are all done now for the Dakar with a week remaining for it. So, I have been training all through the year starting with Merzouga Rally, then I did some months in Spain, followed it up with the Morocco Rally.

[In all] this year I have spent a lot of time on the motorcycle in comparison to the past years when I didn’t get that much time on the bike and physically and mentally I feel I am much stronger this year for the Dakar [than before].

For the last few months, I have been training at the Big Rock Motopark in Karnataka, so I think it’s all looking good for me in terms of preparations."

Q) Your take on the Hero and Speedbrain collaboration? How's the bike when compared with the KTM and Suzuki?

"Good point is that it [bike] is a proven machine, it’s won the 2013 Rally World Championship. Obviously we haven’t done any evolution to the motorcycle this year, we didn’t want to go to Dakar with the parts that is not tested.

But I think the bike is really strong and it’s very reliable. Last year’s effort was semi-private, so I had to put some things together myself, when a factory is not involved it is always difficult [to get everything together].

And the Suzuki doesn’t have a great track record in the Dakar, they haven’t been in Dakar for a lot of years, so it was always going to be difficult in 2016.

The year before, I obviously had the KTM, which is a winner as we know. But noting to take away from our bike [Hero Speedbrain 450] as well, I think we have what it takes to get the job done for this coming Dakar."

Q) You had some troubles during the Morocco Rally, are those sorted out?

"I think it’s good to have the issues prior to Dakar than after getting there. I had an engine failure in Morocco which we could fix it, but the specs that we use for Dakar are different from what we use in the cross-country rally.

"The team, kind of, have prepared well for Dakar and I don’t think that we will have that problem anymore. Anyways the bike is brand new with all the different parts for Dakar, so I feel confident about it."

Q) What is your expectation then for this edition? Any pressure now that you are with a factory team?

"Well, I had a lot of pressure in my first Dakar as well, when you are going as a privateer, you have to finish the Dakar, otherwise no one would know what you did.

I don’t really take any pressure on me [as such]. For me the thing is that we have to enjoy this journey, it is not about the results. The Dakar is unlike any other race, the journey is really really important, you have to arrive at the end.

But what makes the Dakar so special is the journey which all of us go through. I am not stuck about the results, honestly I was at the beginning of the year going into Morocco, but going into Dakar, not so much.

The beauty about the rally is that you can’t predict, you could be a favourite, but the nature of the rally is such that anything can happen to anyone."

Q) So, nothing like a goal of ending up inside the Top 10 or Top 20?

"The thing is that, there’s no point in putting a number since it is a new team. We want to take the chequered flag in Dakar first and then for the next year we will have expectations.

Sub consciously I do have expectations, but it is not something I want to dwell into too much. As I said, we hope to be competitive and enjoy the rally."

Q) This year we also have Aravind KP making his debut astride the TVS Sherco, something like Indian rider vs rider battle as much as Indian manufacturer too. Your take into it? And do you expect to see more riders/drivers and teams in future?

"It makes interesting for the media to have such scenario certainly, but it’s good to see Aravind, I am all for it [rivalry]. We do it to compete and I think it’s great that we are competing on the biggest platform we have on offer.

I don’t know if I am a benchmark but I am certainly the guy who opened the door, I know KP has lot of talent, I have raced with him a lot and I think it will be interesting to see how it works in a year or two.

As for the future, I am really hoping to see the cars in the Dakar. I am sure the Mahindra or the Tata will enter the rally at some stage and hopefully Gaurav Gill is in one of those."