Teruel: TVS Racing's star racer, Aishwarya Pissay, the only World Cup winner from India in motorsports is all set to re-launch her international campaign with Baja Aragon - the fourth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup that is scheduled from Friday, July 22, 2022.
After her accident in Jordan Baja in March 2021, Aishwarya worked hard on rehabilitation and bagged another National title in the last one year before plunging into high-performance training abroad for about 90 days this year under her acclaimed mentor Michael Metge and Jordi Grau.
More than 70 riders will participate in the race, including 18 motorcycle and 8 quad riders. Pissay will be a part of Sherco TVS Rally Factory team that has registered four riders. Lorenzo Santolino, Rui Gonçalves, Harith Noah and Aishwarya Pissay - the winner of 2019 World Cup Baja make up the Sherco TVS Rally Factory team for this year.
The five-time Indian National rally champion who became the first Indian woman to make her international debut at Baja Spain in 2018 at the age of 22, this will be Aishwarya’s third Baja Aragon Spain. The Indian rider supported by TVS Racing, co-sponsored by Scott, Ultrahuman, IIFL and Micro Labs, looks to turn tables astride a Sherco 450 Enduro - the same bike that she trained hard with in France and Spain to fine-tune her physical fitness and riding skills.
"It was a high-performance training not just focussing on physical fitness and mental conditioning but identifying and fine-tuning certain riding skills and consistently learning the terrain and the art of Road Book. Staying focussed and calm are some other interesting aspects that I enjoyed," said Aishwarya, who continues to get support from Surana College, her alma mater.
"I have learnt a lot in the training sessions abroad under Micheal Metge and to be able to utilise these skills and continue learning is my goal. I am not looking at World Cup right now, but my focus is on the Baja for the next three days. I will take it event by event. Every incident has taught me lessons and made me stronger. Now I am well-prepared and ready for the event," said the 26-year-old, who rose like a phoenix after the life-threatening accident at the same Baja on the last day in 2018.”
Administrative and technical checks will take place in Teruel on Friday while the 6 km Prologue will be run from 5 P.M.(8:30 P.M.IST) to determine the starting order for the first selective section the next day.
On Saturday, July 23, 2022, the riders will tackle two selective sections along with a third one on Sunday morning for a total of 435 km and 342 km of liaison - the transport section.
