The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Bangalore biker for Spain to watch grand prix

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 11, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Bangalore biker for Spain to watch grand prix

Chitra V. Ramani

Shiva Kumar will accompany actor John Abraham to the event

RACE ENTHUSIAST: M. Shiva Kumar on his motorcycle. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Bangalore: M. Shiva Kumar, a professional bike racer from Bangalore, will accompany John Abraham, actor and racing enthusiast, to watch the Valentia Moto Grand Prix (GP) to be held in Spain in October.

Mr. Kumar and Rustom Patel of Mumbai are the winners of the Castrol Power1 Throttle Max Championship.

The event was held in Jaipur on June 18. Sixteen of the country's top bikers, who participated in the finals, went through the tough course and fought for the title.

Speaking to The Hindu here on Monday, Mr. Kumar said that he still found it difficult to believe that he would be able to watch the Moto GP live. "I will even be able to interact with the Gressini racing team, specially Mark Melandri of Castrol," he said.

Training

He said that while he was working with Sundaram Motors, he received training from Anand, a biker from Sri Lanka. After he joined Yamaha, he was trained by an American bike champion. "I was also trained by Japanese bikers. The American trainer stressed on speed, while the Japanese taught me to be precise and balanced. That really helped me during the Castrol event," he said.

Mr. Kumar said that he was unsure of whether he would be able to participate in the biking championship.

He said that he had a lot of problems while taking the bike by train to Jaipur. "Everything worked out in the end. The bike actually belongs to my mechanic," he said.

Mr. Kumar said that he won two other titles after the Jaipur event. "I won three titles on three consecutive Sundays. After Jaipur, I won a Gladiator bike at a Yamaha racing event in Chennai. A week thereafter, I won in the Group D class in the Moto GP in Coimbatore," he said.

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