Pole Position That Slipped Away: Finished Second At TVS YMRP Round-1

  • Published October 10, 2026
  • Views : 70
  • 4 min read
  • bookmark
Fast laps, plenty of learnings, mechanical issues, crashes, and finally, a podium finish

Second Position At TVS YMRP

A few months ago, I was sitting at Madras International Circuit with one goal — to qualify for the TVS Young Media Racer Programme (YMRP). I managed to put down the fifth-fastest lap, a 2:24.6, which was enough to earn me a spot on the grid. Fast forward a few months, and it was finally race time. The competition was tough, and unlike a regular track day, this time there was an actual race waiting for me. 

New Tyres, New Confidence

Second Position At TVS YMRP

There’s always excitement when you walk into a pitlane on race day. Besides your own class, there are other (read faster and more exciting) classes that display the best of talents on the scene. For us, though, TVS had a surprise, the RTR 310 race bikes were fitted with all-new Eurogrip Protorq Racing slick tyres. Eurogrip unveiled these tyres last year, and this was the first time these tyres were getting used in a race. It immediately gave me a slight confidence boost, although there was one small problem — I had never ridden on proper racing slicks before. So I had no idea about the feel, precautions and everything.

Second Position At TVS YMRP

Still, once I got out on track, the first job was to get the tyres warmed up, and once that was done, the confidence from the new rubber was insane. I mean the Michelin Road 5s were good, but the grip from these tyres was next-level. With the added confidence, I then went on with the job of finding my rhythm and, most importantly, getting faster. After the practice session, my best lap of 2:17:770 was around seven seconds quicker than my previous best, making me the third-fastest rider in practice.

Qualifying Got Interesting

Second Position At TVS YMRP

Then came qualifying, and things got a little spicy. As I was trying to push the bike harder, I noticed that during fast direction changes and corner exits, the rear-end of my bike was wallowing. It got so bad that I nearly had a proper highside while exiting C5. Even with the un-wanted hiccups, the qualifying time was still more than a second faster than before. However, I qualified in fourth position which made me a bit nervous. As for the springy rear suspension, I discussed it with the TVS technician and he suggested bumping-up the preload on the rear shock. 

Three Starts, One Exhausted Rider

Second Position At TVS YMRP

Starting fourth meant I had one obvious job — get a monster launch, and somehow squeeze into the top three before the first few corners. Simple, right?

Not quite.

Although I was able to secure P2 on the opening lap, the race had to be restarted not once, but twice because of multiple rider crashes. And by the time we lined up for the third start, I was already exhausted. Sitting inside full racing leathers in peak Chennai heat for that long was basically a workout nobody asked for. But somehow, the third launch was almost perfect. I got off the line brilliantly and found myself running in third, fighting for the lead. At first place it was Saidatta Naik, and he was absolutely flying, and it looked like he had somewhere very important to be. But racing has a funny way of changing things in an instant. He crashed, opening the door for me and Ansh Srivastava to fight for the lead. And then came the final lap.

Second Position At TVS YMRP

Coming into the hard braking zone after the back straight into C8, I saw my opportunity and made the move. I managed to get past the rider ahead of me and suddenly, I was leading the race. For a few glorious corners, I was actually “WINNING!” But then came C11, where I made a small mistake, ran wide and lost the lead. In the end there was no time to recover, so I brought it home in second place.

Much Faster Than Before, But A Lot To Learn

Second Position At TVS YMRP

But the bigger win for me was that I now knew all my weaknesses, and where improvements can be done. I posted a lap time of 2:11.340, which was almost 13 seconds quicker than my first qualifying session around MIC. From 2:24.6 to a 2:11.3 race lap, and a second-place finish — not a bad way to start my TVS YMRP journey. All things considered, it was a fantastic experience. Yes, I lost the first position to one of my good friends, but securing second place in my first race is still quite a thing for me. And the best part? This championship isn’t over yet. I still have two more races left, which means there is plenty of room to improve, learn from this race and, hopefully, fight for that top step of the podium. 

Once I was back at the office, Jehan did share his thoughts about my performance and highlighted all my areas of improvement. I will surely work on those aspects and the goal now is simple — bring home that pole-position trophy.

TVS Apache RTR 310 Video Review

Was this article helpful
Yes No

Add Your Comments

Add your comment here
TVS Apache RTR 310
Images | Colours
TVS Apache RTR 310
4.2 3 user reviews
Starts at ₹ 2,29,990
Get Navratri Offers
Review and Win Banner

You May Also Like

TVS Apache RTR 310 Alternatives

See what our community has to say! NEW

India's largest automotive community

Explore Now
comminity image

TVS Bikes in India

TVS Bikes in India

TVS Scooters in India

TVS Scooters in India

Upcoming Cars in India

Upcoming Cars
TVS Apache RTR 310 Price in India
City On Road Price
Delhi Rs. 2,63,623
Kolkata Rs. 2,69,923
Bangalore Rs. 2,92,774
Hyderabad Rs. 2,88,697
Mumbai Rs. 2,73,871
Ahmedabad Rs. 2,68,983
Pune Rs. 2,73,871
Chennai Rs. 2,74,208
Patna Rs. 2,69,433
Jaipur Rs. 2,75,808
  • Latest
  • Popular

Top Bike Brands

  1. Home ›
  2. News ›
  3. Pole Position That Slipped Away: Finished Second At TVS YMRP Round-1
×