Breaking The Ice: TVS YMRP 9.0 Qualifiers

I’ve been watching motorsports for as long as I can remember. Sundays meant WorldSBK, MotoGP, F1, Le Mans, WRC, you name it - echoing through our living room, thanks to my dad. A petrolhead and big-time motorsport enthusiast. He’d point out race lines, lean angles, braking points with a passion that was impossible to ignore, that early exposure definitely stuck with me. Over the years, racing became a part of who I was—first as a fan, then as a rookie journalist for the past 1.5 years, but never as a racer, and that finally changed this year.

On May 9, 2025, I found myself at the Madras International Circuit (MIC), sweating in full leathers under the unforgiving sun, lining up for the selection round of the TVS Young Media Racer Program (YMRP) 9.0. I’d read about this initiative for years—TVS Racing’s way of giving automotive journalists like me a real shot at competitive track riding in a safe, professional environment, and now, I was living it.

The day began with the Level 1 training under the TVS Racing Academy, led by national champions like KY Ahmed and Jagan Kumar. We covered everything from flag signals and braking markers to body positioning and racing lines—first in the classroom, then on track. The theory came alive the moment we swung a leg over the race-spec TVS Apache RTR 200 4V.

This wasn’t your standard road-going machine. Stripped down and tuned for the track, the bike had high-lift camshafts, a custom full-length free-flow exhaust, lighter six-spoke alloys, and grippy TVS Eurogrip Protorq tyres. It was also much lighter than the road-going bike sans ABS, the tyre hugger, the saree guard (BBQ grill), the lights, and everything else unnecessary for the track. This lean mean racing machine offered pure, undiluted speed, and boy was I nervous but at the same time, absolutely thrilled. As an Apache RTR 160 4V owner myself for the past four years, riding this bike felt very familiar yet different from what I knew this platform was capable of.

Wearing full racing gear in over 35°C was its own endurance test. But once I hit the track, everything else faded. It wasn’t just about going fast, it was about keeping the bike in control, loading the tyres in the corners, listening to the bike and processing the feedback from the pros who were watching from the sidelines. My lines were messy at times, and I definitely braked a little too early in a few corners—but something had clicked. For the first time, I wasn’t just observing the sport—I was in it.

We wrapped up training and headed into a 15-minute qualifying session and had five laps to give my best. I started pushing right out of the gate, but overshot it completely on the first two laps. Both these laps consisted of braking or downshifting too early (sometimes too late), having early corner entries, or wide corner exits and it was a complete mess. Somehow (not really, as I had a weight advantage due to the fact that I'm 65kg) I managed to be faster than most guys on the track and overtook six of them by the end of these five laps. Not to brag, but as a small pat on my back - all these overtakes happened on corners and not on the straights.

When the results came out, I had qualified 10th out of the total 46 participants present there. I clocked in a personal best time of 2:30.028 on my fifth and final lap. I wasn't in the top five - this stung quite a bit, and to add to my frustration, I could have qualified 8th - as less than a second separated me and the 8th place qualifier. Yet I had performed better and exceeded my own expectations. The good part in all of this though? I made it into the final 16, those who will go on to race in the TVS India One Make Championship - Young Media Racer category, which runs alongside the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC).

What also impressed me at the event was the extreme focus on safety. We weren’t just tossed into the deep end, we were geared to the teeth: ECE 22.06 and FIM approved KYT NZ Race helmets, a one-piece full leather racing suit, race-spec boots, full gauntlet gloves, even an Alpinestars Tech-Air 5 airbag vest which inflates in just 30 milliseconds after detecting a crash. Safety checks were mandatory before every session, no exceptions - it included everything. Making sure the helmet D-ring was tightened correctly, the airbag vest had a full charge, and more.

For someone who grew up watching the sport from the couch, this wasn’t just a selection round. It was a doorway into a world I’d always admired but never entered; chasing the racing line and grazing my knee on the curb—I wasn’t just reporting the story anymore, I was living it. The qualification rounds are over and this is just the beginning of the race season.