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CS Santosh Returns From WCC After Near Fatal Accident
CS Santosh India's first ever World Cross Country championship participant, is back in Bangalore after his debut run in the deserts of Abu Dhabi was cut short by an accident that nearly cost him his life.
Santosh, who left for Abu Dhabi early in April was participating in the fourth leg of the six-day Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and was on the verge of completing the race in10th position. However, disaster struck when he was only 40 kms from the finish line (overall distance to be covered on day four was 266 km). The intense desert heat, combined with the overheated engine caused stray fuel to ignite.
So intense was the fire that it melted parts of his riding gear and before Santosh could even react he was on fire. "You never think you'll be on fire while riding a bike [Suzuki 450F], even though as a racer you tend to think of all sorts of scenarios in your head - breaking bones, blacking out, going off a cliff and so on", exclaimed Santosh, who is expected to continue recovering for another four months at the very least. "But I never thought that I'd be on fire", he added. At the end of the ordeal Santosh was left with third degree burns, but more painful for Santosh was the unexpected way in which he was forced to quit.
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2013 - Day 1
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2013 - Day 2
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2013 - Day 3
The FIM World Cross Country championship has more to do with endurance and perseverance than out and out pace and for a debutant in this class of racing, Santosh performed extremely well. Day one of the race was cancelled due to a sandstorm and on day two Santosh completed in 14th position, in the 450 class, out of 29 riders.
The following day Santosh lost a few places and was down to 19th position in his class as he tried to conserve his energy for day four. One the fourth leg of the six day long journey Santosh had come to terms with the challenges thrown by the desert and was on a roll as he managed to pass several riders. "I was feeling really good as two full, competitive days on the bike had given me immense confidence and I could push closer and closer to limit and still had the sense of backing off where necessary", revealed Santosh. "I managed to pass a few riders and a couple of bikes hit trouble as well, so everything was going as planned", he added.
He would have easily finished in the top 15 had it not been for the fateful accident. Recounting the course of events, Santosh said, "It was a really hot day and the bike was overheating a bit. I contemplated stopping but the finish wasn't far, so I thought that I'd make, using high gears to cool the engine and so on. In retrospect, I should have just stopped."
"I had been running a little low on the fuel too so I switched on the secondary fuel tank (located at the back of the bike) which pumps fuel into the main tank while riding", he added. "However, during the fuel transfer, some fuel overflowed and came in contact with hot engine parts, which resulted in an unexpected fuel fire, leaving Santosh with third degree burns and ending his rally prematurely."
As his riding gear started melting Santosh only had seconds to react and had to roll on the sand to extinguish the blaze. "I certainly hadn't expected anything like this to happen and I most certainly didn't want to breathe my last in the middle of a desert while being on fire", he exclaimed.
Luckily for him the crew from the BMW X-Raid team spotted him and came to his rescue. They stayed by his side until he was airlifted to Abu Dhabi where he underwent surgery.
After two weeks of experiencing hell in Abu Dhabi Santosh is now back home, but his resolve is stronger than ever and the invaluable experience gained from his experience at the FIM World Cross Country championship will help him achieve his ultimate goal that is the Dakar.
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