From Remote Location In India To The National Podium - Vivek Kumar Now Aims At The International Stage

Remotely located

 I was born on 30th August 1991 in Gumia, Bokaro, Jharkhand. My childhood was awesome, since the age of 8 years I started riding bikes. From beginning I enjoyed riding. I completed my PUC (Pre University Course) in my hometown Bokaro and for further education I migrated to Bangalore.

From Bangalore I am pursuing B.E in Mechanical from VTU (Visvesvaraya Technological University) and along with my education I started racing in year 2013. Only for the racing purpose I came to Bangalore.

How it all started

I started riding when I was 8 years old and at that time I was mentally and physically very small . I had the craze to ride since that age. It is my dream to become a successful racer. I love speed and I know this is a field where I can prove myself.

I started my racing career in the year 2013, I have no words to describe the experience. It is an awesome feeling when you ride a bike on track and you are free to ride it the way you want. You can feel the speed, you can feel the bike, the smell of burning tyres and the sound of the exhaust.

Till date I have ridden many bikes and amongst them my favorite is the Suzuki Hayabusa. My dream bike is Yamaha M1 MotoGP superbike.

Hurdles in the way

I have faced many problems initially like not having a dedicated team, no sponsors and no supporters. I had to motivate myself from the start till the end of every race. The biggest problem I faced was funding. I belong to a middle class family so I am not in a position to invest so much of money. But still my parents and my friends supported me a lot.

  

In beginning my family was against my racing. I had to explain them a lot about my love and passion about bikes and a career in professional racing. After a lot of convincing my parents gave me a go-ahead and started supporting me in the ups and downs of my racing career.

In India it is very difficult to get a sponsorship for bike racing. You have to be the best of among all and only then you might get a decent sponsor. Last year I got sponsorship from my team itself, Kingdom Racing India (KRI). So along with my parents I now have some financial help from KRI.

The Start

My 1st race was the National Championship 2013 Round 1 which was held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. In the Qualifying Round I managed to take 18th place amongst 100 odd riders and finished the race in 11^th position. My bike was fully stock bike with no modification I was delighted to finish 11^th out of 100 odd racers.

Peak Point in career

My best race was in Delhi, the 1st Round of Honda CBR150R One Make Race, where I had the Fastest Lap on my name in the  Qualifying and finished 3rd on the podium in the race.

Till date I have won 2 races. The first one I won in December 2013 in the 5^th Round of the National Championship upto 165cc Novice Category held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu And 2nd one in Delhi 3rd Round of National Championship on Honda CBR150R

The Dream

My dream is big, I want to see myself as a MotoGP World Champion in the next 5 years. Realistically, I know it is difficult but I have faith in my abilities and I believe that this dream is not so far from becoming complete.

Next year I am see myself as a rider in Asian Dream Cup and other International competitions.

The other side

My day starts with my fitness routine in the morning, then I go to the college. I like to trade in share markets and make profits. I like to watch romantic and action movies. I love Deepika Padukone as an actress and Hrithik Roshan as an actor.



Pics Source : Vivek Kumar