The death of biker Subhamoy Paul during the Raid-de-Himalaya has shocked the motorsport community. Paul crashed on the third day of the rally, near Chhatru.
Fellow biker C.S. Santosh said Paul was passionate about his craft. “Racing is dangerous, but Paul lived the way he wanted to. He loved racing his dirt bike. He was nearly 50, and I don’t think he had a chance to ride when he was younger. He spent all the time that he could on his motorcycle. It’s sad that we have lost him,
but he died doing what he loved.” Santosh said on Thursday.
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Santosh hinted that international rallies are safer than the Indian events. “When I race in an international rally, your bike is fitted with GPS and Sentinel (a security system to alert drivers about imminent overtakes and accidents). There’s also a gyro on the motorcycle.
“If I hit something or the motorcycle comes to a unnatural stop, there’s an alarm that goes off immediately. The satellite picks it up and the race centre knows that something is wrong. Within eight minutes, a medical evacuation chopper comes to pick you up. They know where you are because of the GPS system. As a rider, this gives you peace of mind.
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“In India, it’s different because of the geography. In Desert Storm, you can’t use choppers because of border issues. The organisers are doing the best they can, but they have to look at other ways to look after safety. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to use GPS in the Raid-de-Himalaya,” he said. — Ashwin Achal