Aishwarya Pissay makes history as she wins FIM Bajas World Cup in women’s class
Bengaluru, 11 August 2019: Aishwarya Pissay, the 23-year old from Bengaluru, created history by annexing the FIM Bajas World Cup in the Women’s category after the fourth and final round of the championship, at Varpalota (Hungary), on Sunday. She became the first Indian ever to win a World title in Motorsport. Aishwarya also finished second in the FIM Junior category on the conclusion of the four-round Championship.
Aishwarya, who won the first round in Dubai and was placed third (Portugal), fifth (Spain) and fourth (Hungary) in the subsequent outings, finished with a tally of 65 points, just four ahead of Portugal’s Rita Vieira in the final Overall standings for Women. She was placed second in the Junior category with 46 points, behind championship winner Tomas de Gavardo (60) of Chile.
The TVS Racing’s Bengaluru rider, emerged victorious in the four-round cross country rally based on the total points, with her victory in the first round in Dubai standing her in good stead. In the fourth round in Hungary, the second-placed Vieira Rita, could only finish third for 15 points and thus Aishwarya who finished fourth managed to keep her lead and won the World Cup Baja in the women’s category gaining 13 points for her 4th. Romero Font Rosa won the Hungarian round in this class and Garcia Alvarez Sara finished second.
After 805km, including 588km on competitive selective sections around Várpalota and Lake Balaton, the Hungarian Baja rounded off the 2019 FIM Cross-Country Bajas World Cup. For the record, Adam Tomicek (Husqvarna) claimed his maiden motorcycle victory, the Pole finishing ahead of Stefan Svitko (KTM) and Maciej Giemza (Husqvarna), while Juraj Varja (Yamaha) took the laurels in the quad category from Aleksandr Maksimov (Yamaha).
The 23-year-old Aishwarya is sponsored by TVS, Sidvin, Mountain Dew, Scott Motorsports India, K&N, Cult Sport and BigRock Dirt Park. Before the start of the final round she was leading the women’s category by seven points, after having won in Dubai, finished third in Portugal and fifth in Spain.
An ecstatic Aishwarya, said after the podium ceremonies: “It’s absolutely overwhelming. I am out of words. After what happened last year, my first international season, when I crashed in Spain Baja and suffered career-threatening injuries, to come out and win the championship, is a great feeling.
“It was a tough phase of my life, but I believed in myself and was determined to get back on the bike which I did after nearly six months. So, winning the World Cup is huge for me and I will look to better my performance having gained this experience. I also hope I will be able to get more sponsors on board and eventually realise my dream of participating in and finishing the Dakar Rally (considered World’s most difficult cross-country race). In any case, I will pursue that dream no matter what.”
Reflecting on her Hungarian Baja performance, Aishwarya said: “Without a doubt, the Hungarian Baja was one of my best races though I didn’t win. It wasn’t an easy race. Given the nature of the terrain, it was more of endurance than just pace. I was riding a smaller bike (250cc) as against the 450cc bikes other girls were on. So, there was always a difference of 20-25 minutes between me and the other riders.
“Also, I was wrongly given a road penalty for early check-in which wasn’t my fault. All these factors added to my time. On the positive side, I was happy that I was closing the gap between me and other riders in front of me. I was able to get within seven minutes of Rita (Vieira) and that gave me the confidence. However, it was more about finishing the race and I was focussed on that.”
Aishwarya is scheduled to return to Bengaluru in the early hours of Wednesday, August 14, via Qatar.
On July 30, Miss Pissay finished fifth in the FIM women’s category and 24th Overall in the FIM bike category of the Baja Espana Aragon, the penultimate round of the World Cup.
Earlier in Round 2 at Portugal, Aishwarya took a podium in the women’s category finished third in March. She also topped the women’s category in the first round in Dubai on March 9.
The Hungarian Baja comprised of five Special Stages totalling 588.26 km besides 205.66 of Liaison section. The competitors were flagged-off late on Thursday for SS-1 (7.18 Kms) near to this former mining town.
Miss Pissay has topped many events in India in the women’s category which included Raid De Himalaya 2017, Dakshin Dare for two years in 2016 and 2017. She also won the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) in 2017 and 2018 but before that her focus was on racing and she won the TVS Apache Ladies One Make Championship 2017 and then the top honours in the MRF MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2017, when the women’s category was recognised as a national event by FMSCI, the Indian federation for the sport.
[…] Pissay, 25, hopes to challenge for the title in 2021 and retain her 2019 crown. The Bengaluru rider was the first Indian athlete to win a world title on a motorcycle, the FIM […]