Aishwarya finishes 5th; leads women’s World Cup standings: Baja Aragon
Aragon (Spain), 30 July 2019: India’s Aishwarya Pissay of Team Sherco TVS 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 FIM Bajas World Cup, here on Sunday.
Bengaluru-based Aishwarya, sponsored by TVS, Sidvin, Mountain Dew, Scott Motorsports India, K&N, Cult Sport and BigRock Dirt Park, picked up 11 points after completing the 827-km course. It helped her maintain the top position on the women’s World Cup leaderboard.
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.
Going into the final round in Hungary scheduled for Aug 10-11, the 24-year old enjoys a seven-point lead over Portugal’s Rita Vieira (45 points) with Spaniard Sara Garcia Alvarez (36) in the third spot. Aishwarya is also placed second in the Junior category, trailing Chilean Tomas de Gavardo by 19 points.
“Baja Aragon was the scene of my big crash last year that put me out of action for over six months. So, I was determined to shrug off those bitter memories and complete the course, which I did. It was a very technical course and I lost a lot of time in the process. I definitely need to train more in order to get faster in the technical sections. But I’m happy with my progress from last year and crossing finish line on a strong note.
“More importantly, I managed to maintain my lead in the World Cup standings. To prepare for the last round in Hungary, I am staying back in Spain for training so that I can perform better and win the World Cup,” said Aishwarya.
The first stage began on Friday at 10.30 am for bikes. On Saturday, another two special stages with a total distance of more than 500 kilometers were run as the bikes started early at 6.30 am before the cars took off at 7 am.
The total distance of the timed stages was just over 500 kilometers, as the best drivers and riders in the different categories joined the long list of winners in the golden book of Baja Espana Aragon.
The Bengaluru rider, who turned 24 last fortnight (Aug 14) started her international career in 2018 at the same event and became a professional rally-raid rider as she gave up road racing. Her debut at the first major event last year saw her injure herself critically at the same event but she bounced back with a strong mind and undertook serious training for over four months before the event. She has been practicing for over 5 hours a day including her physical fitness and mental strength and had taken part in Dubai International Baja and Portugal Baja this year.
She 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 before bagging 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.
