India’s Aishwarya Pissay of Sherco TVS Rally Factory team, re-launched her World Cup campaign by successfully completing the gruelling Baja Aragon, the fourth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup that concluded here on Sunday.
Forced to miss the first three rounds, the 2019 World Cup Baja ladies champion Aishwarya rode astride a Sherco 450 Enduro bike and took part in Group 1, Category 1. She is supported by TVS Racing, and co-sponsored by Scott, Ultrahuman, IIFL, Micro Labs and Surana College. The ace Indian rider eligible for both 450cc and the Ladies Class, completed the tough course and bagged full points in the Ladies Class and finished 14th in FIM WC 450cc class. With a creditable 47th in overall classification, she clocked a combined time of 11 hours, 8min and 52.0 seconds.
Bengaluru’s 26-year-old Aishwarya Pissay dished out consistent performance on all the three days in the FIM World Cup overall standings, though her goal was to learn and improve her own timings and skills. Improving each day, she skilfully negotiated the tough terrain with an overall 62nd on Day 1 among a field of 163 entries. Aishwarya tested the terrain clocking a safe 13min 43.5sec in the 6-km prologue, the triple-S (SSS) and went on to improve each day.
“I will cherish my performance in this rally as I was racing with experienced riders from across the world and I am happy with my 47th final position. I was a bit nervous at the start but I grew in confidence as the rally progressed, having navigated through challenging, undulating terrain and still looking to maintain my speeds. I would like to thank my mechanics & team at Sherco TVS for ensuring my bike was in top condition and boosting my performance.”
“I go back from this rally with lots of learnings and confidence to work on areas where I can improve and hope to give a better performance at the next rally. I am yet to decide about my participation in the upcoming World cup rounds, I will discuss it with my team and plan ahead.” She added.
Coming from a long lay-off, she cautiously explored her skills and terrain and leaped to 51th overall on Saturday, as the toughest Leg 2 saw two sessions of over 220km in the morning and another 180-plus KM in the evening. The daunting route, including short pools of water-logged obstacles and rocky rough sections, did not deter her as she clocked 4hrs, 3min, 41.0 sec in Selective Sector 2 (SS2), and overall 50th place in 3:57:36.0 on SS3. Aishwarya rounded off on Sunday with another stunning run to the finish 47th, ahead of 15 male riders, among the 62 who finished the rally on Sunday.
Her performance and resultant full points here will count for the FIM Bajas World Cup standings, if she later decides to take part and contend the other WC rounds. She is the only woman among the 16 riders registered in this round for the FIM Bajas World Cup 450cc
