While eight-year-old Abhimanyu Bose may be a shy lad by nature, he shows a lot of
confidence once he gets into his riding gear and wears his helmet. One of the
youngest motocross riders in India, he prefers to show his skills on the track,
leaving his audience awestruck. Originally from Panjim, Abhimanyu is the son of
Anand and Sneha, who motivated his passion for riding. He recently displayed
his talent at the Godspeed Invitational Motocross Goa 2018, where he soared
high with his 50cc KTM dirt bike and was up against 16 other participants in
the 50cc non geared class.
At the Godspeed Invitational Motocross Goa 2018, he jumped and
throttled his way to pole position in the first race, missing a podium spot in
the second by a whisker after his engine gave trouble. Still, on aggregate, he
was awarded the third position overall. He also participated in the Junior SX 2
(65cc bikes and above) category that had experienced riders, jumping as high as
all the other riders. He was the only rider with a non geared bike in this
category.
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The young biker only began riding competitively in April this
year, at the MRF National Supercross in Margao. But he has been setting the
stage for his success ever since he started riding at the age of three years.
“When he was three, we noticed that Abhimanyu had a very good sense of balance
on his bicycle so we got him a small electric bike when he was six years old. After
six months of riding the electric bike, we bought him a 50cc KTM dirt bike. He
loved the feel of the dirt bike and enjoyed riding. We built a small dirt track
for him on which he used to ride on weekends,” says Anand. Abhimanyu is a
student of class 2 at Shiksha Niketan School, Porvorim.
Anand goes on to explain how Abhimanyu went from practising his
moves on a small dirt track to the race course. “In May 2017, I got in touch
with the 2012 MRF National Motocross Champion Javed Sheikh from Goa and requested
him to train Abhimanyu. Since then, Javed has taught him the basics of
motocross riding. What he loves most about motocross is the speed and to take
high jumps without fear. He practises at our dirt track in Sancoale on the
weekends for about two hours each day,” adds Anand.
MRF national motocross champion Javed Sheikh is proud to have
Abhimanyu under his wing. “We started small – how to take a jump, land safely
and other skills. Abhimanyu was able to cope in just 2-3 months, so we moved
forward with single jumps, table tops and double jumps. These are difficult but
he managed and I have now even increased the height of the jumps,” explains
Javed, who trains him for 2-4 hours every day. “If he dares to do something, he
will go for it. In the future, Abhimanyu will surely win the national
championship. This is our promise,” he adds.
Abhimanyu also trains in swimming every day for one and a half
hours and loves colouring, cycling and surfing on the beaches of Goa. “We are
extremely proud of our son. He is very passionate about riding and we shall
always encourage him if he desires to pursue it further,” the proud father
adds.
He’s
now gearing up for the MRF National Supercross that will take place in
Coimbatore in July, where he will compete in the Junior SX 2 category.
