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Updated May 9, 2026 — Three race starts, one lead surrendered at Turn 11, and a race lap that sliced from 2:24.6 to 2:11.340: Round 1 of the TVS Young Media Racer Programme (YMRP) ended in second place at Madras International Circuit. What made that finish valuable wasn’t just the trophy — it was the lap-time evidence that a journalist-turned-racer can actually learn to race.
Months before the race, the only goal was earning a place on the grid. A 2:24.6 flying lap during selection at Madras International Circuit, fifth-fastest on the day, was just enough to secure a seat. The prize wasn’t a podium or prize money; it was entry to one of the more unusual championships in motorcycling — a full race weekend on a factory-prepared TVS Apache RTR 310, with the kind of technical support normally reserved for professional riders.
That setup makes YMRP genuinely rare. Media shooters, writers and content creators don’t usually get this level of preparation. They also don’t usually get told they’re racing wheel-to-wheel with real results, restart rules and timing screens. Round 1 made it clear that TVS wasn’t treating this as a PR exercise.
Race morning in the pitlane was exactly as noisy and tense as expected. Other classes on the same card brought their own excitement, with faster bikes and sharper elbows filling the schedule. Then came the surprise: the RTR 310 race bikes were fitted with the all-new Eurogrip Protorq Racing slicks. These tyres had been unveiled the year before, and this was their debut in actual competition.
That sounded great, with one small problem — I had never ridden on proper racing slicks.
The early laps were an education in heat management. Once the tyres came up to temperature, the change was immediate and hard to miss. The Michelin Road 5s I had been using were cooperative and predictable; they had never offered this level of cornering grip. The new confidence showed in the lap times. Practice finished with a 2:17.770, roughly seven seconds faster than my selection lap, and third-fastest in the session.
Qualifying introduced a complication. The faster I went, the more the bike’s rear end moved through quick direction changes and especially on corner exits. At the exit of Turn 5, the movement nearly turned into a proper highside. It was close enough to leave no doubt that something needed to change.
The lap time, despite the drama, was still more than a second quicker than practice. But fourth on the grid felt tighter than it looked on paper, especially with a race that demanded a strong first corner. The TVS technician simplified the problem: bump up the preload on the rear shock. It was a small change, but it was the kind of adjustment that makes a race weekend feel professional.
Race day turned into a survival exercise before any momentum could build. The first start actually went well — I moved up into second place before the red flag appeared after a crash. The second attempt ended the same way, with another incident and another call to restart. By the time we lined up for the third start, the energy had been drained by full leathers and Chennai heat.
The third launch was the cleanest. I found myself running third, right behind the leaders, and it was clear the race was about to get serious. Saidatta Naik was pushing at the front with real speed, and it looked like he might run away with the win. Then he crashed, opening the door for Ansh Srivastava and me to fight for the lead.
The decisive move came on the final lap. Setting up for the heavy braking zone into Turn 8, after the back straight, I dived past Ansh and suddenly led the race. For a few corners, it was exactly where I wanted to be. Then came Turn 11. A slightly missed line, a moment of lost concentration, and I ran wide — handing the position back. There wasn’t enough track left to manufacture another move, so I took the chequered flag in second place.
The result: a podium in my first race with the programme, and a friend in front of me on the timing screen. The feeling was equal parts frustration and encouragement.
The improvement was measurable in a way that few race weekends can offer: 2:24.6 at selection vs 2:11.340 for the race lap. That’s almost exactly 13 seconds around the same circuit, which sounds dramatic but actually just reflects how much there was still to learn.
What mattered just as much came after the race. Jehan, the programme’s mentor, walked through the performance and pointed directly at the areas that needed work. No vague comments, no sugar-coating — just specific steps to take before the next round. With two races remaining, the target is clear. Second place is a solid debut, but the overall goal hasn’t changed: winning that pole-position trophy.
For readers outside India, the most interesting part isn’t the podium. It’s the concept. Eurogrip’s racing-slick debut here matters because it gives the TVS Group’s own tyre brand a real race-day proving ground. YMRP itself is rare, perhaps even unmatched anywhere else: a manufacturer that puts journalists on factory-supported motorcycles and treats them like athletes. Round 1 proved the format can produce genuine competition and rapid improvement. The podium is a small result in a bigger experiment; the experiment is working.
