From broken bones to podium finishes, how bike racer Ullas Santruptnanda throttled towards success
The 22-year-old bike racer Ullas Santruptnanda recently turned pro after just two years of racing in the amateur circuit.
What does winning sound like? Is it the sound of a pelvic bone and a wrist breaking, or does it accompany the rev of an engine? Winning is something that follows when one conquers defeat – which can creep into the mind after a career-ending injury. Winning is also about braving excruciating mental agony for six months, only to get back up to lose 30 kilograms to take on the best on the tracks.
For 22-year-old Ullas Santruptnanda, winning means carrying the discipline with consistency to win five national-level races held at the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) in 2020, and turning professional in just two years.
He entered the world of motorsports as a 20-year-old, and the professionals will tell you that he is a late entrant to the school of racing. Most kids begin racing at the age of thirteen by taking part in the go-carting circuit.
But Ullas would have none of it.
A tall, lanky and shy person, Ullas built his body to be in accordance with racing requirements — a stark contrast from what he terms were his "fat" years.
With consistent passion and the right training, he has shown that hard work can beat talent. As of 2020, he has already had secured four podium positions –winning three and finishing second once. Now, the Bengaluru-based racer is all set to participate with the professionals in the senior racing circuit.
"My interest in bikes came from my father. Ironically, he never wanted me to develop a love for racing. I had no idea of motorsports until I was in high school, where I began to read about races and would stick magazine cuttings of various sports bikes on the wall of my room. My interest took shape when I was part of the audience in a go-karting race and I happened to ask the winners about the basics of racing," Ullas says.
"When my father bought me my first 150cc bike, I literally turned it into a practice bike to hone my racing skills. I would race to remote parts of Mysore, learn all the racing tricks, and come back home just in time before my parents could suspect that I was gone. I would travel 260 kilometres everyday to race alone in the hills near Mysore," he adds.
Ullas Santruptnanda during his prep runs at the MMSC in 2020.
The breakthrough
Although his first bike was the Honda CBR150, which fulfilled Ullas' need for speed, it never doused his dream of becoming a racer.
He was keen to find a mentor. So, Ullas quit college to become a full-time racer. But like most kids, he first had to win over his parents.
As luck would have it, his father, being a bike enthusiast, had just bought an Aprilia RSV4. For the uninitiated, this is a superbike powered by a 1000cc, 200 horsepower engine.
In the summer of 2018, his father was invited by Aprilia to a community event called the Aprilia Race Day, which was held in Coimbatore. That day on the track became the turning point in Ullas's career.
He befriended the famed Rajini Krishnan, the national racing champion, who took Ullas under his wing to train him to become a champion.
Rajini, who has ten national and international titles under his belt, is an instructor who believes that he can turn passion into talent, and he did not want to waste any time with Ullas.
He signed Ullas to his racing academy called "Racr" and immediately flew him to Malaysia to train with the best.
Ullas Santruptnanda, winner of three podium positions at the amateur levels of motorsports
"Even today, I don't know why Rajini sir accepted me as a student," says Ullas.
While in Malaysia, Rajini trained Ullas to race several 150cc to 170cc bikes. He taught him to understand the basics of racing such as "tuck in", cornering, braking and speeding in corners, flips, using racing lines, and positioning the body.
Upon his instructor's request, Ullas quickly secured a license from the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, which allowed him to race in the amateur circuit.
After a few months of training, Rajini introduced his protege to the MMSC racing circuit. This was a big deal for Ullas as the circuit hosts several experienced amateurs.
With an R15 150cc bike provided by Rajini's team, Ullas finished his qualifiers well and on the main race day – his first, he finished 21st.
"My nerves got the better of me that day. However, while I started off from the 31st position, I finished 21st in the race," says Ullas.
However, a fledgeling career was about to end just when dreams were seeded.
Ullas in one of the corners at the MMSC
The crash
In his second race, in Chennai, called the One Make Yamaha competition, in 2018, the young Ullas bloomed into becoming a real contender with his riding skills. But at the race, just as he was in sight of his first podium position, his dreams came crashing down.
"Emotions were high. I knew my dream was coming true, victory was in sight. In the fifth corner exit, I lost my balance and was thrown off my bike. The crash destroyed my body. I could not get up," recalls Ullas.
He was rushed to Hosmat Hospital in Bengaluru and was advised not to race because he would be strapped to the bed for the next six months.
"I have to say that without my mother and father, I would not have pulled through this period, especially because of the emotional and physical strain that they had to go through while I was recuperating. Depression had set in and I was feeling that I was not going to race again," Ullas confesses.
Back to form
After six months of mental turbulences, Ullas began to walk again by taking baby steps in 2019. After a period of physiotherapy, he went back to his instructor, in late 2019, and stayed close to the racing tracks, observing and applying everything that his instructor was teaching him.
He took on a full schedule of mental and physical training. From the start, Rajini was clear that in order to win, Ullas had to lose 30 kilograms. So, Ullas began a rigorous training module to make his body lean and strengthen it with muscle. From 88 kilograms, Ullas brought his weight down to 56 kilograms. His diet would be high in protein and every workout ended with intense core training. His days would start at 5 am and end at 8 pm.
"Lesser weight meant that the bike covers more ground. Then there was the question of endurance, which made me train for ten kilometre runs under less than an hour. I would cover five kilometres under 20 minutes and ten kilometres in under 53 minutes," he says.
Ullas also began to memorise the tracks that he had to race on. He began to jot down, in his little black notebook, the lay of the tracks and also make a special note of those corners where he knew he had to apply his mind and physical prowess.
Ullas with his three podium wins (in gold)
Corners are always tricky and a professional would have to bank the body towards the ground in order to clear them. It is also a technically challenging manoeuvre as the biker has to tuck in his body and keep the chest on the tank at high speeds.
Meanwhile, Rajini, his instructor, and his 23-member team began preparing a bike that would make Ullas compete with aspiring amateurs from across the country. The only question remaining was whether Ullas had the frame of mind to win.
Ullas was a surprise hit, winning four races and finishing second in one, before crashing again in the last race of the season and breaking his wrist. But did that stop the man from finishing the race? No!
He pushed his bike to the finish line and ended 15th in the last race of the season. The two years of hard work paid off and Ullas turned pro as the season concluded.
"I can now compete in higher displacement bikes. However, I will do as my instructor tells me to do and I will prepare myself for bigger competitions," says Ullas.
But the question remains is who funded this journey? Ullas smiles and says that his mother and father have brought him this far. They seeded his dream with a small amount of capital. His mother and father tell YourStory that motorsport is an expensive proposition and yet, they hope that with their son turning professional, the financial aspect of taking the dream global is taken care of by sponsors.
There is an old saying which goes by, ‘riches come after pain and suffering’. Being a living embodiment of it, Ullas is throttling towards becoming a top racer in the country.
Edited by Kanishk Singh