TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar ready to embrace retirement; plans to start training academy

One of India’s most decorated road racers from TVS Racing’s stable Jagan Kumar is a fierce competitor and has never shied away from putting his best foot forward on the race track. Off the track, the versatile racer is always approachable, ready to enrich peers with his immense knowledge of bikes, tracks and racing.

Coming from humble beginnings, Jagan, a 10-time national champion, overcame many adversities to rule the roost in the Indian motorsport scene. As the sport grew popular by the turn of the decade, Jagan now finds himself ready for the next challenge of his career—to impart, create and mould the next set of racers.

The Chennai-based rider, at 35, is in the twilight of his racing career and is planning to launch a new training academy to help youngsters build a career in motorsport. “This is probably my last year in racing,” he said in an exclusive chat with BizzBuzz before explaining his decision to plan and launch an academy.

The rider is not new to training. He is a chief trainer at the TVS Racing Training Academy, and his knowledge bank is a shot-in-the-arm for young motorsport junkies.

Jagan said his primary focus is to bridge the gap between the performance levels of Indian and overseas riders. “The primary reason for the gap in talent is because, in India, we start motorsport at a very late age. In European countries, kids start to get a feel of a race or a bike at the age of four or five with a mini-bike race program but in India, we start at the age of 12 or 13. At that age, riders in Europe are thinking about World Championships. The advantage of when you start young, adapting to the bike and the racing environment becomes easier, and it helps in faster career progression,” he said on the sidelines of the TVS ARE GP Cup Finale at the Madras Motorsport Race Track (MMRT) near Chennai.

Jagan explained the need to bring a mini-bike racing programme to India, as it is instrumental in helping the next generation take up motorsport as a career. “The advantage is that we don’t need a big infrastructure for mini-bike racing in India. We don’t need a huge track, we can do mini-bike racing in a Go Kart circuit; in fact, even a bigger size parking lot would suffice. We need to start there. We need to have a training school, help kids below eight years start riding mini-bikes and that’s how when they get to 10 or 12 years old, they will be at a level where things won’t be new,” he explained.

The 35-year-old racer opined that more race tracks in India are also the need of the hour. “There are not many circuits in India. We have one in Chennai (MMRT), there is one in Delhi (Buddh International Circuit), and one in Coimbatore (Kari Motor Speedway). We need more tracks that have more curves, more ups and downs, etc. The different tracks help riders gain varied experience,” he said.

Jagan, who won national championship titles continuously from 2012 to 2021, said his struggle to not have raced in various tracks was evident when he rode in the international circuit and said new tracks in India will solve the issue of non-familiarity to some extent. “In the national championship of five rounds, one round happens in Coimbatore, four rounds happen in Chennai and it is the same track, the same corners, etc. So a problem arises when we suddenly race on a new track. I have faced it. When I race at the international level, my performance in free practice one and free practice two will be low. By the time I adapt myself, become familiar and come close to a podium finish in the race, the race is almost over. With sponsors, building new tracks in India is not a challenge, and it solves this issue,” he added.

Jagan hoped to make use of the Go Kart track at the MMRT to help kids when he launches his mini-bike training programme. “There is a Go Kart track getting ready, and I hope that I can set the ball rolling here. Once I start the programme, I am sure the passion will kick-in in youngsters. Of course, getting a sponsor is a big challenge, but getting to convince parents to send their children to make a career in motorsport is a bigger challenge. But I am sure if we can find passionate kids, the career progression will happen,” he concluded.