I will be back at Dakar 2024, says Indian rider CS Santosh

The rallyist, who suffered life-threatening injuries on the 2021 Dakar in Saudi Arabia, is on the mend and is determined to return to the world's toughest race next year.

Normally at this time of the year, CS Santosh would be riding through dunes and wheeling past loose rocks, basically pushing his motorcycle beyond its designed capabilities at the celebrated Dakar Rally.

The rallyist, who suffered life-threatening injuries on the 2021 Dakar in Saudi Arabia (Instagram/ @CS Santosh )

All that changed two years ago when the 39-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries in a high-speed crash at Dakar 2021 in Saudi Arabia. It left him with brain trauma, vision issues, loss of motor skills, partial memory loss and depression.

After waking up from a medically induced coma, the rallyist withdrew from public life and started a long rehabilitation process. From trying to join the dots of his memory to regaining his gross motor skills by coordinating his hands and legs to work together, Santosh has come a long way in his recovery, which is still continuing. Importantly, he is more or less back to his normal self.

“Not just as an athlete but I have become normal as a human being. My family is saying, 'Santosh we remember how you were and you're pretty much like that guy now.' They are really happy about it,” says the first Indian to compete and complete the Dakar Rally.

Back to his best, physically and mentally, since his crash, Santosh is now aiming to hit the dirt that has given him recognition. “I will be back at Dakar 2024 for sure,” says Santosh, who finished a career-best 34th in the 2018 edition.

“As parents we are most interested in his welfare and if his welfare lies in him able to ride again then we welcome that," says C Shivshankar, Santosh’s father. "He is doing good and has been riding his bike. He is a very serious guy who has really struggled to get to where he is. He has really worked for it and his single-minded drive is the reason where he is today. He is on the right track."

Dakar is the world’s longest, toughest and most dangerous rally that requires a rider to stand crouched on the bike for the better part of the fast stretches for a better view while negotiating loose rocks, slush, deep sand and holes in the dune, at around 100kph. One lapse can be fatal, which has been the case multiple times in the past.

Santosh’s decision isn’t based on zest or overestimation of his abilities but on pure data, numbers. For his recovery, Santosh had gone to Isokinetic sports medicine and orthopaedic rehabilitation centre in Bologna, Italy before heading to Swiss Concussion Center in Zurich and the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre (APC) in Salzburg in 2021. The rallyist revisited Switzerland and Austria in November-December 2022 to further assess the situation and compare the readings of mid-2021 to now.

“Switzerland has the most advanced hospital for mental trauma. They wanted to check, making me do a lot of things. They had my readings from last year and compared it to the present. The readings have improved. It is very progressive and they were happy. The Swiss experts coordinate with the guys in APC. I base my decision of going or not going to the Dakar on these reports,” said Santosh, who first competed in the Dakar in 2015.

“Last year when they saw me, I didn't possess strength like I did back in the day. But this time even they were surprised that my strength has improved. It is important for me that friends and family have the peace of mind that ‘he's at least cognitively in a state that he can be back or aspire to race a motorcycle again’. I owe it to everybody who stood by me. People at the APC are also happy. We are going to put together a plan to get the performance-fitness level on a motorcycle.”

Santosh feels three years of recovery and rehabilitation is enough time for him to return to the Dakar. “That time has passed. I have given it enough time. Dakar 2024 is sitting in line with what everybody has said to me.”

Santosh has already begun his journey of going back to the Dakar. The off-roading pioneer quit Hero MotoSports after a six-year association in November, knowing he's unlikely to get a race seat in the near future with the company. It is learnt that he is likely to join Royal Enfield this year; they will be taking the Dakar plunge in 2024. He rode Royal Enfield bikes at its Rider Mania event in Goa in November.

Santosh has been training at Big Rock Dirt Park–an off-road facility he owns in Kolar– riding on motocross tracks. Though he suffers a minor crash once in a while, his riding skills are improving by the day.

He is currently in Saudi Arabia witnessing the ongoing Dakar. He will be meeting officials of the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organisers, who also have their concerns regarding a successful return by Santosh.

“The most important thing is to complete my journey because it was interrupted in the manner that I never imagined. I want to complete that journey,” concluded Santosh.