Divyank Kushagra Bansal 
It’s a feeling that can’t be expressed in words, I am sure. But, can you walk us through those initial moments when you realised you had won the Rally 2 class?
So I finished Stage 12 and I didn’t know right in the beginning. I was a little curious because I had a lot of dust on the stage and, I had to slow down to reach the finish line because I caught the people in the front but couldn’t pass them because the dust never settled – there was no real wind and we were riding in canyons the whole stage. But yeah, then the camera guys came and said, “You won Rally 2” and I was like, “So it’s like sure, confirmed?” And they were like, “Yeah yeah, it’s for sure.”
I smiled and I was happy that it paid off and the hard work was all worth it. So it’s a beautiful feeling. I mean that’s one of the reasons why I train so hard and try to stay focused throughout the years for this kind of feeling to win this category, or do well at the race or like, at a stage, for example, Stage 10.
A motorsport athlete with your experience can gauge his/her performance based on their preparation to an extent. What was your state of mind before starting the 2024 Dakar? How did you feel about your preparation?
I felt pretty good with my preparation. Some things were not as good as I wanted. For example, the road book training I did during the year…I mean it was not bad but I could have done more – I had one week of training on the rally bike the whole year in Morocco, so yeah, but other than that my fitness was on point. I reached two days earlier than the team so that was nice, I got used to the weather – not a big difference but still and yeah, I was at a pretty good point. I think probably one of the best kinds of feelings I had before the race until now, out of the five Dakars I did. One Dakar I remember I missed the shakedown – I reached too, but yeah I was definitely feeling good and looking forward to those days and days in the desert but at the same time, I didn’t want to push like crazy in the beginning as well so I knew it was going to be a long race and that I have to stay focused throughout.
Speaking of preparation, can you walk us through yours?
The preparation, it’s not just one year before the Dakar, it’s all the years, many years. But, yeah, talking about last year, I did my fitness training like usual, except I focused a little bit on building some muscle and gaining some weight, which I did towards the end of the year. Mental training stayed the same. I trained with my mental coach, Neil Roach. Yeah, bike training is also almost the same. I just tried to ride as much as possible. I spent a good amount of time at Korr Off-Road at Mason Klein’s place in California, USA. So that helped me get along well. I help him out with some fitness and he helps me out with some riding and stuff. So it’s a pretty cool relationship there. And also the Red Bull guys at APC helped me out with gaining that weight and helping me out with some tips here and there and also recovering from the wrist surgery I had.
You fell sick halfway through the rally, and despite that, you managed the result that you did. What kind of mental preparation does a Dakar athlete need to overcome these challenging situations?
It’s hard to say. I got very sick, caught a bad cold and I was uncomfortable riding because I had a runny nose and with all the dust, my whole face became just like a mud pack. I guess maybe it was good that I got sick because I went faster the second week but not sure if I would have done better if I was not sick but these things you try to avoid. I tried hard before the Dakar not to get sick because almost every Dakar that I can remember, before it I got sick. Then I don’t train the last two weeks before the Dakar so that didn’t happen this time but it did happen midway through so yeah, for sure, next time I’ll take care a little bit more, stay warm a little bit more, but it happened and now we’re here so it is what it is.
Can you walk us through the evolution of your race machine through the years? What kind of feedback goes into improving a machine of this kind?
Yeah, so this year is probably the best bike I’ve ridden until now and the one I’ve felt most comfortable on. The power and everything on the bike is perfect as well, just right. The main change this year for me, to get that confidence, was the suspension. So, we did something on the suspension. We’ve been trying the last few years but yeah, this year we found something nice and it worked well. So, that was the main plus for me. But yeah, over the years, obviously we’d made a big change I think two-three years ago. I’m not sure – I think three years ago, like three Dakars before and yeah, the whole body of the bike changed, so it became much slimmer and more agile. I like the new version. And yeah, and then we worked the gearing with some different maps but yeah currently we just run one map and we just have one map on the bike when we ride and yeah it’s working perfectly.
You were recruited by TVS Racing in 2012, which means it’s been a journey of over a decade. How has your experience been with them so far, especially during your Dakar outings? How have you matured with them, and how have you seen the team mature over the years too?
Yeah, for sure. It’s been a super long journey. I mean, when I started, we were just like, you know, I was just one of their riders and wanted to get better. They helped me out, supported me, you know, with all the things I needed from, you know, the bikes, gear, and all that. And then, a few years later, I mean, when I started doing rallies and they saw something in me, I guess I started doing better, training harder and we went for the Dakar and it’s evolved. I feel like, you know, just obviously we both together, we want the best, we want the best results, we want to perform as well as we can, and you know like I don’t look at the results I just try to do every day one at a time which they respect which is also really nice because I mean that’s yeah I guess not so normal that people do that but yeah it’s a pretty really good relationship and yeah I think a good feeling to get this Dakar done the way we did. Every time we didn’t make it because of whatever issues like the crash last year, we didn’t make it together. It’s always us, not me or them. That’s pretty cool. Yeah, happy to be on the team.
