Chunchunguppe Shivashankar Santosh (born 1 December 1983), known as CS Santosh (siːɛs sʌnðəʊsh), is an Indian

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

and

enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is ...

motorcycle racer. He is a multiple National

Supercross The AMA Supercross Championship (commercially known as Monster Energy AMA Supercross) is an American motorcycle racing series. Founded by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1974, the AMA Supercross Championship races are held from ...

and

Motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

champion. He operates under the banner of

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

MotoSports.

Early life

At the age of 17, Santosh watched his first Supercross race in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and read about the champion, Vijay Kumar, in newspapers the next day.

Career

2005

CS Santosh won the MRF National Supercross champion and the Gulf National Dirt Track championship in 2005 at the age of 22.

2006

In 2006, he won the Al-Ain Motocross in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

& finished 5th overall in Dubai National MX championship.

2007

He became the National Supercross champion after a successful year.

2008

In 2008, he became the first Indian in the Asian Motocross championship, to have qualified with the fastest time in Moto II in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, where he finished fourth, the highest ever by an Indian rider on the international circuit. He also became the MRF Supercross Challenge champion and won the Gulf Dirt Track championship for the second time.

2009

Santosh won the 2009 Maharagama Motocross in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

2010

In 2010, Santosh won MRF National Supercross championship and the Rolon National Dirt Track championship as well as finishing 6th overall in the Asian MX championship. He also secured a Foxhill Supercross win in

later that year.

2011

Santosh won the Gajaba Supercross as well as the Gunner's Supercross. Both held in

. He also won the Sigiri Rally Supercross and finished 2nd in the Fox Hill Supercross of 2011.

2012

In 2012, he participated in the Raid-de-Himalaya, which is the only Indian motorsport event listed on the off-road rallies calendar of FIM (Federation Internationale Motorcyclisme),

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...

. He won the race in his maiden attempt in record time. He also finished 2nd in the Cavalry Supercross.

2013

Santosh became the first Indian to debut at the World Cross Country Rally Championship in 2013 but a fire accident injured him badly during the 3rd stage. He was running in the top 10 in his class. With third degree burns, he had a long recovery period that lasted till the end of the year.

2014

Santosh won the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm in India in his maiden attempt in 2014. He also finished 9th in the 2014 World Cross Country Championship.

2015

Santosh became the first Indian to compete in the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

. He finished the Dakar at 36th position. He also won the 2015 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm and finished 13th in the Baja Aragon.

2016

Santosh returned to the Dakar in 2016 with Team Suzuki Rally, Spain. He had to retire from the race due to mechanical difficulties. He won the 2016 India Baja later that year and headed for the Desert Storm which he won for the third time in a row.

2017

Santosh started off the year as the only Indian rider to finish the 2017 Dakar, while racing for Hero Speedbrain. He completed the race clocking a time of 41:20:37 at 47th position. Santosh raced at the inaugural Nexa P1 Powerboat Indian Grand Prix of the Seas and took his maiden powerboat win. He was the first Indian P1 pilot to win the Nexa P1 Powerboat Indian Gran Prix of the Seas.

2018

Santosh finished the

2018 Dakar Rally The 2018 Dakar Rally was the 40th edition of the event and the tenth successive year that the event was in South America. The event started in Lima, Peru on 6 January and ran through Argentina and Bolivia, finishing in Córdoba, Argentina on 20 J ...

to become the first Indian to complete the rally raid thrice. His 34th position in the bike category was his best-ever finish at the

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

2021

Riding for the

Hero Motocorp Hero MotoCorp Limited is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in Delhi. It has a market share of about 30% in the Indian two-wheeler industry. The Munjal family, with its 34.75% stake, is the biggest shar ...

team in the Dakar 2021 rally, CS Santosh crashed out 135 km into the Stage 4 on a gravel track, forcing his retirement. Suffering a suspected head injury, he was flown out to a hospital in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

. On what was his seventh attempt at the Dakar Rally, Santosh suffered a heavy crash on a gravel track in Stage 4. Husqvarna’s Paul Spierings was the first to arrive at the scene and revealed that he found Santosh unconscious and had to resuscitate him. After being attended to by the on-ground medical team, he was flown down to the German Hospital in

Awards and recognition

* Motorsport Man of the Year - 2015 * FMSCI's Motorsport Man of the Year award - 2016

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santosh, CS 1983 births Living people Indian motorsport people Off-road racing drivers Dakar Rally motorcyclists