20-year old Tanika becomes Hero’s first female rider
Hero Motorsports Rally team has signed in three new riders for the seasons ahead- Tanika Shanbhag, Karan Kumar And Arun T. These youngsters would ride alongside veterans- Sathyaraj and Yuva Kumar, who have to their own individual credits, immense rally experiences.
Tanika is the youngest of the three. The 20-year old Maharashtrian also happens to be the first ever lady rider to join the team. Currently pursuing her BBA, Tanika also holds the reputation of being one of the fastest female riders in the country today. She had had podium runner-up finishes in the 2020 and 2021 seasons of INRC, and had also won the Group B class in the Rally of Himalayas 2021.
23 year old Karan hails from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and has to his credit some solid supercross and rally experiences. He had won round 3 of INRC 2022 Group B, and currently stands 3rd overall with consistent top-5 finishes.
Arun is from Hassan, Karnataka and has both Supercross and rally experiences. He is currently leading the 260cc class of INRC 2022. He is currently experimenting with different bike setups in different classes and recently achieved top-5 finish in Group B and and second in Group D.
Time with Sathyaraj and Yuva Kumar is expected to polish the skills of these youngsters. The duo has been with the team since its inception. The updated squad will make its debut at the INRC Sprint championship in Bangalore, early in September. They will be riding rally-prepped Hero Xpulse 200 and Hero XPulse 200 4V.
