Odia bike racer vrooms past hurdles

Bhubaneswar: Despite all odds, 25-year-old Udipta Rath from Bhubaneswar has proved his mettle and established himself as an international bike racer.

A graduate of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Rath leads the first ever two-member professional motorcycle racing team in Odisha that had made its debut in the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship held in June last year.

Notwithstanding the fact that there is lack of infrastructure for bike racing in the State and his poor financial background, Rath has set a target to take part in the upcoming World Road Racing as the first Indian. Prior to this, Rath will participate in Superbike Championship to be held in Malaysia this year.

At the age of 11, he had started assembling motorbikes and his dreams revolved around the racing tracks. He started freestyle stunt riding when he was just 15-year-old and later became an international-level professional bike racer. He has also obtained license for international bike racing.

Rath emerged as 2nd Runners Up in the National Bike Racing held in 2015 and placed himself in top-10 in the Malaysia Superbike Championship last year. He now aims at representing India in Asian Road Race by placing himself in top-3 at the Malaysia Superbike Championship-2018.

The racer will qualify for World Road Race if he secures position among the top-3 at the Asian Road Race. Udipta has sought financial assistance from the state government for this endeavor.

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