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Shankar Sarath Kumar
Shankar Sarath Kumar
	Shankar Sarath Kumar
Nationality	Indian
Born	15 December 1991 (age 33); Chennai, India
Current team	Honda Ten10 Racing
Bike number	69
Motorcycle racing career statistics
125cc World Championship
Active years	2011
Manufacturers	Aprilia
Championships	0
2011 championship position	NC (0 pts)

Shankar Sarath Kumar (born 15 December 1991 in Chennai, India) is a professional motorcycle road racer and a multiple Indian national champion. He became the first Indian to take part in the FIM Motorcycle World Championship^[1] competing in the 125cc class in the 2011 MotoGP at the Portugal Grand Prix .^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] He took part in only three rounds.^[6] His efforts to re-enter Moto3 for the 2014 season failed due to lack of sponsors.^[7]

Early life and education

Kumar hails from a lower-middle-class family in Koyambedu, Chennai. He completed his secondary schooling at the Tamil Nadu Open University in 2008. His mother, Shanthi, is a beautician and he also has a sister. Even after taking part in the MotoGP races, he worked as a Taxi driver to meet his expenses.^[8] He had to drop out of his BBA distance education at Tamil Nadu Open University to focus on motorsports.^[8]

He attended the California Superbike School in February, 2010. The school was conducted by Keith Code at the MMSC Track in Chennai.^[9] Kumar's tuition was paid by the Madras Motor Sports Club to encourage the young rider.

Career

Kumar started racing as a privateer on a TVS Apache 150cc 4-stroke in the 'TVS Race a bike scheme class'. He finished second in both the JK Junior Championship and the Summer Cup 2008. In 2008, Kumar joined TVS Racing and won the National Champion title in the up to 130cc 4-stroke novice class. He also raced in the Indian National Motorcycle Supersport 165cc class with Honda team. He began his racing career in 2008 with the Ten10 Racing Team, now WTR-Ten10 Racing. Ramji Govindarajan was his first coach.^[10]^[11]

Achievements

In September 2009, Kumar joined the Ten10 Racing team during the third round and competed in the up to 165cc 4-stroke open class where he finished fourth. As a wildcard entry, he entered the FIM UAM Indian round of the Asia GP championship in the 'Honda Stunner' class and finished seventh and eighth.

In January 2010, Kumar won the Indian 4-stroke up to 165cc open class at the MECO Endurance Race, a 90-minute non-stop event. He was awarded the best rider of the day. During the MRF International Challenge 2010, Kumar finished first in the Yamaha 135cc one-make under bone class and second in the Group D, 4-stroke up to 165cc open class.

In August 2010, Kumar participated in the FIM UAM Asia GP Indian Championship round as a wild card entry in the 'Honda Stunner' class and finished fourth and fifth in the two races respectively.

In 2009, based on his performance during the FIM UAM Asia GP^[11] (Indian round), the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India offered Kumar a sponsored entry for the Japan round of the UAM championship in September 2010.^[12] He finished seventh and eighth and set the second-fastest lap time at the circuit for his class at 1:54.3.

In 2012, he helped Mahindra Racing to a third-place finish in the 125 GP event at the CIV Italian Championship in Monza.^[8]^[13]

In 2016, he took part in the Supersport 600cc class of the Asian Road Racing Championship at Sentul, Indonesia. T-Riding for Pro Yuzy NTS Honda Racing team, he also took part in the round at Buddh International Circuit on 1 and 2 October 2016.^[14]

In 2019, he won the National title in Pro-stock up to 165cc.^[15] He was the 2010 Indian National Champion in the 165cc expert class and the 2008 National Champion in the 130cc 4-stroke novice class.^[13]^[16]