Meet CS Santosh, who put the Indian flag on the Motocross Spectrum

CS Santosh is an Indian off-road and enduro motorbike racer who was born on December 1, 1983. Chunchunguppe Shivashankar Santosh is his full name.

Santosh has won National Supercross and Motocross championships on many occasions. CS Santosh has spent more than a decade racing motorcycles in difficult terrains and in numerous countries. He is a Hero MotoSports rider who has helped to start a rally revolution in India. Santosh has also given fellow bright riders renewed optimism that they, too, can make the leap to the world rally stage.

Santosh was always captivated by adventure as a child, and his enthusiasm continues to this day. He saw his first Supercross event at the age of 17 in Bangalore, and the next day read about the champion, Vijay Kumar, in the press. He has been driven to become the finest off-road racer the country has ever produced since then.

Santosh has led the way in a country where pursuing a full-time career in racing is still in its infancy. He was the first Indian to compete in and complete the Dakar rally.

Santosh is India’s most accomplished rally rider, having competed in the Dakar Rally for six consecutive years and completing it three times. His modest demeanour may not reveal it, but the trophy case in this house tells volumes about his achievements.

In the Indian motorsport industry, there isn’t a championship or an honour that he hasn’t earned. CS has moulded himself excellently in the sport of motocross thanks to his perseverance, tenacity, and desire.

Few men dream of the riddle that is the Dakar, even fewer have the courage to take it on, and even fewer manage to finish it while still looking like they’ve just returned from an hour-long reading session at the library. Things have gone full circle for CS.

Here is the list of CS Santosh’s achievements:

2005

At the age of 22, CS Santosh won the MRF National Supercross champion and the Gulf National Dirt Track championship.

2006

Santosh triumphed the Al-Ain Motocross in Dubai & concluded 5th overall in the Dubai National MX championship.

2007

CS Santosh became the National Supercross champion.

2008

He became the first Indian in the Asian Motocross championship, to have qualified with the quickest time in Moto II in Iran. He finished fourth, the highest ever by an Indian rider on the international circuit. He also became the MRF Supercross Challenge champion and succeeded in the Gulf Dirt Track championship for the second time.

2009

Santosh won the 2009 Maharagama Motocross in Sri Lanka.

2010

Santosh succeeded in the MRF National Supercross championship, the Rolon National Dirt Track championship as well as finished 6th overall in the Asian MX championship. He also secured a Foxhill Supercross win in Sri Lanka later that year.

2011

Santosh won the Gajaba Supercross as well as the Gunner’s Supercross. Both were held in Sri Lanka. He also bested the Sigiri Rally Supercross and completed an exceptional 2nd in the Fox Hill Supercross of 2011.

2012

Santosh participated in the Raid-de-Himalaya, the only Indian motorsport event listed on the off-road rallies calendar of FIM (Federation Internationale Motorcyclisme), Geneva, Switzerland.

He won the race in his maiden attempt in record time. It ranks among the top ten toughest motorsport rallies in the world and was a milestone in his racing career. 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 heartbreaking fire accident wounded 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 took 2014 by storm and started it off by succeeding the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm in India. Again, in his maiden attempt. This was a 2200 km long rally distributed over six days, making it India’s longest off-road motorsport annual event that travelled through the scorching deserts of Rajasthan. He also finished 9th in the 2014 World Cross Country Championship.

2015

CS Santosh became the first Indian to compete in the history of this generous motorsport event. He finished the Dakar at 36th position, the two weeks at the Dakar were the hardest two weeks of his life physically, mentally and emotionally. He also won the 2015 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm and finished 13th in the Baja Aragon.

2016

Santosh returned to Dakar in 2016 with Team Suzuki Rally, Spain and was determined to improve drastically. However, things didn’t really go as prepared as 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 sprang off the year as the only Indian rider to finish the 2017 Dakar while racing for Hero Speedbrain. He concluded 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 chaste powerboat win. He was the first Indian P1 head to win the Nexa P1 Powerboat Indian Grand Prix of the Seas.

2018

Santosh completed the 2018 Dakar Rally 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.

2021

Riding for the Hero Motocorp team in the Dakar 2021 rally, CS Santosh crashed out 135 km into Stage 4 on a gravel track forcing his retirement. Suffering a supposed head injury, he was flown out to a hospital in Riyadh. On what was his seventh attempt at the fabled Dakar Rally, Santosh suffered a serious crash on a gravel track in Stage 4.

Husqvarna’s Paul Spierings was the first to reach the scene and announced 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 Riyadh.