BENGALURU: It takes a village to bring up a child but Bengaluru’s 11-year-old biker Shreyas Hareesh would say he just needs his father, Hareesh Parandhaman to help him reach his dream. The young racer recently secured the second position at the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 held in Coimbatore.
He started biking at the age of nine, sports the number 39 on his racing suit and is popularly called ‘The Bengaluru Kid’ on track. Hareesh started riding his bicycle by the age of 5 and what followed were weekly visits to Cubbon Park, where he honed his skills. By the time he was eight, Shreyas was riding the Kawasaki KLX110, a well-built, track racing training bike.
At nine, Shreyas was competing at local events, and he competed in his first race held at the Adichunchanagiri Mutt in Hassan where he stood first. Shreyas aims to win at MotoGP, and his inspiration is Marc Marquez from Spain. This is quite evident from his room decor, which mainly consists of Marquez’s posters.
“I got the love of riding bikes from my father, and have always enjoyed them,” says Shreyas, who holds a racing licence issued by the FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Club in India). Hareesh started his journey to racing through dirt bike racing but lost valuable practice time due to Covid restrictions. However, that didn’t stop him from achieving his dreams.
He started racing on track last year. Talent like this at a young age surprised his parents initially, but one conversation made Hareesh’s father realise his seriousness about his sport. “One day he asked why India’s national anthem wasn’t being played at the MotoGP, to which I explained it’s the winning country’s anthem that’s played first.”
This made him want to hear India’s national anthem play first, recalls an emotional Parandhaman while speaking to CE from San Diego. To understand the intensity of the sport, Parandhaman went through biographies of legendary racers and realised that parents’ involvement is a crucial factor. “I had to quit my job at a pharmaceutical company to give my 100 per cent to Shreyas. I would never let him go for a race without me. All his bikes are made right in front of me,” says the father, who started working again when sponsors were scarce.
This 11-year-old city-based motorbike racer, who is currently in Coimbatore for the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022, speaks to CE about his journey from Cubbon Park to a competitive forum