Getting better at track riding comes down to one thing — staying consistent and putting in the practice. So when The Race Syndicate announced a training programme at Raftaar in Pune, I signed up straight away.
If you've never trained on a kart track, it's worth knowing it's a different animal from a proper race circuit like MMRT. The corners come at you fast and close together; there's barely any straight to recover between them, and it punishes anything sloppy almost instantly — which actually makes it a great place to learn, because you get far more corners per session to practise on than you would anywhere else. The day started the way any good training day should: a track walk first, so you actually understand the layout and the corners before you're doing them at speed, then warm-up drills to get your body and the bike moving together before anyone opened the throttle properly.
The coaches, Saimah and Jatin, focused on getting the fundamentals right, and it showed in the extent of everyone's improvement. We covered where to look through a corner, carrying corner speed, hitting the apex, and body positioning — every part of it was covered and watched closely, with sessions building in pace as the day went on rather than throwing you in at full speed. Riding a motorcycle through the tight, fast corners of a go-karting track takes a real toll on your body and tests your focus in a way road riding never does — by the last session your arms and your concentration are both running on empty, and that's usually exactly when the bad habits creep back in, which is its own lesson.
It was an extremely fruitful, enjoyable session, and I came away wanting to be part of this group long-term.
The extremely talented Priyanka Tambe got some great pics. She definitely made us look better.
Then in May 2026, The Race Syndicate ran another training session, and I volunteered as track marshal instead of riding. It wasn't the same as being on the bike, but I loved being part of it in a different way — I was responsible for the riders out on track, kept time, and made sure everyone understood track etiquette. Watching a session from that side of the fence taught me almost as much as riding one does — you notice things about lines and mistakes that you never catch from the saddle. My role there grew, and being able to help and contribute to the group felt just as rewarding as riding.