Biker Divas | Eps. 7 |Rehanna Rhea - India's Track Racing Diva

[00:00:01] Hi, Myself Rehanna. I just won in Chennai and even bought up in Chennai. So all my schooling in college and university everything is done in Chennai. So basically I am based on Chennai and I am currently passing as a motorcycle racer. Apart from that, I don't do anything

[00:00:35] only I am completely into motorcycle racing. Why bikes? Bikes are literally my happiness. It's not just a mission for me and it's not just a way of transport or something. I like to bike. It is a feeling for me. It's something that makes me...

[00:00:52] It gives me a focus. I sometimes ride a bike. It makes me very happy and it brings me happiness and joy. And I ride a bike in a very peaceful place. So yeah, who wouldn't choose something that makes you happy? So that is why I choose bikes.

[00:01:13] So there is a story behind this too. You were inspired by someone. Was it something like that? No, no. I made a complete self-part. So if I borrowed a bike from my friend, that's how I started riding motorcycles.

[00:01:30] Because I don't have any motorcycle with me. I borrowed a bike from my friend and started my journey. So did your friend trust you that you would keep my bike in the right place?

[00:01:48] No, my friend has a lot of trust because my friends know me very well but I am a very confident girl in life and whatever I am doing, whatever I am supposed to do, I will be very confident enough

[00:02:05] to face things. So they were like, chill you can try this why not because I like 4 wheelers too. I drive 4 wheelers sometimes. I know that technique a lot. So I tried those techniques

[00:02:23] in bikes. So I was a little fast and good in the very beginning. I was supposed to handle the bike and I balanced over the bike but so it's all started. Okay. First time I rode, I was very

[00:02:39] scared and later on I didn't have that fear. I've been riding from the age of 18 and I have more experience. I have memories and my real bikes. As of experience, I've been trained from a lot of

[00:02:56] riders like I would say all the top most riders in India. I've been got trained from after one after getting into racing. I've been riding in so many tracks like both international circuit

[00:03:10] and race. I'm cheney mmrt, I just motorized track and I rode in Karimotar speedway which is most of all the Indian tracks I rode even in international tracks I rode. So yeah, I have more experience and memories

[00:03:30] there. Yeah, I heard about you have represented India. Yeah, I was representing India for the first time back on 2017. I performed well in my national championships. So I decided to participate in the sport club. We will send Rihanna to the international platform. That's how

[00:03:56] I got an opportunity. So I went to Asian level games. I participated there where I rode in Thailand circuit, Taiwan circuit and few more other circuits. Yeah, so that experience was totally different for me. I have both different experiences. Okay, the first time I'm going to an international

[00:04:18] platform or you know excitement dream and everything all three of us. So yeah, I got a very different feeling for me and yeah, I did perform well my major focus is to win the race.

[00:04:36] So win the title and then I gave my best in the international platform whereas all the men riders I was competing with it's all about boys there and me and other one of my team met only girls

[00:04:51] in the international platform. We made it to the podium. Yeah, we made it to the podium all together. We saved a lot of points for India. So we won the championship end of the season. So

[00:05:03] India won the title. I think Japan and Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, a lot of other countries been participated. End of the day India won the championship just because we girls saved a lot of points and it's been calculated and it's been declared that we won the championship.

[00:05:22] Brilliant. Yeah. So first activity that you want to tell us about my first race back in 2016. I have a race. So the earlier day I had a qualifying session where I crashed my bike,

[00:05:45] I put my bike down. So it literally got injured. So that was my first experience. Yeah, whereas I injured on my left shoulder of four or five inches. I have been scratching scratch my skin.

[00:05:57] So it was literally, you know, how to say some sad moment for me where is I didn't have confidence and a lot of things are running my mind and will I be able to perform? So the next day

[00:06:12] I got my race and I performed very well on the race. Things was running in my mind like you shouldn't give up whatever come may what you shouldn't give up and focus and for this

[00:06:23] you have been travel so long for this one single opportunity. So you have to make use of it. In spite of I crashed and things I won the race end of the day. So that was my first

[00:06:36] time ever victory I saw in my life. That's what keeps me motivated and move on forward in my life. And that's when my journey started. I'm here. My national champion 2019 motorcycle racing. So that's how I it's all started. Yeah, that journey was completely different for me being

[00:06:58] a roadside girl who's riding on the bike and being into track racing and riding along with a lot of experienced riders, female riders who've been got experience of five or six years, 10 years in it. Whereas I got just around one year something riding bikes. So that that moment

[00:07:19] what it was completely different and I gave it a shot. I got a hang to the bike and yeah, I got a skill to ride there. So yes, that is what running my mind. And one thing was like

[00:07:32] I ride on the road, I do street racing and everyone else is not that good. So I thought, okay, why not I take it into a professional level so that people at least come to know because in India

[00:07:46] motorcycle racing is not that good compared to other sport like cricket, badminton or something whatever. You see, motor sports are very less. So I thought why not should I give it

[00:07:59] a try and be in a professional racer. If my only goal is to if I perform well, if I be on the podiums, if I get a lot of experience, may future make it like you know, I will train, I will train a lot

[00:08:12] of girls and future and bring a lot of young talents to India. That's how it works in motorsports. Yeah. Tell me do you still believe that boys are far ahead than girls in racing?

[00:08:25] As I told you earlier for them, it's like a lifestyle. For us, it's not whereas some people, some girls might own a bike but not all the girls will have their own bike. Some might be borrowing,

[00:08:37] some might be having some dad's bike or something like that. Whereas boys like they most of the 99 percentage of boys, they have bikes so they will go out every day with the bike. So

[00:08:49] they used to spend a lot of time on the bike. So their skills, it is something called muscle memory like you don't have to teach someone to take food and eat. That's something called muscle

[00:09:00] memory. It automatically happens where you have to keep your hands on the plate and you have to take a need. So that's something like that. Your muscles also get adapted to what you want

[00:09:09] to do. So it will be an advantage for them directly if you put them. The amount of bikes, the amount of time they spend on the bike, that would help them there. So for us it should be like

[00:09:20] zero to 100, we have to work on it. For them it's not like that whereas they know already everything. Now they have to push a little more extra. For us it's not the one that way. Whereas we have

[00:09:31] to learn from everything from you know from gearing to racing lines from everything. So these guys will be riding so much on roads. So that would be an advantage for them

[00:09:44] right better. But even though if girls we get an opportunity to have so much of time spent on the bike, we would be more faster, we would be more ahead of boys I would say. Okay. Yeah I want to tell I love you all my bikers,

[00:10:05] my friends and keep riding, keep pursuing what you want to do. But before you're riding please make sure that you have all the safety precautions because safety is very important. Please don't do

[00:10:20] street racing these days I can see a lot of people who are losing their life just because of doing street racing not wearing proper helmets and gears and they would be you know just zooming

[00:10:33] into roads and you know testing the skills. I know all bikers got special talent we are blessed with talents and I don't want your life to be wasted on doing street racing please there is a lot of

[00:10:47] racing academies, racing tracks who could help you if you want to become a racer please test your skills on professional tracks not on streets and then also please make sure before getting out

[00:11:04] from your bike the tire pressures and the maintenance of the bike condition of the bike you have a proper brakes you have proper like technical things you have everything settled and then please

[00:11:16] take a bike out. You know sometimes people don't even know there would be a proper brakes they would be just taking and a lot of things happen accidentally you know right so I don't

[00:11:27] want that to happen bikers please don't do that and I hope they have very knowledge about bikes and I don't have to tell them yeah that's it I wanted to share. Great it was great talking to you actually Rihanna. Doon Badal Ki Tutu. Go.