Miracles happen in movies only! But, thanks to the stature of South India movie sensation Sarath Kumar that they happen sometimes in real life too. There are times when you view stuff in the event of news and entertainment that appear a little too far-fetched. This time it is the Kollywod movie star/politician/bodybuilder coming to the rescue of his namesake motorcycle racer!
Twenty-one-year-old Sarath Kumar had to opt out of the Italian Road Racing motorcycle championship where he was vying under the Mahindra Racing banner in order to check out and make himself ready for get back to the MotoGP.
Kumar had took part in the first three rounds of the 2011 season of the two-wheel equivalent of Formula 1 in the Moto3 leg with Bangalore-based Ten10 Racing but the deprivation of funds and professional experience made him to remain obscure about his game.
A completely paid up ride with Mahindra appeared like a means to prepare himself for a grand return but that was only until last July, when citing monetary issues on the part of Kumar, the carmakers who had got into motorcycles declared that the Chennai lad would have to return to India and cut short his campaign even after a third place finish at the third round of the championship at Monza (venue of the Italian F1 Grand Prix).
Taking things back to Wednesday and Kumar spoke about his ambitious plans from Chennai where at a press conference he announced getting into contract with Spanish-based Monlau Competicion for which Honda's latest MotoGP factory rider Marc Marquez drove on his way to the championship's elite league.
And it's left to Sarath Kumar the movie star after knowing about the issues faced by his racing counterpart to sort out the issue with a lookout for sponsors.
Kumar will take part in the Spanish Moto 3 Championship for the side astride a 250cc bike that is in several ways similar to the one Mahindra is fielding in the Moto 3 class of MotoGP this year.
After the topic hovered around his exit from Mahindra, Kumar wasn't specifically charitable.
"Basically Mahindra had financial issues when it came to supporting my program but they kept changing their story," Kumar told HT. "First they said they would give me two years time to settle in and get good results, then after my podium they said we need more good results.
"Then when I had to leave, they made up another story of me not being able to raise the money."
"The best thing about the bike I'll ride is that it is a four-stroke with the same capacity as the one in the world Moto 3 class," Sarath said. "I know a lot more about four-stroke bikes than I do two-strokes like the 125cc machine I rode for Mahindra."
The "regulation" as per Kumar's manager and head of Ten10 Racing Ramji Govidarajan is for Monlau to crown him a champion.
