I hope more Indian companies support motorsports and help Indian drivers create a name in the world: Shahan Ali Mohsin

After surviving a roller-coaster season that included a DNF (did not finish), 17-year-old Agra teenager Shahan Ali Mohsin clinched the title in the premier MRF F1600 category to finish the National Car Racing Championship held in Chennai, recently.
Hailing from a business family, Shahan is an intermediate student with a long list of accomplishments in the motorsports world.In conversation with us, he speaks his heart out on his recent achievement and what’s next on his mind.
Share your feelings on winning the National Car Racing Championship?
To win a single race is itself a happy moment, so winning the whole championship title surely gives a feeling of joy, satisfaction, contentment and fulfillment and this will linger on for weeks if not months especially because this is my first one since moving into single-seater (formula car) racing.

What does this win mean to you as you already have a long list of achievements?
I already had four National and one Asian Championship title in Karting but this one is special because as I said it’s my first Single Seater (Formula Car) championship win. MRF Formula 1600 is the premium category currently in India and they are the fastest cars in the national championship. The competition was so close that the top seven drivers were within one second and the top three drivers only one-tenth of a second apart on pace. So, to win the title in this category is surely a big thing.
Were you confident of this win, or you were doubtful?
There is a saying ‘Motorsports can be cruel’. It can give an unpleasant surprise, so nothing can be taken for granted because the driver and the machine are both tested to the limit. I had a stunning Round 1 of the championship where I won two races and took a decent lead of 11 points but in the second round, I faced gearbox issues and then a tyre puncture leading to retirement which left me with a deficit of 31 points to my closest rival Chirag Ghorpade.

Not only I had to overcome that deficit but also pass that to take the lead. There were some doubts, but I was determined and wanted to give my 100 percent no matter what the result was. It was all for in the final round and I managed to take two points lead going into the final race which was no less than a thrill. I lost places to Chirag but eventually managed to pass him and took the championship.
How did you prepare for this big event?
We didn’t get enough testing earlier this year due to the pandemic. The tracks were closed but as is the trend these days, I practiced a lot on the simulator with a set-up at home. I did online races too which helped in keeping me focused and also kept me in touch with racing. I worked very hard on my physical fitness because racing formula cars take a toll on the body due to high G force. Exhaustion is huge driving these cars, so the level of fitness is high, more than in karting. I must maintain a strict diet too, avoiding sweets and carbonated drinks is useful. As I have CBSE 12 Board exams this year, I had to balance my races and my first term exams which I had to give during the same time as Round 2 of the championship. It wasn’t easy, but I am glad that I could manage both in a decent manner.

To whom would you like to give credit for this win?
On the face of it, the credit of success is always given to the driver but in reality, there is more to it. A driver is supported by a mechanic and a race engineer who are taking care of the mechanical and technical aspects and then there is a driver coach who does data analysis and helps the driver in finding the lost time even though it may be in millisecond. Strategy is also a very important part of racing which we had to work out for every round, every race. Then comes the family support, without which it was impossible for me to excel in motorsports. So, it’s teamwork which is the secret of success and I think we struck the right combination and gelled well as a team and got positive results.
What is the next title you are looking for?
India is going to get their own F4 series in the last quarter of this year which is my next target. It’s great to see that Mumbai Falcons which is an outfit based out of Pune, is already investing heavily in motorsports in the country and is bringing both F4 and F3 series to India. The championships will be accredited by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) which is the body controlling motorsports across the world. The cars too are going to be the new 2022 machines with the Halo. My immediate goal is to race in the F4 series as this is a ladder to move forward in formula cars.
What is the future of motorsports in our country?
Motorsports has grown steadily over the last decade in India and the credit of which goes to the National Karting Championships which has thrown up some very talented drivers. I am from karting background and I can say with conviction that karting is the best way to get the fundamentals right to become a racing driver. With plans of opening more karting and racing tracks in the near future, we will surely see many new drivers coming out from India in the next few years. However, motorsports is an expensive sport and it needs corporate backing. Without sponsorship support it’s impossible for Indian drivers to go to the next level. I sincerely hope more Indian companies come out and support motorsports, so we can have Indian drivers creating a name in world motorsports.