Mahindra Racing: Silent Assassin

Do we finally have a racing team that will bring home laurels? FHM finds out.

Indians need only a small Indian connection to make something ours. Every time a non-resident Indian does something big, our chests puff up with pride – whether it’s a fifth-grader winning a spelling bee contest or an Indian entrepreneur selling his start-up for millions of dollars. It was exactly this sense of ownership that Vijay Mallya counted on when he named his Formula 1 team, Force India. For a long time, the only thing Indian about the team was the name but in 2011, Sahara joined the fray and Indianised the team a wee bit more by calling it Sahara Force India. For newly converted Indian F1 fans, Force India is an Indian team and nothing is more important to us than its misfortunes and successes.

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By that logic, Mahindra Racing also should’ve enjoyed the same degree of support, because not only is it owned by one of India’s biggest home-grown brand, but in just two years of its entry in two-wheel racing, it has managed to establish itself as a title contender and is the first Indian team to win an international championship. Mahindra Racing entered the Italian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (CIV) in 2012 and won the CIV Constructor’s Cup. In 2013, the team was competing in the 2013 FIM Moto3 World Championship and has built its own 4-stroke, single-cylinder, 250cc motorcycle: the Mahindra MGP3O – developed with experienced Swiss firm, Suter Racing Technology AG. The experience of Spanish rider Efrén Vázquez (26, from Bilbao) and the pace of Portuguese teenager Miguel Oliveira (18, from Pragal near Lisbon) has already seen the team collect 28 points. Oliveira also won Mahindra their first pole of the season at Assen in June 2013. Yet most of India is still ignorant of how Mahindra, the maker of cars like Scorpio and XUV, came to be a part of the FIM MotoGP World. Mufaddal Choonia, the CEO of Mahindra Racing isn’t worried because he believes that “the team has captured the attention of those who matter”, he tells FHM India…

What was Mahindra’s goal when it entered the world of two-wheeler racing?

Participation in elite championships the FIM MotoGP World Motorcycle Racing Championship provides us with a fantastic platform to showcase brand Mahindra to the world and develop and test cutting edge 2-wheeler technology, which will help us immensely in our 2-wheeler business.

You’ve slowly but surely been going from strength to strength. What has been the most difficult part?

From a purely racing point of view, it’s been the relatively short time we have had to make a mark on the sport and to prove to the world that an Indian motorcycle racing team can compete with the best in the world. Others have been in the sport for many years – we have been in it for less than three. So in a way, we have to achieve success in a relatively shorter span of time.

What has been the response in India to Mahindra’s progress in the series?

Motorsports is turning out to be an important area of interest for India. Mahindra Racing’s Facebook page with over 885,000 fans, one of the highest for any racing team in the world, indicates the kind of response and interest we are receiving from racing enthusiasts here.

How has the reception been, internationally, to an Indian company entering the fray of motor racing?

We have grown to be a respected team thanks to what we’ve achieved in a relatively short span of time. We created history by becoming the first Indian team to win the Constructors Title in 2012 at the CIV in the 125cc class. In 2013, the Moto3 World Championship, we have been consistently getting top 5 results and have even secured a pole position on the starting grid, besides circuit lap records at 2 international circuits. Accomplishments such as these and the fact that we’ve engineered our own world-class 250cc racing bike have created a huge amount of goodwill for Mahindra and for Indian engineering skills.

How do you select your drivers?

It is an extremely complicated process. There are just too many variables, including past performance and future potential. We therefore have talent scouts in our team who keep an eye out for that kind of talent.

How have you tried to generate interest in India about your team?

It has largely been social media driven. We have always tried to stay connected with the fans by giving them information on the team, sharing images from international races, uploading videos, and giving our fans an opportunity to interact with our riders and team staff by conducting online chats etc. Also, the fact that in India, Moto3 reaches close to 32 million homes and channels like Ten Sports telecast more than 125 hours of live motorcycle racing go a long way in promoting the sport.

Driver profiles

• EFRÉN VÁZQUEZ RODRÍGUEZ Age: 26 Hometown: Rekalde, Spain Race Number: 7 At 4, he was already riding a mini-motorbike, and by the age of 8 he had started participating in local competitions. He is the three-time Mini Moto Double Champion of Bizcaia and Euskadi in 1995, 1996, and 1997. Efrén made his debut in FIM MotoGP in 2007. In November 2012, Efrén joined Mahindra Racing and will represent the team in the 2013 Moto3TM World Championship.
• MIGUEL OLIVEIRA Age: 18 Hometown: Pragal, Portugal Race Number: 44 He represented Portugal at the highest level in the FIM MotoGPTM World Championship in 2011. In November 2012, Miguel joined Mahindra Racing and will represent the team in the 2013 Moto3TM World Championship. Still in school, Miguel secured his first podium at the Catalunia Aperol Moto3 Grand Prix in 2012.

From the May 2014 issue of FHM India.