Chennai, Sep 20
Though they managed to represent the country in the top echelons of motorsports becoming the country’s first two Formula 1 drivers, Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok did that without going through the grind of participating in a go-karting circuit. That was because there was no global standard karting track in the country and therefore no go-karting ecosystem.
Infact they have never participated in karting races during their formative years. Though they did manage to reach the pinnacle of motorsports and participated in prestigious circuits like Formula 1, NASCAR (Narain) and Le Mans 24 Hours, they want the next generation of drivers in the country to come up through the go-karting circuit, just like the lines of the current lot of drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and old-timers like Mika Hakkinen.
To remove the anomaly in the Indian motorsport ecosystem, Karthikeyan and Chandhok along with Hakkinen on Thursday came together to inaugurate the first internationally-certified go-karting track in the country at the Madras Motor Sports Club here.
The Madras International Karting Arena (MIKA) is a track certified by the Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK) and is fit to host the Karting World Championships.
Talking on the occasion, Hakkinen stressed on the importance of go-karting in the development of race drivers, saying he himself did it for 10 years.
“It taught me about racing, how to handle a kart/car, how to maintain balance. But more importantly, it taught me to tackle defeats on the track,” said Hakkinen, emphasising how this aspect of the sport helped him maintain his confidence as he did not win a single race in his first six years in the Formula 1 circuit.
“You must learn to lose and enjoy the win, and to control your emotions. As you move up the racing ladder, it is a whole different world out there. There is a lot of pressure from family, friends and teams. So, you must be able to deal with the pressure. But everything is up here,” he said, pointing to his temple.
Hakkinen also narrated how he transformed his life and racing career with the help of Doctor Aki Hintsa and his Hintsa Performance to train his mind and become a winning unit.
"After six years in Formula One, I wondered why I have not gone on to win any crown. I felt, something was wrong. And that was the day when I made a call to Aki Hintsa, who initially did not know how he can help me as he has not done much sports. We worked out about my concerns about safety of my family and asked me for how long did I want his services and I said, 'for life'. So then we start working together and not so long after that I won my first Grand Prix and we continued working together.
"Hintsa Performance come into being after that and it is taking care of about 80% of the Grand Prix drivers today," said Hakkinen.
Chandhok talked about how the Madras International Karting Arena came into existence -- from a drawing by UK-based Driven International in active consultation with Chandhok, to the actual structure at the Madras Motor Sports Club.
"So, they did a survey of the land via Google maps, made a simulator version to check the various aspects of the track, did soil testing, laid an asaphalt base, which they could not do for the main race track due to lack of funds and then reworked the design to use the existing pit lanes, garages and other facilities.
"The result is a very smooth track that is challenging and a good training course for youngsters," said Chandhok who took the first drive and had a mock kart race with Karthikeyan, which eventually left him extremely satisfied.
"We have a track that is very smooth and which is going to be good for overtaking. So you've got fast corners, flowing corner and we've got some banking. So we've got some good hairpins, but we also created a track which is, I think, important to train drivers for the future," said Chandhok.
"If I think of what is the purpose of this track, it's to build up future talent.
"It is a facility for parents who think, 'My kid is interested. My kid wants to be a Formula One driver. You know, where do we start? We haven't had a place for them to start.
"So I think this is important, but we need more facilities like this across the country. But there are tracks coming, right? Bangalore is coming, Pune is coming. I'm involved with both of those track designs," Chandhok added.
But India's second Formula 1 driver said having facilities is important but what is more crucial is that it should be approachable for kids.
"But Delhi (the Buddh Internation Race Track in Greater Noida) shows that it is a key aspect. We built this amazing track, $500 million track in Delhi. It hasn't fixed the problem of kids getting to it from the school," said the 40-year-old Chennai native who raced in Formula 1 between 2010-2011.
