Vroom machale

Armaan Ebrahim drove for the DPR team in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series. Indian motorsport racing’s blue-eyed-boy gets into top gear with Nikhil Taneja about pit girls and his dream car...

Armaan Ebrahim started his career in karting and became Formula LGB Champion in 2004. He later moved to Formula BMW Asia for the 2005 season. He drove for the DPR team in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series. Indian motorsport racing’s blue-eyed-boy, gets into top gear with

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Nikhil Taneja

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The pit girls don’t hit on you?
(Smirks) Naaah! I don’t pay attention to it. I mean, I’m not saying I wouldn’t want that (laughs).. but I don’t try to find out if girls are interested. It doesn’t really happen (Smirks again).

I’m going to write that you smirked.
(Laughs) As long as you write nothing else!

Okay.. though you’ve been driving on the tracks professionally since you were 15, you turned old enough for a license only last year.. so you couldn’t drive in India.
(Laughs) Ahh.. I wouldn’t say that (Laughs again). You know, I thank God I don’t drive much in India because ever since I started driving, I’ve been cursing so much! My blood pressure’s going off the hook too. Traffic here is just madness.

Does driving amongst the crowds in India help you on the track?
(Instantly) Yes! It actually helps since you have to be alert while driving.. because you don’t know who –– or what –– is going to come in front of your car! My reflexes have become a lot better.. you have to keep a track of everything around you. (Laughs) So when you get in a racing car and there are 30 cars around you, you know how to dodge them!

Have you ever got speeding tickets?
(Grins) I haven’t been caught yet. If there were speed guns, then.. (breaks off). But actually, in Chennai, you don’t have that many roads to drive that fast. I just have good fun driving alone at night sometimes.

What car do you drive personally?
(Laughs) I have an old ’99 Honda City. I just have a music system in it.

What’s your dream car?
A ’67 or ’69 Ford Mustang.. now that’s a vintage car I’d love to have.

Why don’t you already buy it?
(Chuckles) Once I start making money, I’ll start buying everything. Right now, I’m happy with my Honda City.. even that’s vintage for me. It’s 10 years old! I’ve given myself four-five years.. and hopefully, in that much time, I’d be able to afford it.

And how many years do you think it will take you to make it to F1?
You know, I’m honestly not thinking of that. I know I’m doing Formula Two and the winner gets a Formula One test seat and gets a super license and blah blah.. but right now, I just want to do my best in Formula Two. That’s my only focus right now. Obviously, my goal in the long run is Formula One.

How much is the pressure, being the only driver from Asia in Formula Two?
There’s obviously pressure to perform, but not just because of that. I personally want to get to the next level too. In any case, I enjoy the pressure.. it pushes me more and I perform better. I love challenges.

This year looks good for you.
It’s going to be the most important year of my career. One, it’s going to be the toughest and two, it’s the highest level of championship I’ve ever raced in. I’m just raring to go now.

Have the sponsors increased as well?
(Chuckles) Well.. unfortunately, because of the recession, things have taken a backseat. But by May-June, things should look up. Otherwise, I think, sponsors are now more aware of motor sports but they still have to wake up to it completely. Motor sports is the second largest, and second-most viewed sport in India. There will be a grand prix in the next couple of years, so I hope things will become better.

How difficult is it to be a racecar driver in India though?
There are two ways of looking at it –– one, there are not too many drivers so it can help you get more sponsorship and there’s less competition. And two, the down part, is that it’s not as developed as other sports in our country. But at least it’s not stagnating.. we are a growing sport.

In India, the media has a tendency to make one person the poster boy/girl of any sport other than cricket. For motor sports, it’s Narain Karthikeyan right now. Do you feel that too?
He obviously gets more importance because he’s been India’s only F1 driver. We’re the next hopefuls but I wouldn’t blame the media for going to an F1 driver and then coming down to us. Personally, the media’s always treated me well.

What sort of rapport do you share with Narain? What’s his take on your F1 chances?
We call each other up and chat once in a while.. we get along well. But we never talk about the future. I mean, I won’t ever tell another racing driver that he has chances to make it to F1. That’ll get his ego up. So I don’t expect anyone to tell me that too. A racing driver will never tell another racing driver that.

Is it easy to make friends in motor sports, since your teammate is competing against you too?
It depends. On track, no one’s a friend.. everyone wants to beat everyone.. and sometimes incidents happen too.
Off the track, usually, in every championship, you are racing with different people. Besides, you are not looking to go and meet people on the track.. you are going there to win.

I definitely get along with everyone I work with.. the engineers and off-track support. You need to trust them 100 per cent.. so you need to build a good rapport with them. Plus, there’s always been a big age difference between you and other drivers.

You were 15 at the time of A1 Grand Prix, younger to everyone else by a good five-six years. (Laughs) I’m not that young anymore.
I’m the right age now. During A1, it was a bit strange that everyone had 10 years of experience and I was just one-year-old, but after a point, age is just a number.

Experience and circuit knowledge do count, but on the track, no one’s thinking statistics. Everyone’s the same.. everyone wants to win.

Did your mother get nervous when you were driving at that age?
Your father, Akbar Ebrahim, must surely have been happy, since he’s a former F3 champion himself. (Laughs) In fact, my father was more worried. My mother knew it was safe.. she had seen enough races to know that. She was more worried about sponsorship and the hard work because she knows the cost involved. She made sure that I completed my 10th and 12th privately though. That was quite important.

Tell me.. were you the right weight for your A1 car at that age?
(Laughs) Yeah, yeah. They have a minimum weight and then they put some balance weight if you are underweight. (Laughs) I was surely too tiny for the car. I was sitting in this monstrous vehicle with huge tyres. But it was good fun. It was nerve wracking in the beginning, but I kept improving, and the results started coming.

So any plans for your birthday next month?
I’ll be racing that day.. so I’d have to be in bed by 9. 30-10 the previous night and get up by 6. If the race weekend goes well, I’ll go out and enjoy with the people who worked hard for it. Wherever we are in the world, we enjoy our success together.