In his debut season, this Bengaluru teen emerged as a champion in the highly competitive Formula LGB 1300 category. Sohil Shah, a 17-year-old racer from the city was recently part of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship.
Driving fast has sort of become a trend for the Shah family. Sohil says, “From my grandfather to my parents and then me, we all like driving fast. When I was young, we went to a go-kart track and from there I started picking up my pace. But I only started racing professionally last year.”
For this competition, there is no selection process. For those who want to compete, you will have to take training sessions with one of the cars with the team you would like to race with. Sohil goes on to explain, “They will also provide you with the certificate which you can use to get a racing license. You will have to pay the team a certain amount and then you can race with them.”
Sohil who is part of the MECO Motorsports competed against his team-mate Nabil Hussain and Ashwin Dutta from Momentum Motorsports. “I was also part of a series hosted by MECO in April-May for the exact same cars called the Formula Junior Racing series. Twelve people competed for a sponsorship to race in the MRF racing championship. I finished second in this series,” adds Sohil, who is a fan of racers like Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. Currently, Sohil has been racing with a 1300cc Maruthi Suzuki Swift engine with the Chasif custom-made.
Its a walk in the park for Sohil who manages school and racing quite well. He adds, “My school has provided me with option of NIOS (The National Institute of Open Schooling) which means that I don’t have to give 75 percent attendance and the portion is slightly earlier.”
Keeping his busy schedule in mind, Sohil still finds time to do the fun things. He adds, “I now have to find time for racing as I am busy with my studies. So I can’t race everyday as I have to pay for the track, car hire. Hence I have to take practise sessions once or twice a month.”
Sohil feels that without his dad, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve so much. “He has been there for every practise session, race. He has helped me out in ways that no parent could possibly have.” Sohil will further be a part of the JK Tire National Racing Championship, with round three happening next month and round four in the month of November.
