Lets talk Motorsports - karting & Money

Right, for a very long time I have been thinking of writing a lot about what I have been experiencing and going through lately with my passion towards motorsports. For last 12 years of my life all I have been dreaming and thinking about is Motorsports and how to get there.

The journey began in India with no idea or experience. Motorsports unlike all other sports is a very elite sport and not something which can be done by everyone. Why ? Let me try and make an effort to explain you all as to how motorsport actually functions.

Motor racing is all about Man & Machine, unlike other sports like say tennis or cricket or football or golf for that matter where you can just pick the equipment and go and practise, you unfortunately cant do that in Motor racing. Like all the other sports there are benifits starting at an early age. You usually would start in karting which in itself is very expensive.

A kart would cost you any where between 2000£ to 3000£ for a good second hand one or a decent first hand one which is about 2lakhs in Indian rupees. To do a season of Karting in UK at the club level would cost you anywhere between 4£ to 10£ k but this wont guarantee you any front running, to win the championship you would have to spend more. Now where does this money spent on ? Well weekend costs usually would be on new set of tires probably every weekend, engine rebuilds, crash, entry fees, extra days of testing and so on.

To compete at the national level I have heard top teams spend anywhere between 25k£ to 60£k or even almost 100k£ which is absolutely crazy amount. Unfortunately since the commercialisation of Formula 1, the cost of racing has just risen like the population of India or China in past decade or so. A normal person in India or for that matter a normal person here in UK as well cant think of doing this for a very long time.

By the time you decide to go car racing a lot of them drop out because they have already maxed out their budgets for past few years doing karting.

What I have aways failed to understand here is that why do people spend so much on karting where in they could actually save that money and spend the same money when the kid would decide to make a move to circuit racing. Winning in karting unfortunately doesnt guarantee you a seat in any teams. May be 2 % or 3 % of the drivers might get some sort of sponsorship, lewis hamilton is an example of that but rest of them have to find spend their own money to move forward.

As much as I love racing there is no other sport that I hate as well at the same time, unfortunately Racing has always had and will always have money as the main factor and not talent. But saying that the beauty of Motor racing is that unlike other sports age is not a huge barrier, you can compete as long as you are fit, you dont need to be super fit but a decent fitness will still allow you to compete hard and no one really cares what you are age is.

As the saying goes, ones a driver is in his or her helmet no one can see or know the face or age of the driver, for everyone thats just a racing driver.

I will talk more the life after karting a bit more in detail. I am just writing this post because a lot of my friends keep asking me why is it so hard in racing ?

Its been so long but good to be back

Its been so long since I last posted anything on my blog, I had even forgotten that I had a blog. Its good to read some stuff that you have written few years back. You can always compare and see how your thinking was and how its changed.

The last time I wrote something I was still living in India and had not moved to UK yet. Wow it seems that the time has just flown by. Its going to be almost 5 years since I have moved here but seems like I have been living here for a very long time now but saying that I do miss India a lot.

There are so many things that have happened in past 5 years, I have learnt a lot, my racing dream kicked off though still in very early stages but I am making progress even though its small steps. There are so many questions that keep popping up in my mind every other day, in general about life, dreams, politics, women, just so many of them. Its much easier to be a kid than been an adult.

Its been quiet a bit of a change for me since I have been here and there are still certain things that I dont understand and trying to work them out. Growing up in India all you cared about was whether you got good food, a small ground to play cricket with your friends and your school work. We didnt care about fashion, looks or girls. We of course could not afford any of that growing up but saying that me and lot of my friends were very happy with our lives. Our summer days were mostly spent on grounds playing cricket in scorching heat. Our evenings were spent talking about our future lives and sports.

Since I have been here it feels like we in India specially the lower middle class which actually can be classified as poor in western terms which I dont agree with live a completely different lives.There are still certain classes in India upper middle class or rich people who have exposure to the different cultures specially the westerns lifestyle. Having grown up in lower middle class where most of my friends belong as well, we all had different views and ideas about how life was.

The reason I bought up this topic was because even after living here for 5 years which I know is not a lot but considering I moved here when I was 22 which usually are the formative years in most of their lives, it does seem to be a lot of time, I still feel like an alien to the western culture.

I am still trying to figure out whether there is actually true friendship that exists here ? whether there is any true love that exists here ? whether there is actually any inner peace that exists here ?

With all the comforts you have here, all the money, all the flashy things, does it really matter if the none of the above things exist ?

I dont know the answer yet and neither am I saying that it doesnt exist, may be I just havent met a lot of right people yet ?

Dreams & Life

Hi All,

Not sure what to write but I just felt like writing. I met my cousin sis after a long time last week and it was really beautiful spending time with her. It has been long since I had enjoyed. I just think that I have almost forgotten how to enjoy, forgotten what life is what Teen was like.

I really dont know who will ever understand what I think and what I go through everyday. Chasing my dream sometimes I feel is it worth doing that? Not because I dont want it because there are so many things happening around in the world. Is it that everyone or rather I should say most of them in this world have become so selfish that we have completely forgotten about whats the fact.

I am talking about those people who are not so fortunate as we are to earn Good money and have a good life. We talk about India been developing but I really dont see that happening. Theres so many things not going right and I just dont know what to do. I am just worried about my dream,what about those people who are not even able to get their basic needs. I saw on news today and it was really disheartening,people in Bihar after the flood dont even have food to eat, our Govt is doing absolutely nothing, I cant really complaint cause I did not vote. NSD commondo who lost his life, his family had been promised to be given a Petrol pump so that they can get their living, that never happened. Is it really worthwhile for people like this who come from a poor background to lay their lives for India after which their family has to suffer as they are the only sole earner.

What is the solution for this? This is not only happening in India its happening across the world. For a common person its just getting difficult and difficult to survive everyday. I hope by the time I am in position of changing few things its not too late. Its important to reach at such an stage that any action taken by me will make a big difference. I need to stay focused, need to work more harder, I need to start enjoying more in what I do rather than try finding an alternative for that. I just feel that I have lost my focus in last few days. I cant afford to do that anymore.

Also I really pray and hope that my second and the most important step towards my aim gets success. Help me and the world God.

My Friend

Hi All,

Its been really long this time around since I have written anything. There is a lot happening in my life and things have changed a lot. I lost one of my very close friend and the person whom I admired a lot few months back. There isn't a single day that I don't remember him, its just that I just don't talk to anyone about him.

It was just great with him, the time I spent with him and he probably was one of those rare person who understood me and my dreams. It was a shock for me when suddenly I get a call in the morning when I am supposed to go to office that he is serious and then after sometime he is no more. I did not even go for his cremation ceremony neither did I have the guts to go and see his body. It was our last dinner that we had few days before normally the way we used to have every weekend. This time it was special since I had got a new job and we had celebrated it and since it was also my farewell part.

I still remember we had a long chat that night about what we will be doing in future. He was probably one of the nicest guy that I had ever seen in my life though sometimes I hated him for things he did. Even though that was the case he was my best friend. It was just amazing going around with him in Bangalore, seeing places and talking about girls. He was an master in that but unfortunately could not teach me since I am really bad at it and even he failed in teaching me anything.

I learnt a lot about life, business, professionalism and about living your dream. He never worked for anyone as he always wanted to work independently and that is what he did. A very strait forward guy with a very pure heart. He always stood there for me and was always there for me whenever I needed him.

I miss you a lot Ganesh DADA. I hope that once when you told me that you would like to go back in nature since it was nature who created us, you are now seeing the life after death. You will always remain with me and I will still keep talking to you in my mind.

Miss you a lot

Is the world ending - 2 ?

Hi All,
Thanks for all your comments and posts. I really don't know what can be done, so that this climate change can be stopped. There are so many things which are happening now in the world, which is a sure indication of what might happen in future.
         Look at past 5 years and thats what says a lot, first came the Tsunami, then there was this big destruction, I guess a Hurricane in US, then lately the Myanmar flood and now a big earthquake in China. I am sure many of you wont even agree that this all has happened due to climate change but I do believe that Climate change has a major effect on all the above disasters that struck. We just cant imagine how all these people would be going through now, the pain, physical and mental would be at its peak, losing the dear ones, then too when you know that it came so suddenly which was completely unexpected.
         When I travel everyday from my home to office about 20 kms, after seeing the amount of traffic and the amount of pollution happening, if i stay in Bangalore for another 10 to 12 months in this situation I am sure I will face some serious health problems. Every moment when I drive on the roads only thing that pops up in my mind is how can we make these rickshaw drivers, truck drivers all other vehicles understand about the amount of pollution they are creating,although they are not polluting the city purposefully but may be educating them and letting them know about the importance of keeping the vehicle in the proper condition would really help.
        Below is an article that I was reading on NDTV website which tells the facts of Global warming today:

Here's a look at what's destroying the earth and how it will change things for all of us.

Carbon emission

# India is the fourth largest carbon emitter in the world after USA, Australia and China.

# USA's per capita carbon emissions are 20 times that of India.

Global warming

# Melting ice from Himalayan glaciers and other global ice sheets causes rise in sea levels.

# Rising sea levels could force 75 million people from Bangladesh and 125 million from India's coastal areas to the interiors.

# Global warming will affect monsoon patterns in India.

Food security

# Steady fall in food supply across the world due to stagnation in farm output.

# Climate change threatens to worsen food insecurity in the world's poorest regions.

# Rising temperatures will affect crop yields in 40 developing countries.

# Global warming will increase food prices by 40 per cent.
Below is the link to the article:
NDTV Link
I really hope that someday we will get serious about this issue and start working towards it.

Cheers,
Alok

Is the world ending?

Global Warming, increasing climate change, storms and the list goes on which is being happening in past few years.

        When we look back and see how our planet was and how it is today it is really strange that even though we knew what are the effects of using any particular product which is going to effect the environment thinking that what the hell of a difference its gonna make if only I use it, with a single user its gonna make no difference well this is what all of us think.

We think a lot about ourselves when it comes to life that is what human tendency is, we are hardly bothered whats happening in the outside world. When people ask us what are your future plans, most of the common answers that you get are " well i would like to be an software engineer or doctor or something else and get into a good job get settled and live my life". What do you mean by getting settled inst there any responsibility towards their society towards their land which has given us so much.

        People invest thousands and cores with a 10 year or a 20 year plan but the way the climate change is being happening who knows what is going to remain and what is not, small children who are dreaming about seeing tomorrow, they don't even know if they will be able to see it the way it is today.

        I have hardly seen anyone being serious about Global warming even students who are studying environment, at least they should be taking some steps towards that and doing some awareness about sudden climate change. No ones taking it seriously apart from few of people who realize the importance of it, rest of us we all are just worried whats gonna happen in our lives and that we wanna live a good settled life.

        Even if all of us we can understand and realize each of us can contribute towards it in our own manner. As far as I am concerned I have already started and I am going to keep on writing on this topic for a very long time. I have not yet got a internet connection at home which I should get soon,once I get that I will be writing a whole lot of articles on this. I hope that all you readers will pass on this articles to your friends.

        I dont want publicity to my web blog,if you feel so post it, I will create a different blog only for our planet Earth which is mother of all living things on the planet.
SAVE OUR PLANET EARTH
Alok B Iyengar

My First Ever Single Seater Formula Race back in 06 - Old Memories :)

I was preparing for this race from a very long time hoping a lot from myself due to the test results that I had were very positive but its true that you dont get succes so quickly you have to wait for it . I came to the track on thursday , 2 days prior to the race . I was a lot exited , my team owner had called me 2 days early so that I can test the car and he can prepare the car accordingly .

I went to the track in the afternoon . I first tested the Red car in which I had tested previously which had brake problems and the also engine problems , I tested around 4 laps and came in the pits with the complaint that engine was not working properly . So my team owner saw the car and said that the engine is dead and he will have to replace the engine . Ah all this had to happen during the race weekend only , but still we had an day or so , meanwhile he was preparing another single seater car . He said he will be giving me that car to drive for the race . This bought me a bit of hope . The next day on friday we came early morning to the track the whole morning was spent preparing the new car , I mean it was not new it had old chasis and old tyres only thing new was he was preparing the car . Meanwhile my teammate came who was then told that he will be driving the red car .

So atlast the new White car was prepared for testing in the afternoon , I first went out for testing man the car was handling very badly , it had a big oversteer problem due to which it was realy difficlut to handle so I went a bit slow , i was say about 6 seconds off pace of pole position time . Then my teammate went who was a good experinced driver in the Saloon car and a very nice person . He went out and he was 5 seconds off pace my timing . This thing had started worrying me . I told my team owner , he said its not a problem you are a new driver just go out there and drive , this thing had realy frustrated me . But I had decided not to give up on this car which had 2 years old tyre which had no grip and no alignment also . Finaly somehow i clocked a OK time which was about 2.8 seconds behind pole with these 2 years old tyre and oversteer problem and my teammate was 1.8 seconds behind me in the same car . My team owner then said that he will prepare the car properly with changing the settings on saturday . This thing bought a bit of relief in me as I knew changing the tyres itself will bring my timings down by 2 seconds and remaining time I can get it by myself .

Then the main day came , it was saturday and I came to the track at around 7 30 am . I was realy a lot exited and also a bit worried about the car . All the mechanics came and also the team owner . I cleaned the body of my car so that I can put my names new sticker and also my Car number . Meanwhile the mechanics were preparing the red car and also the white car . They were fitting new engine in the red car . Then all the drivers were being called for drivers briefing . We were being told that the first official practise will start at around 10 am that is just after 5 minutes . I went running to my pits to change my dress and put on my suit and shoes . Then suddenly I was being told that I wond be driving the White car and my teammate will be driving and that I will be driving the Red Car instead which will take atleast 3 more hours to get it fully prepared .So this means that I will be missing both the official practise . But i still had soem hope that if the car gets prepared before qualifying then atleast I can drive in few laps and qualify in top ten . I kept on watching both the practise sessions just hoping that my car will get prepared in time .

Then the time came for qualifying and my car was still not ready . Qualifying started and I was still in the pits waiting for my car getting prepared .Finaly my car was prepared and i went out of the pits with just about 5 minutes of qualifying remaining . I was being told not to drive more than 3 laps as the engine is new and the car is not being prepared totaly for race conditions .I went out there and did around 3 laps . But a big problem had hapeened , as the engine was new and the car balance was not proper there was no straight line speed on it and that my car was way off pace with some heating problem as well . I came in the pits and again another problem had occured , the battery of my car was dead . But I still had managed to qualify on 12 out of 14 Drivers on Grid .

I was disappointed but I knew race is different scenario hoping that my car will change till the time . The race was about to start , we all went on the grid . The five lights were about to go off . The race was go and I had made a good start overtaking 2 drivers on the start itself going to 10 . Then on that lap itself there was one retirement pushing me to 9 , but again i Noticed the same engine problem no straight line speed , I managed to still go upto 8 but then the same thing no speed so drivers started overtaking me on straights very easily and then the heating problem started and I had to retire on the 6 lap due to the heating problem and no speed . It was an disappointing end to my first race . Then I knew there is another race where I can perform better but then in the second race , my car stalled on the grid due to battery going off [Battery deid ]. Other than this there were a lot of things going on inside as well which as of now better of that I dont tell but one thing is for sure this race thaught me a lot and has made my will of racing till my last breath more and I will surely one day achieve my dream ,

This article I had written long time back when I started racing in single seater I have just put up this article to bring back my motivation, I had prepared my first site then about 2 years back http://alokbiracing.4t.com/
I will write my other race experiences soon as I really need that motivation back and only way I can bring it back is going back in the past.

Thanks and bye,
Ayrton (Alok)