Fireside Chat w/ Advait Deodhar

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[00:00.000 -> 00:09.000] It's quite funny. I'd say like a few years ago, I was like, oh, yeah, you drive so much better because you're struggling and you like want to do your best.
[00:09.000 -> 00:15.000] You extract absolute maximum out of yourself. So you perform in order to do that. But I call bullshit on that now.
[00:32.000 -> 00:33.720] Hello folks and welcome to F1 Fan Fiction, a show about F1 races brought to you by F1 fans for the F1 community.
[00:33.720 -> 00:39.020] While we are not doing F1 races, you all know we've started this series called Fireside
[00:39.020 -> 00:43.880] Chat, which thank you for all the love and support you've been giving us.
[00:43.880 -> 00:49.800] This is yet another Fireside Chat with what actually started as a nice tradition on the
[00:49.800 -> 00:55.720] last episode with a new host as we are now calling them and no longer guests because
[00:55.720 -> 01:01.400] that's the beauty because they also end up bantering with us throughout the episode.
[01:01.400 -> 01:25.920] So this episode we've got someone who's redefined many odds, who's an inspiration to, you know trying to go through hard times as well.
[01:25.920 -> 01:30.320] So let me just hand it off to our third host for the evening. Take it away, third host.
[01:30.880 -> 01:36.880] Thank you for that. Nice to be here. My name is Advaith Deodhar. And yeah, it's great to be on
[01:36.880 -> 01:47.920] this show, I guess. That's the way we're calling it. And yeah, and talking motorsport and formula one and some of the racing that I do.
[01:48.360 -> 01:50.280] I mean, I compete in European NASCAR.
[01:50.440 -> 01:51.840] No, we just finished the season.
[01:51.840 -> 01:57.160] I just finished two weeks ago and yeah, I'm from Mumbai and I'm currently based in London.
[01:58.240 -> 01:58.640] Awesome.
[01:58.640 -> 01:59.360] Welcome to the show.
[02:00.080 -> 02:01.080] Thanks for having me.
[02:01.840 -> 02:02.240] All right.
[02:02.320 -> 02:06.960] I think, uh, this gives us a good segue into the first question that we want to ask you
[02:06.960 -> 02:14.640] about is Euronascar. Since you mentioned that, I think you are off from a very good season.
[02:15.600 -> 02:21.440] You just participated in the 2021 season of the Euronascar. And I guess you had one win at
[02:21.440 -> 02:27.500] TransHatch, two polls, what, five top fives and six top tens?
[02:28.120 -> 02:28.440] Yeah.
[02:28.440 -> 02:28.940] Something like that.
[02:29.440 -> 02:33.700] I mean, I wouldn't count it as the best season because I mean, I had, of course,
[02:33.700 -> 02:37.960] much higher expectations and I, there was the idea was to fight for the championship
[02:37.960 -> 02:44.400] outright, um, had a, uh, had a win and two polls at Brands hatch, um, and continued
[02:44.400 -> 02:46.920] on from there onto my probably my favorite circuit
[02:46.920 -> 02:50.360] which is most in the Czech Republic I finished second over there and
[02:51.800 -> 02:56.800] then after that in the second race when I was probably could have won that race, but I had an accident and
[02:57.960 -> 03:02.680] For no fault of mine and unfortunately, I think things went down because also in my personal life
[03:02.680 -> 03:06.460] there was a tragedy and that really, that was, that affected me big time.
[03:06.460 -> 03:09.720] And, uh, and yet the results just didn't come after that.
[03:09.720 -> 03:16.340] And as much as this could have been a massive, massive year in terms of winning, probably like actually winning the
[03:16.340 -> 03:19.900] championship, it didn't go to plan, but I guess that's motor racing and things happen.
[03:19.900 -> 03:25.120] And, um, and in some ways, of course, I want to learn a lot from this year.
[03:25.120 -> 03:28.640] But I also want to try and forget about it as soon as I possibly can.
[03:28.640 -> 03:33.520] And just come back with this redemption to really do my very best next year.
[03:33.520 -> 03:38.480] Sorry to hear about that personal tragedy. I'm sure it's going to recoup.
[03:38.480 -> 03:38.980] Thank you.
[03:38.980 -> 03:45.440] But it's a bit ironic in the sad sense.
[03:45.720 -> 03:48.040] Your last race, you were last.
[03:48.360 -> 03:50.720] The second last race, you were second last.
[03:51.120 -> 03:57.640] Is there a theme to, you know, if it's a last race, the positioning.
[03:58.320 -> 03:58.920] That's happening.
[03:58.920 -> 04:04.120] No, actually, it only got classified as last because I didn't finish either race.
[04:08.000 -> 04:09.800] Unfortunately, I had mechanical issues. I never finished last.
[04:09.800 -> 04:14.400] So, I finished in the pit lane watching everybody else finish.
[04:14.400 -> 04:20.300] Because this year, there was so much bad luck due to mechanical issues as well.
[04:20.300 -> 04:24.400] And I had, I mean, like, the final race weekend, I was full prep.
[04:24.400 -> 04:28.260] I had done some extra testing on Thursday. Friday, things were going well. And I had, I mean, we like the final race weekend, it was full prep. I'd done some extra testing on Thursday, Friday, things were going well.
[04:28.260 -> 04:32.020] And in the final practice session, there was some clutch issues again.
[04:32.620 -> 04:35.660] This is not the first weekend, but I had it and going into qualify,
[04:35.700 -> 04:36.900] there was just no drive.
[04:36.900 -> 04:39.060] It just kept the clutch kept slipping.
[04:39.660 -> 04:41.360] And so I somehow managed to put in a lap.
[04:41.360 -> 04:46.120] I think it was 13th and I had to retire and bring the car into the pit lane.
[04:46.120 -> 04:49.840] So I would say it was not a proper qualifying and yeah, there was some
[04:49.840 -> 04:54.440] problem with the ball bearing inside the clutch and yeah, it was just a disaster.
[04:54.440 -> 04:57.160] So I actually didn't finish the, I didn't finish the two races.
[04:57.160 -> 05:00.440] So that's why I got classified as last and second last, because I was sitting
[05:00.440 -> 05:02.520] in the pit lane, wiping my tears.
[05:04.760 -> 05:08.080] I know we thought that we thought that that's just some way of, you know,
[05:08.080 -> 05:09.920] for you to just put out a statement.
[05:12.720 -> 05:15.040] My precision level in driving is X.
[05:18.000 -> 05:21.200] Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. That would have been a good story if it was.
[05:24.320 -> 05:33.760] All right, so we wanted to know a little bit more about CalRacing, how did that happen and what's
[05:33.760 -> 05:43.160] your advice about other people who want to get into NASCAR in general and how do you
[05:43.160 -> 05:45.160] go about even finding a team for yourself?
[05:46.320 -> 05:50.360] Uh, so yeah, so Cal racing, I did a part of the 2019 season with them.
[05:50.520 -> 05:53.440] I didn't drive last year and I did the entire season this year.
[05:53.440 -> 05:57.400] They're an Italian team and multiple champions in the past.
[05:57.400 -> 06:01.840] They've won the championship, um, I think thrice or four times, if I'm not mistaken.
[06:02.440 -> 06:04.680] And I get along very, very well with the team.
[06:05.420 -> 06:09.740] Cause when I started in 2019, I, I drove for two different teams in the first
[06:09.740 -> 06:12.100] two rounds because I just didn't have the budget.
[06:12.100 -> 06:15.600] So I was just being passed around as to wherever and who would
[06:15.600 -> 06:18.180] take my little bag of gold.
[06:18.960 -> 06:22.120] And, uh, and then I ended up doing, getting a very good deal with
[06:22.120 -> 06:24.740] Carl and things went well in 2019.
[06:24.740 -> 06:28.960] So that's why I continued to race with them and wanted to win the championship this year.
[06:29.840 -> 06:33.760] No, and because I speak Italian, cause I went to university in Italy. So that also really,
[06:33.760 -> 06:40.400] really helps. Makes sense. Makes sense. You know, actually, since we're talking about your NASCAR,
[06:40.400 -> 06:47.680] why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about your NASCAR? Because I don't think a lot of people actually know that, you know,
[06:47.680 -> 06:49.880] Europe and NASCAR, they must be confused.
[06:51.680 -> 06:51.880] Yeah.
[06:51.880 -> 06:53.200] So it's, it's interesting.
[06:53.200 -> 06:57.520] So, so you're a piece of NASCAR as a whole, is it of course, the American
[06:57.520 -> 07:00.800] NASCAR CDs and this, the parent organization, you have various levels
[07:00.800 -> 07:04.680] of NASCAR, but of course the top CDs of the cup series and the Xfinity
[07:04.680 -> 07:05.360] championship, and that races in the States on your super speedways. various levels of NASCAR, but of course the top CDs of the cup CDs and the Xfinity championship.
[07:05.520 -> 07:08.960] And that races in the States on your super speedways.
[07:08.960 -> 07:14.880] And in Europe is, is, is from, is part of the NASCAR community, but
[07:14.880 -> 07:16.480] it's a completely separate entity.
[07:17.000 -> 07:19.520] And, um, so we don't race on ovals.
[07:20.080 -> 07:22.200] The we race on proper racetracks.
[07:22.200 -> 07:25.600] So we're like, they said like Hockenheims, all the brands hatch. We don't, we do it. We race on circuits.etracks so we're like like Hockenheim, Zolder, Brands Hatch, we don't
[07:25.600 -> 07:31.760] really do it we race on circuits we don't do ovals and the cars are quite similar to what you have
[07:31.760 -> 07:37.280] which they also race in Canadian NASCAR and in Mexican NASCAR which are again separate
[07:37.280 -> 07:46.080] organizations and they're pretty awesome to race. We have 5.7 liter V8 big block engine, so they sound like a million bucks.
[07:46.080 -> 07:55.680] I can hear them already. Yeah, exactly. And it's the LS7 engine, so whoever all the car geeks out there,
[07:55.680 -> 08:01.360] the LS7 engine, this 5.7 liter V8 is quite a well-known engine which is used in race cars and
[08:01.360 -> 08:07.400] in a lot of road cars and without the restrictor, I think you can get easily get something like 700
[08:07.400 -> 08:08.400] horsepower out of it.
[08:08.920 -> 08:12.480] But of course to maintain the life of the engine, we have an air restrictor.
[08:12.960 -> 08:14.880] And I think that's it.
[08:14.960 -> 08:21.960] It varies anywhere between 410 to about 415 horsepower is what the, what the
[08:21.960 -> 08:22.600] power is.
[08:23.000 -> 08:27.440] We have no traction control, no ABS. We've got a four-speed gearbox, so it's
[08:28.000 -> 08:34.160] as raw as it gets. It's completely down to the driver and of course, there's a few
[08:34.160 -> 08:39.200] things you can change on the setup which makes a massive difference but they're a lot of fun to
[08:39.200 -> 08:46.560] drive and the racing is extremely, extremely close. So I think it's some of the nine, it's any kind of a tint of racing, where it's
[08:46.560 -> 08:49.440] a very, very close and they're big cars.
[08:49.440 -> 08:52.720] We've got a course of space frame chassis, but above that, we've
[08:52.720 -> 08:54.040] got a fiberglass body kit.
[08:55.320 -> 08:57.640] So sometimes you do end up without a bumper.
[08:59.760 -> 09:03.320] Like they say, rubbing is racing, but it has to be in limits, but, and
[09:03.320 -> 09:07.740] then also some of the drivers, there's such a high level of drivers in the series.
[09:07.740 -> 09:11.440] I mean, this year, I mean, to name a few, even though he's an, he's an old guy, but he still got it.
[09:11.440 -> 09:14.520] Jacques Villeneuve races and he won both the final races.
[09:14.520 -> 09:15.360] Oh, he's in the next car?
[09:15.360 -> 09:15.860] Really?
[09:15.860 -> 09:16.680] He's racing with you?
[09:17.680 -> 09:21.400] Yeah, he's in another category, but it's the same championship.
[09:21.400 -> 09:25.880] And yeah, he won both the final races and old man still got it.
[09:27.680 -> 09:31.040] There's so many drivers who've raced in like Indy lights and GP2.
[09:31.040 -> 09:36.320] So in 2019, the main guy, I mean, I was nowhere near the top two, but third and
[09:36.320 -> 09:40.080] fourth, we were in, we were in, we were fighting with each other and Vittorio
[09:40.080 -> 09:43.160] Ghirardi, he's raced in GP2, he's raced in GP3.
[09:43.600 -> 09:45.280] He was, I think an Audi factory driver.
[09:45.320 -> 09:48.780] Then you've got another guy who won the championship was French F4 champion,
[09:48.800 -> 09:50.880] Danish Thunder cars champion.
[09:50.880 -> 09:54.360] So there's some really, really awesome drivers in the championship and we
[09:54.360 -> 09:56.280] go to some great tracks as well.
[09:56.280 -> 09:59.680] So, yeah, that's your NASCAR in a nutshell.
[10:00.720 -> 10:01.480] No, that's awesome.
[10:01.920 -> 10:05.920] You know, when, when I first heard about you, I saw that our Indian driver
[10:05.920 -> 10:08.840] is a NASCAR and I was a little confused, very honestly.
[10:13.320 -> 10:17.440] So, so I came to the UK of course, in 2015, one way ticket chase
[10:17.440 -> 10:18.880] the dream after racing in India.
[10:18.880 -> 10:21.080] And I always wanted to race Porsches.
[10:21.080 -> 10:25.220] Like I'm, I'm a massive Porsche fan as a manufacturer,
[10:26.560 -> 10:28.660] but I also love the motor sports. So the Porsche one makes series the Carrera cup.
[10:28.660 -> 10:33.600] And then the idea was to ultimately race in LMP one back then was the plan,
[10:33.600 -> 10:37.200] but I move up the Porsche ladder, but unfortunately that didn't work out
[10:37.200 -> 10:41.680] because I needed some serious money, which was upward of 200,000 pounds a year.
[10:42.360 -> 10:42.980] Didn't happen.
[10:42.980 -> 10:46.000] And, uh, it just struggling, struggling, struggling, started
[10:46.000 -> 10:47.360] reaching out to different CDs.
[10:47.360 -> 10:50.960] And someone called Lucas Lassair, who was a driver, he got in touch with me.
[10:50.960 -> 10:52.120] So I'm very thankful to him.
[10:52.200 -> 10:54.000] He said, why don't you come and test the car?
[10:54.640 -> 10:55.720] It's great value for money.
[10:55.720 -> 10:58.160] The racing is amazing because to be honest, I didn't know
[10:58.160 -> 10:59.400] very much about the series.
[11:00.040 -> 11:03.040] So I have to thank one of the drivers called Lucas, who actually
[11:03.040 -> 11:04.240] introduced me to the series.
[11:04.240 -> 11:09.440] And I went and I tested the car with in I think it was 2018.
[11:10.160 -> 11:12.480] And I was like, wow, this is this is actually pretty cool.
[11:13.120 -> 11:14.240] That's awesome.
[11:14.240 -> 11:17.760] So you must be you must dislike Jeremy Clarkson a bit, right?
[11:17.760 -> 11:22.800] Because he's downright somewhat condescending to Porsche owners and Porsche lovers.
[11:24.800 -> 11:29.000] That is very true. I am a huge Porsche fan. I love my Porsche.
[11:29.000 -> 11:32.000] As much as I love Clarkson, I'll let that slip.
[11:32.000 -> 11:36.000] And it's Hammond. Hammond is a big Porsche fan, right?
[11:36.000 -> 11:37.000] He is, yes.
[11:37.000 -> 11:46.240] Isn't he coming up with or already has a series about him starting a garage and how he's gone to a Porsche factory or a Porsche car
[11:46.240 -> 11:51.360] sale and gotten custom. I don't remember, I haven't seen that. Something popped up on my YouTube recently.
[11:51.360 -> 11:54.160] Interesting. I'll look into it.
[11:56.720 -> 12:03.760] Sounds good. So yeah. Great, so you know, now let's you know change our lanes a little.
[12:03.760 -> 12:07.400] Let's talk a little bit about your early career in general.
[12:08.680 -> 12:11.840] One thing we wanted to know, when were you bitten by the racing bug?
[12:13.080 -> 12:15.080] When I guess the day I was born.
[12:15.200 -> 12:15.700] I don't know.
[12:16.480 -> 12:18.800] When I was still in Beach Candy Hospital.
[12:19.640 -> 12:28.400] No, rumor has it that you are the 2007 Alonzo vs Hamilton was that trigger point for you.
[12:28.400 -> 12:30.960] But that's already out there.
[12:30.960 -> 12:35.280] What's something that folks don't know that has gotten Aditya into..
[12:35.280 -> 12:36.960] Sorry, Aditya into..
[12:36.960 -> 12:40.160] Again, I knew I was going to do this.
[12:40.160 -> 12:41.440] I knew I was going to do this.
[12:41.440 -> 12:43.280] We actually talked about this before.
[12:43.280 -> 12:44.320] I reminded him.
[12:44.320 -> 12:47.440] Please don't say Aditya Jadhav. I don't know going to do this. We actually talked about this before. I reminded him. Please, please go and say, Aditya Jaya Dwait.
[12:47.440 -> 12:50.640] I don't know why it's stuck. But I'm sorry. Aditya.
[12:50.640 -> 12:53.520] What got you into racing besides that?
[12:53.520 -> 13:01.200] Honestly, I mean, ever since I was a kid, it's always been cars, cars, cars and racing.
[13:01.200 -> 13:07.080] But I never did it. I mean, I was just all talk and nothing and I was like, Oh, it's too expensive.
[13:07.080 -> 13:11.160] And so, I mean, I did some like fun carting in like the power racetrack in
[13:11.160 -> 13:14.080] Bombay, but like, I don't, to be honest, I don't think I was very great.
[13:14.080 -> 13:16.360] And, uh, and it was just for fun.
[13:16.360 -> 13:18.080] So I never really properly did anything.
[13:18.320 -> 13:22.680] And then I went to university overseas and I think being away from home and
[13:22.680 -> 13:27.700] just being exposed to it, I was like, you know, I grew up as a person and like, this is what I really love.
[13:27.700 -> 13:31.000] I mean, it's, this is all I think about all day.
[13:31.000 -> 13:33.000] And I said, I want to, I'm going to give it a shot.
[13:33.560 -> 13:36.880] And so, yeah, so I graduated and I came back to India and I started
[13:36.880 -> 13:38.960] in the formula LGB in 2012.
[13:39.040 -> 13:41.760] So, so the bug had been there since I was a child.
[13:41.760 -> 13:48.440] I, we don't know where it came from, but it was, but it it was always there. I only started it, I guess, very, very late.
[13:48.440 -> 14:01.000] But what was that moment with.. Because Hamilton and Lollonzo, remember, 2007 has a very different incident that's changed their careers.
[14:01.000 -> 14:05.480] But what was that one moment in that year that did it for you?
[14:05.480 -> 14:07.460] Like, wow, this is Hamilton.
[14:07.460 -> 14:17.040] I think, the first race, just seeing this rookie go around the outside of Alonso in Albert Park, I think, that cemented it for me.
[14:17.040 -> 14:21.560] I mean, he didn't even have to finish a lap. And I was like, this guy has got balls and he's got some…
[14:21.560 -> 14:25.320] He's a very gifted driver. that, that really did it right.
[14:25.800 -> 14:27.480] Cause you don't do that on your first race.
[14:29.960 -> 14:35.720] So, one question that we had was, you know, why don't you just talk a little
[14:35.720 -> 14:40.400] bit about your early career in general, in the sense that you, you mentioned
[14:40.400 -> 14:45.420] that, like you got, you got back from finishing your degree in Italy and then
[14:45.420 -> 14:49.840] you participated in Formula LGB, you know, from what we understand, you
[14:49.900 -> 14:54.000] initially were planning to go into Formula Racing or as you mentioned
[14:54.000 -> 14:56.740] earlier, like Porsche Carrera Cup.
[14:57.380 -> 15:02.680] So what was your early career into Formula Racing and you know, how did that
[15:03.240 -> 15:08.100] suddenly, I mean, we kind of know how it got into Euronascar, but yeah, you want to know how did it lead up to that?
[15:09.060 -> 15:13.020] I mean, so I was, first of all, I was very, very old when I started, I was 22.
[15:13.320 -> 15:15.760] I'd never driven a Rotax or anything in my life.
[15:15.760 -> 15:17.840] So I didn't have like Rotax karting background.
[15:17.840 -> 15:19.880] I just like local karting, which I'd done for fun.
[15:20.480 -> 15:23.040] And I wanted to be a Formula One driver.
[15:23.040 -> 15:24.920] And that was the honest goal.
[15:24.920 -> 15:25.000] I was like, I want to be a, I want to be an F1 driver and that was the honest goal.
[15:25.000 -> 15:27.720] I was like, I want to be an F1 driver.
[15:27.720 -> 15:29.720] I'll find the money, I'll do whatever it is.
[15:29.720 -> 15:33.120] But the few things that were against me is, number one, I was 22.
[15:33.120 -> 15:36.120] Number two, I'm 6'4", so I'm very tall.
[15:36.120 -> 15:39.320] So it's not easy being 6'4 and fitting into Formula cars.
[15:39.320 -> 15:43.720] And number three is I don't have 10-15 million dollars to spare.
[15:43.720 -> 15:47.680] Which is what you need realistically to make it all the way. And,
[15:47.680 -> 15:50.960] but that was like a 22 year old guy with a dream. And I went back,
[15:51.000 -> 15:55.080] I started with JK Tire Formula LGB. I mean,
[15:55.080 -> 15:57.920] I came in without driving thinking I'm going to kick ass.
[15:57.940 -> 16:00.040] I think I was like second last or something on the grid.
[16:00.480 -> 16:05.300] I had no idea what I was doing. And, uh, so that was a slap in the face.
[16:05.760 -> 16:08.820] Um, but then yeah, through the year, I mean, it was not much progress.
[16:08.820 -> 16:12.760] And then I just started like really putting in a lot, all my effort into it.
[16:12.760 -> 16:14.280] I got a simulator at home.
[16:14.620 -> 16:16.500] I think that made a big difference for me.
[16:17.000 -> 16:20.240] And, uh, yeah, then I think the best result I had in the first year was
[16:20.240 -> 16:23.980] fourth at the final round and that was after I got my SIM and everything.
[16:23.980 -> 16:25.540] So I saw massive jump.
[16:26.320 -> 16:29.660] And then the year after that, I, I really worked hard until today.
[16:29.900 -> 16:34.320] Still something I'm quite proud of because I haven't been able to do it after is I
[16:34.320 -> 16:41.140] got full sponsorship for two championships in 2013, that's formula LGB and MRF 1600.
[16:41.300 -> 16:41.860] That's awesome.
[16:42.400 -> 16:43.660] So I did both of those.
[16:43.660 -> 16:48.060] I think I had two podiums in the 1600 and I think at four podiums in the LGB.
[16:48.060 -> 16:52.980] And, um, I don't even know where I finished in fourth could have done better, but
[16:53.000 -> 16:54.680] whatever it was like my first proper year.
[16:54.680 -> 17:00.500] So there was a massive, massive, and then 2014, one of my spot that I was trying,
[17:00.500 -> 17:02.540] of course, to constant, I mean, I was doing nothing else.
[17:02.540 -> 17:05.600] My sole focus was racing, trying to be the next step on driver. And I was, I was trying of course to constant, I mean, I was doing nothing else. My sole focus was racing, trying to be the next step on driver.
[17:07.600 -> 17:09.280] And I was, I was 24 seven.
[17:09.280 -> 17:10.020] That's all I was doing.
[17:10.020 -> 17:12.160] Trying to raise sponsorship, reach out to people.
[17:12.160 -> 17:14.520] And I really feel like I gave it everything.
[17:15.240 -> 17:17.600] I was first trying to race in formula, I know UK.
[17:17.960 -> 17:20.520] I was 180,000 pounds.
[17:20.520 -> 17:22.900] I was trying to raise, didn't raise a single penny.
[17:22.900 -> 17:30.000] And I met a lot of people didn't raise a single penny. Then I basically, I continued with the season in India and then I
[17:30.000 -> 17:35.840] started to shift focus to China. So, the cheaper and closer to home. So, Formula Masters, China
[17:35.840 -> 17:40.400] series which was called Formula Pilota before that. I started trying to raise money for that
[17:40.400 -> 17:46.960] which was I think 120-130 thousand euros. Again again a hell of a lot of money and yeah just I
[17:46.960 -> 17:51.920] gave it honestly I can say I gave it absolutely everything because I was doing nothing else.
[17:52.480 -> 17:59.200] Right. Luckily one of my sponsors was very fond of me continued for 2014 and even though the budget
[17:59.200 -> 18:06.640] didn't come to go overseas there was enough to do another season in MRF 1600 in India. So I did that. That season went
[18:06.640 -> 18:12.960] very well. I came second in the championship and was on the podium in every single race and pretty
[18:12.960 -> 18:18.720] much started on the front row almost all races and I had to miss the final because I had dengue. So
[18:18.720 -> 18:28.640] that was quite a story. But luckily myself and Tarun, we were were far ahead of the rest. I still managed to get second, even though I missed the final round.
[18:28.640 -> 18:33.560] Also did a guest race in this Toyota Ateos Cup, which I won. Which was quite cool.
[18:33.560 -> 18:35.000] On your debut?
[18:35.000 -> 18:41.000] Yeah, on my debut, guys would race that. So, that was pretty cool to have won that race.
[18:41.000 -> 18:47.740] And so, I missed the second round because that was going to be in Delhi, but with the MRF final, but I had Dengue.
[18:48.700 -> 18:51.120] So, so, so 2014 was a pretty cool year.
[18:51.120 -> 18:55.640] Cause cause there was results and there's, and I really realize, which I think all
[18:55.640 -> 18:59.260] drivers who are listening to this is you really need to build a name in the media.
[18:59.680 -> 19:01.920] No matter what, that is so important.
[19:01.920 -> 19:04.780] You could go and dominate every single race, but if you don't have a single
[19:04.780 -> 19:10.800] newspaper article, it, it just does not help. So I had a lot of media coverage that year.
[19:10.800 -> 19:14.320] So I thought, you know, it's going to happen. I've got the results. I've got the coverage. I've got
[19:14.320 -> 19:27.500] everything and still didn't. And I was trying so much for the master series in 2015. That didn't happen and I tried to focus on Carrera Cup GB. I was like, let me shift to this.
[19:27.500 -> 19:37.500] And yeah, I mean, it was a very difficult period. But yeah, that didn't happen. And then in 2015, I was like, I'm not gonna give up on this.
[19:37.500 -> 19:47.220] Nobody over here is giving me a thing. So I literally, and this is the truth, I booked a one-way ticket to the United Kingdom in April and said I'll go there and figure it out
[19:47.220 -> 19:50.780] That's not in India knows anything about motorsport or wants to sponsor
[19:50.780 -> 19:54.360] So let me try something else because I don't want to sit back and and complain
[19:54.360 -> 19:58.800] So I think when you're in positions like that, you should try something just get out of your comfort zone
[19:58.840 -> 20:03.640] And yeah, I came here without a cent to my name to raise the money. Mm-hmm
[20:06.320 -> 20:10.000] Yeah, man.
[20:16.400 -> 20:24.160] Overall, you know, like, like listening to everything you've said, it I see a theme here, actually, that you in general have struggled for sponsorships in general, in your career. And
[20:24.160 -> 20:28.100] obviously, I think pretty much everyone knows this by now that racing is a, you
[20:28.100 -> 20:32.680] know, a rich man's sport in the sense that you have to have good financial backing
[20:32.680 -> 20:37.340] in terms of supporting your career, because otherwise like you can't get anywhere.
[20:37.340 -> 20:38.800] Just talent can't get you anywhere.
[20:39.340 -> 20:43.660] Uh, so, you know, uh, how did you manage all this?
[20:43.660 -> 20:46.480] I mean, honestly speaking, like, first of all,
[20:46.480 -> 20:51.680] racing itself requires a lot of dedication and hard work. And on top of that, like kind of
[20:51.680 -> 20:56.960] becoming your own manager and finding sponsorships. Yeah. How do you even like balance this?
[20:58.080 -> 21:03.040] So I have this, I always say in motorsport, no money, no honey, literally, you can't do anything.
[21:04.000 -> 21:05.520] I can't do anything without it.
[21:05.520 -> 21:10.880] And it sounds very crass to say, but that is the harsh and honest truth.
[21:10.880 -> 21:11.380] It is.
[21:11.380 -> 21:15.360] It is the honest truth. And in India as well, we have so many talented drivers.
[21:15.360 -> 21:19.520] You look at the national championship. I mean, I raced against some seriously fast guys.
[21:19.520 -> 21:33.600] But none of us had the budget to go forward. I think why I persevered and continued is because I'm the kind of person, if I fixate on one thing, I absolutely give it everything.
[21:33.600 -> 21:36.400] If I don't like it, I have absolutely no clue.
[21:36.400 -> 21:39.360] When you ask me to name five football players, I can't even do that.
[21:39.360 -> 21:45.000] So, that's how far I've moved from things I don't like.
[21:45.000 -> 21:48.960] I am, and yeah, it's just like a childhood dream.
[21:48.960 -> 21:51.440] I've always wanted to drive cars, and I just love driving,
[21:51.440 -> 21:53.480] and I love racing, and that's why I just said,
[21:53.480 -> 21:56.080] I'm just going to keep going and just not going
[21:56.080 -> 21:57.680] to let anything come in the way.
[21:57.680 -> 21:59.440] There's many times you think you want to stop,
[21:59.440 -> 22:00.600] and it's just not possible.
[22:00.600 -> 22:03.960] But if you want something bad enough, and not just racing,
[22:03.960 -> 22:09.000] no matter what it is, just give it it everything because even if it doesn't work out
[22:09.000 -> 22:12.800] you'll get something which is well much more which is much better than the
[22:12.800 -> 22:16.360] current position you're in so just give it everything and the world works in
[22:16.360 -> 22:23.840] mysterious ways and yeah. For our young listeners here who are probably
[22:23.840 -> 22:26.280] guessing where to reach out to
[22:26.280 -> 22:31.240] folks, what's your advice there? Like this is the way to go about it.
[22:31.240 -> 22:36.440] The most important thing is you have to be absolutely relentless because you
[22:36.440 -> 22:40.240] have to, if you send out a thousand emails or a thousand, make a thousand
[22:40.240 -> 22:45.400] phone calls for sponsors or reach out a thousand companies like in the honest
[22:45.400 -> 22:50.560] answers you'll be you'll be lucky if you get five responses even if someone I
[22:50.560 -> 22:56.040] would rather someone says no to me then says nothing yeah and people say that
[22:56.040 -> 23:08.520] I've tried so much and and yeah just the other thing is just just like, like a gun to shoot everywhere.
[23:13.200 -> 23:16.480] I hope it gets something because who's to say where anything can come from? Because if someone's not interested, maybe they know someone else who's
[23:16.480 -> 23:20.160] interested, so just spread your net as far and wide as you possibly can.
[23:20.160 -> 23:22.920] And just don't, don't, don't get disheartened.
[23:22.920 -> 23:26.320] You will get disheartened if things don't happen, but
[23:26.880 -> 23:32.000] the idea is just don't just do as much as you can. That's my advice. Don't just stick to one
[23:32.000 -> 23:38.080] sector or just one group of companies. Just absolutely throw it out as much as possible
[23:38.880 -> 23:45.200] and it's not easy. It's honestly not easy and I'll be very honest, I haven't raised anything since 2014.
[23:45.200 -> 23:47.160] It's so disheartening.
[23:47.160 -> 23:50.240] And the other drivers with sponsorship, and you think,
[23:50.240 -> 23:51.320] what are you doing wrong?
[23:51.320 -> 23:53.600] Is there something that you're not doing right?
[23:53.600 -> 23:57.200] And so just to all the youngsters out there,
[23:57.200 -> 23:59.200] just try as much as you can.
[23:59.200 -> 24:01.520] And don't ever give up.
[24:01.520 -> 24:02.760] And be realistic as well.
[24:02.760 -> 24:04.960] Be very, very realistic.
[24:04.960 -> 24:05.820] So there's an
[24:05.820 -> 24:10.400] interesting theme that we've noticed over the you know one year string that
[24:10.400 -> 24:16.640] we've been doing this. JK Tires is a common name between quite a lot of
[24:16.640 -> 24:22.080] drivers that we've spoken to but that name never popped up with with your
[24:22.080 -> 24:26.040] stuff that we've read. So, what's the story there?
[24:26.040 -> 24:31.040] Cause it felt like if it's an Indian driver, JK tyres somewhere related to that driver.
[24:31.640 -> 24:33.800] It seems like they're not sharing some love with you.
[24:34.400 -> 24:35.160] Yeah, not at all.
[24:35.160 -> 24:37.200] Unfortunately, none of them are JK, none of them are.
[24:38.200 -> 24:39.760] I think there's many reasons for that.
[24:39.760 -> 24:40.760] And believe me, I've tried.
[24:40.760 -> 24:43.040] I mean, I think it's first of all great what they're doing.
[24:43.040 -> 24:49.200] They're doing so much to actually even host the racing in India and they have been all these years. So, I mean, hats off
[24:49.200 -> 24:53.840] to them, both of the manufacturers for doing it, but I didn't come through the karting ranks. So,
[24:53.840 -> 25:00.000] I didn't do JK, Rotax karting or anything. Relatively a new guy who came in and whenever
[25:00.000 -> 25:06.480] I have spoken to them about sponsorship, I mean, they've said that we don't do anything apart from the Formula One,
[25:06.480 -> 25:15.600] the Formula One route. And the last conversation I had, I think it was 2019 off the back of what I would say was a very, very good season in 2019.
[25:15.600 -> 25:27.880] When I spoke to them, they said that the backers, whoever the people who make the decisions at JKR is that they want to basically back the next guy who is going the F1 route.
[25:28.360 -> 25:33.400] Now, I don't know if that's some answer that has just been given to me to shut up.
[25:37.400 -> 25:43.520] But yeah, that's what they said that yeah, we're chasing the Formula One route and yeah, no interest in this for now.
[25:44.000 -> 25:50.660] formula one route and yeah no interest in this for now. You know something that's that's been very interesting about you is you've
[25:50.660 -> 25:54.960] you've done some real odd jobs like you've done something with BMW you've
[25:54.960 -> 26:03.640] done like a lifestyle shoot. Was there was there any chance of any of
[26:03.640 -> 26:09.000] that becoming something real or was it just like sponsorship deal, let's get the money to then go race?
[26:09.000 -> 26:13.000] I haven't done anything honestly to get the money.
[26:13.000 -> 26:26.480] I haven't done anything. No, I think I've done, I've honestly done so many random things like coming here, but the BMW job is actually quite cool. So it's uh,
[26:26.640 -> 26:29.620] It's like a drive racing instructor BMW instructor
[26:30.000 -> 26:32.000] So myself and another driver who?
[26:32.320 -> 26:34.320] Keshav who's a very good friend of mine
[26:34.640 -> 26:39.680] We raced together and him and I both went and we got there was a shootout in india
[26:39.760 -> 26:43.200] A whole bunch of drivers came and we got selected to go and become
[26:43.900 -> 26:46.080] instructors, so we went to germany did the training and we got selected to go and become instructors. So we went to Germany,
[26:46.080 -> 26:51.120] did the training and we were supposed to be instructors in India. So that was more on the
[26:51.120 -> 26:55.120] side just because it's a really fun thing to do. You're basically teaching people how to drift and
[26:55.120 -> 27:01.120] to drive M cars to the absolute limit. So that was for fun. It was kind of like a side job and all the
[27:01.120 -> 27:06.200] other things like that lifestyle partnership and all was that was just to build a name and hope something came from that.
[27:06.200 -> 27:07.200] Right.
[27:07.200 -> 27:08.200] And was the...
[27:08.200 -> 27:10.200] It is important to associate yourself.
[27:10.200 -> 27:12.200] No, sorry, go ahead. You're finishing up.
[27:12.200 -> 27:18.200] No, it's just important to associate yourself with different brands to try to just raise your name and spread your awareness about yourself.
[27:18.200 -> 27:22.200] And then was the stuntilating thing with Volkswagen.
[27:22.200 -> 27:27.280] There was something like Volkswagen stunt driver stuff that you guys do, right?
[27:27.280 -> 27:31.600] Yeah, that was actually when I just started. I think it was 2013 if I'm not mistaken.
[27:31.600 -> 27:39.520] So, I mean, it's quite cool. I mean, first of all, Volkswagen do an amazing job in India with all the Polo Cup, the Vento Cup, the Ameo Cup.
[27:39.520 -> 27:45.880] So, I think they do a great job. And usually on the race weekends, they used to have these, the VW Polo is
[27:45.880 -> 27:51.280] like a stunt team driving it and they'd have it at various other events
[27:51.360 -> 27:52.360] just to do promo stuff.
[27:52.360 -> 27:55.560] So I think it was just a way to like promote drivers and to have a shootout.
[27:56.120 -> 27:57.960] So that was just something fun in 2013.
[27:58.840 -> 27:59.340] Nice.
[28:00.240 -> 28:00.800] Nice.
[28:01.840 -> 28:02.080] Yeah.
[28:02.080 -> 28:11.000] So I think, uh, since we have been talking about sponsorships a little, let's talk a little bit about one of your sponsors, that's TJB Superyachts.
[28:11.000 -> 28:26.860] I think you play a little deeper role with them and you are a sales and charter broker, if I'm not wrong. So, you know, talk us about, you know, how did this happen? Like where did this get from?
[28:26.860 -> 28:29.400] So actually TJB is the company I work with.
[28:29.400 -> 28:32.160] I worked there since 2017 over here in the UK.
[28:32.160 -> 28:33.160] They aren't a sponsor.
[28:33.160 -> 28:35.520] We have a kind of deal.
[28:35.520 -> 28:38.800] It's all my earnings that goes into, so it's my earnings.
[28:38.800 -> 28:44.940] And of course my company supports me a lot and that's why I'm racing because of that.
[28:44.940 -> 28:46.760] But that was also a chance thing.
[28:46.760 -> 28:50.200] And I'm fortunate to be able to work there because I was at like a networking
[28:50.200 -> 28:55.480] event here in the UK, like find people to sponsor me in 2016.
[28:55.960 -> 28:58.400] And I, it was at a car classic car event.
[28:58.440 -> 29:01.720] And I met one of the brokers over there.
[29:01.720 -> 29:05.240] We were standing next to this Ford GT 40, which is 40 inches high.
[29:05.280 -> 29:05.740] Nice.
[29:05.760 -> 29:10.440] We're both about six foot tall talking fit into this car.
[29:10.520 -> 29:12.980] And yeah, just things went from there.
[29:12.980 -> 29:16.400] And I'd honestly, at that point got sick of trying to research for sponsorship.
[29:16.400 -> 29:19.240] And it was very depressing when nothing is happening.
[29:19.240 -> 29:21.300] And I think it was just all about timing.
[29:21.300 -> 29:28.960] And I said, you know what, because I love boats and I was like, I'm Indian I'm Indian why don't we discuss about me being like an introducer for the
[29:28.960 -> 29:34.700] company or something like that and then I have to chase them for two months to
[29:34.700 -> 29:38.920] try and get a meeting and yeah things just went from there and I ended up
[29:38.920 -> 29:42.560] absolutely chasing them and then became a yacht broker and that's how I've
[29:42.560 -> 29:46.560] managed to race ever since. That's nice.
[29:46.560 -> 29:52.320] Before the next question, there's some history with you and boats and sailing and stuff as well.
[29:52.320 -> 29:58.720] So, what's up with the, or what was up with the Hyderabad Sailing Club?
[29:58.720 -> 30:04.160] And were you actively sailing? Because Hyderabad is almost landlocked.
[30:04.160 -> 30:06.880] You have to go somewhere to almost sail, right?
[30:06.880 -> 30:14.480] Yeah, so I've actually been a sailor since I was 7 years old. So, I grew up from Bombay and I grew up right next to the sailing club in Colaba.
[30:14.480 -> 30:27.000] So, as much as I loved that, I basically sailed since I was 7 years old. So, Hyderabad was just one of the places of sailing, Goa, Bombay, Chennai, all over.
[30:27.000 -> 30:28.520] And that's just my background.
[30:28.520 -> 30:30.720] I wish that would have been Gokarting instead.
[30:30.720 -> 30:34.160] But unfortunately it didn't happen.
[30:34.160 -> 30:35.440] And so yeah, so that's my background.
[30:35.440 -> 30:37.280] I've been a sailor since I was seven.
[30:37.280 -> 30:38.120] That's sweet.
[30:38.120 -> 30:38.960] All right.
[30:38.960 -> 30:41.360] So, I mean, in terms of now the sailing thing,
[30:41.360 -> 30:43.600] what is it exactly that you do
[30:43.600 -> 30:45.840] as a sales and a charter broker then?
[30:47.200 -> 30:56.720] So I sell and rent out super yachts and so of course rentals are in the Mediterranean and
[30:56.720 -> 31:04.640] the Caribbean in the summer and winter and of course selling and buying big boats and so it's
[31:04.160 -> 31:07.400] selling and buying big boats. And so it's a very interesting job.
[31:07.400 -> 31:08.680] I really, really like it.
[31:08.680 -> 31:11.280] And you get to deal with some very interesting people,
[31:11.280 -> 31:13.200] people who basically run this world,
[31:14.120 -> 31:16.040] very large businesses themselves.
[31:16.040 -> 31:18.800] So there's a lot to learn as well from the individuals
[31:18.800 -> 31:20.880] that I'm fortunate to work with.
[31:20.880 -> 31:24.400] And yeah, I've been doing it since 2017 now.
[31:24.400 -> 31:28.900] Now what's the similarity between the yacht world and the racing world?
[31:28.900 -> 31:30.220] Money?
[31:30.220 -> 31:32.020] Costs a hell of a lot of money. There you go.
[31:32.020 -> 31:40.560] Both are billionaire club.
[31:40.560 -> 31:42.640] Basically.
[31:42.640 -> 31:47.000] That's right. I mean, look at Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi.
[31:47.000 -> 31:52.000] For Monaco, they come on daddy's boat and park it in the Marina.
[31:52.000 -> 31:57.000] They get off their dad's 100-meter boats and go and drive race cars.
[31:57.000 -> 32:04.000] I get so, I mean, it's so funny because sometimes when the contract renewals are happening,
[32:04.000 -> 32:08.120] they're also talking about the second seat and maybe an Aston or a Williams.
[32:08.120 -> 32:10.360] And I'm like, these two are not going in.
[32:10.960 -> 32:13.120] Why is there even a discussion about this?
[32:14.880 -> 32:18.560] Exactly. Honestly, just to give people hope.
[32:21.440 -> 32:28.000] To keep the press churning just so that there's something for the media to talk about.
[32:28.000 -> 32:29.000] Exactly.
[32:29.000 -> 32:30.000] All right.
[32:30.000 -> 32:31.400] All right.
[32:31.400 -> 32:37.320] So one thing which I get is like sponsorships in general are difficult to get.
[32:37.320 -> 32:38.940] You know, it's a big stress.
[32:38.940 -> 32:40.600] It's a big energy dream.
[32:40.600 -> 32:48.920] I would say for any driver, I'm sure that makes things difficult in terms of mental fitness a bit, I would say.
[32:49.400 -> 32:58.560] So talk us a little about how does the pressure of having to get sponsorships,
[32:58.600 -> 33:07.500] as well as like juggling your racing and managing both of these, how does it affect you mentally?
[33:07.500 -> 33:08.660] How do you cope with it?
[33:08.660 -> 33:10.500] And, you know yeah.
[33:10.500 -> 33:12.460] How, how do you just deal with all the stress?
[33:13.540 -> 33:14.560] It's quite funny.
[33:14.560 -> 33:18.780] I'd say like a few years ago, I was like, Oh yeah, you drive so much
[33:18.820 -> 33:21.840] better because you're struggling and you like want to do your best.
[33:21.840 -> 33:24.820] So you have absolute maximum out of yourself.
[33:25.080 -> 33:26.760] So you perform in order to do that.
[33:26.760 -> 33:28.560] But I call bullshit on that now.
[33:31.000 -> 33:35.180] And I think it is so difficult to do that because you apply number one, extra
[33:35.180 -> 33:38.660] pressure on yourself, thinking that if you don't perform, you're not going to
[33:38.660 -> 33:43.960] get sponsorship and you're, you're focusing most of the time on what can I
[33:43.960 -> 33:45.720] do to like do better in
[33:45.720 -> 33:48.560] order to perform in order to get sponsorship.
[33:48.560 -> 33:51.500] And it's, you're moving backwards most of the time.
[33:51.500 -> 33:55.800] So it is not easy and it's very difficult and it really lets you down.
[33:55.800 -> 33:58.600] When you put in so much effort, you do absolutely everything.
[33:58.600 -> 34:02.740] You dedicate your life towards it and you don't manage to get any funding and
[34:02.740 -> 34:05.920] you see others who are probably a lot slower than you
[34:05.920 -> 34:14.320] who are fully backed seasons. So it's very very difficult mentally and I think again being on
[34:14.320 -> 34:20.960] both sides when I have had full budget in the past and basically not had budget since I think you
[34:20.960 -> 34:28.560] I think you perform so much better when you have everything confirmed, because then you can focus 100% on yourself and on your driving
[34:28.560 -> 34:32.140] and not have any distractions and not have any worries at the back of your
[34:32.140 -> 34:39.580] head that say, if I don't absolutely dominate this weekend, um, I still,
[34:39.580 -> 34:40.880] I'm going to race next weekend.
[34:40.880 -> 34:42.660] Cause I have the budget and I'm going to raise up to that.
[34:42.660 -> 34:43.480] Cause I've got a backer.
[34:43.480 -> 34:48.040] So it's, I definitely think that it is it's not easy going
[34:48.040 -> 34:52.320] race weekend to race weekend knowing if you're gonna be driving like in 2019
[34:52.320 -> 34:56.560] I mean I sometimes didn't know till the Monday of a race week if I was racing or
[34:56.560 -> 35:02.280] not so that was extremely difficult. Right, there's this other thing too right
[35:02.280 -> 35:15.000] like you started at the age of 22 and as a layman, my thought is that people who start from maybe say their teens or even like 9 or 10 or whatever, like 7 years old, right?
[35:15.000 -> 35:31.440] Since you've been sailing. Your majority years of physical development is happening as part of the routine of getting into the cockpit and getting used to the car. But you having started at an age where mostly biologically your body's not
[35:31.440 -> 35:37.040] growing as much now, what has been your physical routine and your physical fitness routine and
[35:38.000 -> 35:42.480] the changes that you've seen between what you have to keep up with versus some younger drivers
[35:42.480 -> 35:50.600] who've started at a very young age? That's actually a very good point you mentioned and people really don't think of that.
[35:50.600 -> 35:55.600] But like you said, your formative years, if you're doing, you have a particular routine, you're training certain muscles,
[35:55.600 -> 35:59.400] your body gets used to it and it just develops in that manner.
[35:59.400 -> 36:03.000] And I think for motorsport, it's so important. Your core is extremely important.
[36:03.000 -> 36:05.060] Of course, your neck is important.
[36:05.060 -> 36:08.380] Of course, the way you hold the steering wheel, your hand movements, your upper
[36:08.380 -> 36:12.020] shoulder, your forearm movements, that's all extremely important.
[36:12.020 -> 36:17.080] And I think getting your body to adapt to that, it's, it's not impossible, but
[36:17.080 -> 36:20.520] it's, you are on a backstep compared to the other drivers who've been
[36:20.520 -> 36:21.740] doing it for a very long time.
[36:21.740 -> 36:27.840] So you do have to train that extra bit harder. And you have to find ways in which you can get your body
[36:27.840 -> 36:29.860] to adapt to being in the car
[36:29.860 -> 36:32.740] and being under that physical load.
[36:32.740 -> 36:35.820] And I think for me, just in my particular cases,
[36:35.820 -> 36:39.440] I'm a lot taller than 99% of the other drivers.
[36:39.440 -> 36:40.360] I'm 6'4".
[36:40.360 -> 36:43.920] So keeping my weight down was very, very important
[36:44.800 -> 36:47.800] because whether I like it or not, I come with added weight. And so keeping my weight down was very, very important. Because whether I like it or not, I come with added weight.
[36:47.800 -> 36:54.900] And so, keeping my weight down but still keeping my strength up was very difficult to juggle the two.
[36:54.900 -> 37:07.920] And so, I think as a driver, I guess, coming in late, you have to just work double as hard in order to get your neck, your core, your arms, your shoulders, your forearms, to get acquainted with the loads that you'll have in a car.
[37:07.920 -> 37:13.640] That insight that you gave us, Adwait, about mental and physical fitness.
[37:13.640 -> 37:20.880] Before transitioning on to the next topic, I mean, what's your two cents on both mental
[37:20.880 -> 37:28.000] and physical fitness to any age group at this age who's either actively racing or looking into getting into racing.
[37:28.360 -> 37:45.200] I think it's very important to focus on both of them and put in a lot of effort. Physical fitness, the drivers need to really, really raise their game because the important thing about racing is no matter what form it is, you need to be a hundred percent focused on the driving
[37:45.200 -> 37:50.000] and whatever physical demands should be automatically handled by your body. So the moment
[37:50.000 -> 37:55.360] you think I'm a bit tired, you're already losing even if it's five percent of concentration.
[37:55.360 -> 37:59.520] Believe me that makes a difference. So that's why your body should be such a high standard of
[37:59.520 -> 38:04.240] physical fitness that it automatically just bears all the physical load on it. That's a good point.
[38:05.200 -> 38:08.960] And yeah, because like I said, the minute you're feeling tired, you've already lost a
[38:08.960 -> 38:14.560] bit of concentration there. And mental and that's why mental fitness as well is so important in the
[38:14.560 -> 38:20.160] sense that in both on track and off track, if things aren't going your way, you still need to
[38:20.160 -> 38:29.400] keep on track, you still need to keep your head in the right space to make sure that it's never say never in the sport until you cross the chequered flag. Off track as
[38:29.400 -> 38:33.800] well. It's very, very easily to get demoralized when you're trying to raise funding, when
[38:33.800 -> 38:40.180] you're trying to perform. And it's a very demanding sport and it's very, very hard on
[38:40.180 -> 38:46.000] you and you have to make sure that you don't get demoralized because to be honest more often
[38:46.000 -> 38:51.440] than not you will get demoralized because of how difficult it is to get the actual support and
[38:51.440 -> 38:56.960] backing behind you but just think of the fact that when it clicks there's no better feeling
[38:56.960 -> 39:06.940] so it's well worth it. Right, nice. You, you know, uh, we noticed this, uh, I think you have
[39:06.940 -> 39:12.520] a case of, you know, uh, going from being a spectator to into the cockpit as such.
[39:12.520 -> 39:18.840] I think there is a photo that you had taken of, uh, uh, Monaco, uh, sometime back.
[39:18.840 -> 39:21.200] And I think that was before your racing days.
[39:21.200 -> 39:26.200] And then, uh, and then I guess you later in your career, you have ended up in a
[39:26.200 -> 39:31.480] yacht with Daniel Kiviat on a race weekend, you know, so how did that happen?
[39:32.480 -> 39:34.760] I get, you got to just hustle and try to make stuff happen.
[39:36.240 -> 39:39.400] I did like some volunteer, like just to get to try and network.
[39:39.440 -> 39:42.880] So when I was already in the UK, I like reached out to the people at
[39:42.880 -> 39:47.880] Amber Lounge, which do like a lot of the hospitality and the big F1 parties at the race weekend.
[39:47.880 -> 39:51.320] And I reached out to the person and I was like, you know, I'm trying to make my way
[39:51.320 -> 39:53.600] and I want to be there and come and network.
[39:53.600 -> 39:58.160] And, uh, the person who owns it is the, is a sister of ex F1 driver, Eddie Jordan.
[39:59.080 -> 40:04.160] So, yeah, so she had me, I was there at Abu Dhabi and at Monaco and yeah, went
[40:04.160 -> 40:07.460] to try and meet people over there to try and get some funding.
[40:08.080 -> 40:10.320] Unfortunately I came back with just the picture and no money.
[40:12.440 -> 40:13.960] I think not too bad still.
[40:18.760 -> 40:22.160] Yeah. Cause that first photo was somewhere on like out of the hill,
[40:22.160 -> 40:23.080] just seeing probably.
[40:31.360 -> 40:35.500] Yeah, no, we went as students with like, uh, with, we drove of the hill, just seeing the race track down. We went as students. We drove in the night. We had to sit on the hill and watch the race. I think, 40 Euros for a ticket. We went there the previous night to go and get a space.
[40:35.500 -> 40:37.240] And I literally sat on a rock.
[40:37.240 -> 40:45.520] Yeah. It was so beautiful. I was telling Sarang too when we saw that photo.
[40:45.520 -> 40:52.220] Because it was from there to almost like the... I think the turn where Leclerc crashed this year. Yeah, exactly.
[40:52.220 -> 40:56.800] Yeah, you've got the yacht and you're on there with Viyat.
[40:56.800 -> 41:05.960] But you've driven on tracks as you said. Like as part of NASCAR. It's not the oval
[41:05.960 -> 41:12.280] It's it's the it's the cracks and and coming on to some some bits about like f1 and racing and as such
[41:12.840 -> 41:15.180] Yeah, having driven on Spa
[41:15.780 -> 41:23.080] Right. There's there's been this entire new debate and it looks like it's gonna take place next year where going up
[41:23.600 -> 41:27.760] Upon or Rouge into Radeon the the barrier is going to be changed.
[41:27.760 -> 41:32.960] So, having driven there now, what's your take on that whole segment going up?
[41:32.960 -> 41:39.680] So, interestingly, I haven't raced around Spa. It's only been in like a passenger car.
[41:39.680 -> 41:47.040] And this was prior to racing actually. So, as much as I want to, I haven't raced it on Spa.
[41:47.040 -> 41:49.920] In Belgium, we raced in Zolder, which is the XF1.
[41:49.920 -> 41:51.200] So I saw Spa in the background.
[41:51.200 -> 41:53.760] I was like, that's quite a while back.
[41:53.760 -> 41:54.760] I know that.
[41:54.760 -> 41:58.800] And yeah, so what they're planning to do
[41:58.800 -> 41:59.960] is, of course, the barrier.
[41:59.960 -> 42:01.560] And a lot of the drivers are saying
[42:01.560 -> 42:05.760] to also make it a gravel trap outside of the racing,
[42:05.760 -> 42:09.440] basically off the circuit pit, because you carry so much speed through there.
[42:09.440 -> 42:14.880] And then drivers happily cut the corner because in so many cars, it's absolutely flat out.
[42:14.880 -> 42:16.440] And that's very, very dangerous.
[42:16.440 -> 42:21.280] And unfortunately, the Hubert crash as well, lost it at the top of the hill.
[42:21.280 -> 42:22.760] There have been some horrible crashes.
[42:22.760 -> 42:26.700] I think it was in Jack Aitken had a very bad crash in,
[42:26.700 -> 42:27.540] what was it?
[42:27.540 -> 42:29.700] Europe, some GT in a Lamborghini.
[42:29.700 -> 42:30.860] I'm not sure which championship
[42:30.860 -> 42:33.560] because I guess someone dropped it at the top of the hill.
[42:33.560 -> 42:35.260] So what they need to do is bring back
[42:35.260 -> 42:36.340] the gravel trap over there.
[42:36.340 -> 42:39.620] So there is a risk because even though
[42:39.620 -> 42:41.720] in single seaters it's flat out
[42:41.720 -> 42:43.580] and driver say it's not a corner,
[42:43.580 -> 42:45.880] but in e-cars you you've got to be brave.
[42:45.880 -> 42:50.480] And you can have a very, very bad accident if things go wrong.
[42:50.480 -> 42:52.720] So that's why the gravel trap to try and kill some speed.
[42:53.200 -> 42:54.720] And which is so, they need to do that.
[42:55.360 -> 43:02.600] But that corner feels like there is that feeling of lift off when you're almost up Radion and getting onto that main straight, right?
[43:03.160 -> 43:05.160] Was your experience similar?
[43:05.960 -> 43:09.320] It's it's when I went there again, this is before I started racing.
[43:09.560 -> 43:11.240] I just wanted to just go and see it.
[43:11.240 -> 43:13.320] And it is just unbelievable.
[43:13.320 -> 43:19.960] I mean, when you come out of the hairpin, you're looking down, looking down and you don't realize how much of a decline it is.
[43:20.680 -> 43:24.040] And as soon as you hit the bottom and you're going upwards, you can't see the top.
[43:24.840 -> 43:29.440] And it's, it's, it is, I don't think pictures do even 25% of justice to us.
[43:29.440 -> 43:32.960] So, how steep it actually is going up Orooj.
[43:32.960 -> 43:37.120] And I can just imagine in a race car, what a phenomenal feeling that must be.
[43:37.120 -> 43:43.840] Yeah, I think there should be a petition to get Euronascar on Spar then, in this case.
[43:43.840 -> 43:50.560] Yeah. But I actually think what is better, what people don't realize, I think Poohorn is now a better corner than
[43:51.920 -> 43:54.880] than Auroge. Because Auroge in a Formula 1 car at least is flat.
[43:56.320 -> 44:11.640] You're going downhill into a double left-hander and Formula 1 cars, they're downshifting from eight to seven gear down a gear, literally turn in and flat at 292 minimum speed, which is as a driver, I can't get
[44:11.640 -> 44:13.160] my head around that.
[44:13.160 -> 44:15.240] So I think that's a more exciting corner now.
[44:15.560 -> 44:18.360] Yeah, no, I totally agree about your point about Poojan.
[44:18.360 -> 44:24.160] Like I'm, I'm a very like hobbyist amateur, uh, you know, SIM driver as
[44:24.160 -> 44:26.260] much, but whenever I'm driving on
[44:26.260 -> 44:31.160] Spa like the turn I find most difficulty in is always Poohan like yeah I always
[44:31.160 -> 44:36.020] know what line to take from there you know it's just so difficult to yeah and
[44:36.020 -> 44:40.360] it's it's you got to be so brave in an F1 car. I imagine 293 I think was minimum
[44:40.360 -> 44:49.940] speed. A quick side segment on the sim thing that Sarag mentioned. So I
[44:49.940 -> 44:55.060] know you've been a big advocate of sim racing and probably you got a bit late
[44:55.060 -> 44:58.940] into your career into sim racing but what if, sure you started driving at 22
[44:58.940 -> 45:08.320] but what if you had a sim setup since 15? I, I'm the big, I think SIM racing is so important for all drivers and
[45:08.320 -> 45:10.960] where, whichever these young guys come and ask me that, Oh, I want to start
[45:10.960 -> 45:12.720] racing and I'm moving into this.
[45:12.720 -> 45:17.000] The first thing I say is get a simulator because although it's not the real
[45:17.000 -> 45:20.560] thing, it, you still get a lot of the feeling, you learn your, your lines,
[45:20.560 -> 45:21.760] you learn throttle control.
[45:21.760 -> 45:25.760] You can, to some extent, modulate your breaking, your steering inputs, and
[45:25.760 -> 45:27.320] just learning the racing line.
[45:28.040 -> 45:30.920] And when you're racing with other drivers, not with AI, your
[45:30.960 -> 45:32.600] race craft improves as well.
[45:32.640 -> 45:35.880] So I swear by sim racing and that made a big difference to me.
[45:35.960 -> 45:37.920] It made a massive, massive difference.
[45:38.440 -> 45:41.440] And I, I push it to everyone and I do a lot.
[45:41.480 -> 45:44.720] I haven't this year, but I did a lot of sim racing last year as well.
[45:44.760 -> 45:51.600] And I try and spend as much time as I can when I get the opportunity on the sim. Nice yeah
[45:51.600 -> 46:00.240] makes sense. All right so getting back to F1 a bit so yeah our previous guest who was Aditya
[46:00.240 -> 46:09.920] Patel who was here he mentioned that he is not a fan of the Bhudra International Circuit at all and he doesn't really like that. But I guess you have a different opinion to him,
[46:09.920 -> 46:15.840] I guess, from what we have heard. So, you know, what makes you like the track and what about it,
[46:15.840 -> 46:20.400] what are the features that you really like about it? So there's a few things which I do agree with
[46:20.400 -> 46:26.140] Aditya in the sense that I don't like the fact that it has two long straights, which is just unnecessary.
[46:26.140 -> 46:29.800] I mean, these straights are, the back straight is what, 1.2 km or something like that?
[46:29.800 -> 46:30.300] Yeah.
[46:30.300 -> 46:33.100] It is so strong and I think it's unnecessary.
[46:33.100 -> 46:40.420] But once you, and then there's another short straight after that, but it's just the back section, which I think is incredible.
[46:40.420 -> 46:48.160] Once you're done with the back straight and you go right and you go downhill, from there up to the end is amazing.
[46:48.160 -> 46:55.080] So I'd say the second half of the circuit is phenomenal. But I just don't like the two straights.
[46:55.080 -> 46:58.000] Because they're not necessary and they're just... No.
[46:58.000 -> 47:05.280] Now that you say that, what are your thoughts on the upcoming Jeddah circuit which almost feels like an oval.
[47:05.280 -> 47:06.280] Straight.
[47:06.280 -> 47:09.760] Yeah, it is so straight. That circuit is so straight.
[47:09.760 -> 47:14.880] Sorry, I didn't want to say this but everything in Saudi Arabia has to be straight.
[47:14.880 -> 47:17.240] Yeah, that's true.
[47:17.240 -> 47:19.720] That's true.
[47:19.720 -> 47:29.280] Let's hope Formula 1 brings about some change for them. They are not even allowed to wear beyond a certain set of clothing.
[47:29.280 -> 47:34.880] Formula 1 is like we race as one.
[47:34.880 -> 47:40.920] I don't know what that's gonna be like.
[47:40.920 -> 47:44.600] It's probably gonna be a very Baku-style situation.
[47:44.600 -> 47:48.180] We could either get lucky and get some incredible races, or it's going to
[47:48.180 -> 47:48.960] be a smooth fest.
[47:49.000 -> 47:50.580] I don't think it's going to be in between.
[47:50.580 -> 47:53.260] It's going to be either or of the extremes.
[47:55.380 -> 47:57.500] Cause that's what you usually get with these kinds of circuits.
[47:58.780 -> 47:59.340] Fair enough.
[48:00.260 -> 48:02.560] Talking about circuits, Catalonia.
[48:02.740 -> 48:05.840] I think that's one of the driver favorites. Definitely not the crowd favorite, I would say, especially, I think that's one of the driver favorites, definitely
[48:05.840 -> 48:10.880] not the crowd favorite, I would say, especially, I guess, because of the chicane right before
[48:10.880 -> 48:11.880] the last corner.
[48:11.880 -> 48:15.360] Yeah, opinions about the chicane, I think you have driven on different conflicts, which
[48:15.360 -> 48:16.840] doesn't have the chicane, right?
[48:16.840 -> 48:18.960] So like, what's your opinion about it?
[48:18.960 -> 48:23.720] I haven't raced it on Barcelona, but I've done a lot of sim racing around it.
[48:23.720 -> 48:25.520] And I really love Barcelona. I can
[48:25.520 -> 48:29.220] imagine from a driver's point of view and I know a lot of the drivers, friends of mine
[48:29.220 -> 48:33.820] who race there and they say it's just such a fun circuit to drive on. I think the last
[48:33.820 -> 48:38.980] corner it's, they should get rid of the chicane, like the old layout because it carries so
[48:38.980 -> 48:46.300] much speed getting out of that last corner. So it's probably a lot nicer with without the chicane.
[48:46.300 -> 48:54.700] Isn't there some Euro event which does race on Catalonia with a different config?
[48:54.700 -> 48:57.600] No, so we race at Valencia.
[48:57.600 -> 49:05.400] So I've raced in Valencia, which is a MotoGP circuit and there's a lot of touring car races.
[49:05.400 -> 49:11.280] And it's a super nice circuit, especially that first corner, which is a very, very fast left-hander.
[49:11.280 -> 49:16.920] But yeah, so we race around there, which also have different configurations, but we're going to do Catalunya.
[49:16.920 -> 49:19.920] Fair enough. Yeah, yep, yep, yep.
[49:19.920 -> 49:30.120] And then speaking of the season, right, I mean, we started off just chatting about how today is going to be with Hamilton as well.
[49:30.120 -> 49:40.240] You've always been a Hamilton fan. But more so recently, also becoming or growing a fan of Max Verstappen.
[49:40.240 -> 49:51.160] So, this season, where are the loyalties lying now? So, I've been a Hamilton fan, as you know, since then. But I'm in a very difficult position.
[49:51.160 -> 49:57.600] Because I love Max. What a superstar this guy is.
[49:57.600 -> 50:07.680] He is just as big a Hamilton fan I am. I mean, I really don't know who I'm supporting this year. Because Max is just,
[50:07.680 -> 50:12.480] he's on another level. I think, from the minute he walked into Formula One, everyone's seen that.
[50:12.480 -> 50:18.080] Even I actually watched quite a bit of the Formula 3 season that he did. And back then as well,
[50:18.080 -> 50:26.320] you knew he was special. But the way he's, just everything about him is is I think people who don't know Max Verstappen need to watch Mexico
[50:26.960 -> 50:31.040] going three wide breaking out breaking the guys on the inside and just yep
[50:32.640 -> 50:37.120] getting both of them into there just just shows Max Verstappen and I think he is the most exciting
[50:37.120 -> 50:41.200] thing in Formula One that's been there for a very long time definitely that's come in a very long
[50:41.200 -> 50:50.240] time yeah no definitely and I think after the know, the dominance that Hamilton and Mercedes have had, I think people deserve it. I would say in the
[50:50.240 -> 50:56.080] sense that, yeah, it's fun. It's awesome that we saw him winning seven world time, seven world
[50:56.080 -> 51:01.200] series, but at the same time, from the perspective of the audience, it had become a bit boring,
[51:01.200 -> 51:07.440] you know? So I think it's great that we have this youngster out there, you know, who's really challenging the veteran.
[51:08.320 -> 51:12.000] No, that's, that's true. And it's, I mean, this season is going to go down like
[51:12.000 -> 51:14.960] 20 years from now, people still talk about Haken and Schumacher season.
[51:18.560 -> 51:22.640] This is without a doubt, one of the most exciting seasons Formula One has ever seen,
[51:22.640 -> 51:25.200] where two of the best of the best, probably
[51:25.200 -> 51:30.760] among the best in history are going head to head and just raising that standard.
[51:30.760 -> 51:31.760] I mean, look at these guys.
[51:31.760 -> 51:36.340] They're usually 10, 15, 20 seconds ahead of cars in third place when things are clicking
[51:36.340 -> 51:38.080] for both of them.
[51:38.080 -> 51:44.560] And to see them just drive on a different level and to drive so aggressively and race
[51:44.560 -> 51:48.240] so hard is just, we're very fortunate to be able to witness that.
[51:48.640 -> 51:52.360] Yeah. And it's something and I've spoken about this in our previous episode, too.
[51:52.360 -> 52:03.440] But like it's the evolution of Max's mental, you know, calmness and resilience and matureness that's that's occurred over the years now.
[52:03.440 -> 52:09.160] Right. Right. From pushing Ocon to where we are now, you know.
[52:09.160 -> 52:18.560] Yeah. And I think Max, he's been very hot-headed and I think the further we go, the stronger he gets.
[52:18.560 -> 52:27.600] And I think one big turning point, and tell me if you agree, is Turkey last year, where he was, I think he was behind Perez and Max was so much faster.
[52:27.920 -> 52:31.440] And I was actually watching it with some friends and I said, he's, he's going to drop it.
[52:31.440 -> 52:33.440] He's skipping too close to Perez.
[52:33.440 -> 52:42.640] And I called it like three laps prior because it was so wet and a lot of drivers don't, Max uses, notice this in the next wet race, Max,
[52:42.680 -> 52:48.520] even in the wet uses a lot of the curb and a lot of drivers and driver, you try to avoid the curb as much as possible.
[52:48.520 -> 52:50.120] But I don't know what he does.
[52:50.120 -> 52:51.280] And he uses a lot of curb.
[52:51.280 -> 52:53.560] And I was watching that race and I was like, he is going to drop it.
[52:53.560 -> 52:58.560] He's too aggressive and going behind Perez around, I think pretty much almost
[52:58.560 -> 53:03.080] flat out, flat out in the dry, but in the wet, he was too close to him.
[53:03.080 -> 53:06.820] And sure enough, he dropped it on his own and he didn't need to. He didn't need to try and overtake him.
[53:06.820 -> 53:07.320] Exactly.
[53:07.320 -> 53:12.160] Out-braked him. And if you think of that race and post that, it's a very different Max.
[53:12.160 -> 53:18.920] I feel like he really stepped it up in terms of knowing where to attack after that race.
[53:18.920 -> 53:19.420] Yes.
[53:19.420 -> 53:21.000] I mean, even yesterday, right?
[53:21.000 -> 53:26.880] He was almost going to get into on that lap one after the straight.
[53:26.880 -> 53:29.640] But he knew when to back off and then he was like, I'll go wide.
[53:29.640 -> 53:31.360] Exactly.
[53:31.360 -> 53:41.600] So, Mazepin is out of the answer here. So, before you say Mazepin, who are the two drivers that you think probably shouldn't have been here?
[53:41.600 -> 53:49.320] And someone else, either from F2 at this point or someone who's been replaced should have been in this year's lineup.
[53:49.320 -> 53:57.200] I think Nikolas Latifi does not deserve to be in Formula 1. I mean, he's not won anything in Junior Series.
[53:57.200 -> 54:07.880] He's just there because his father is writing a big fat cheque. Undoubtedly, I mean, he has absolutely no right to be in Formula One. There's so many more talented drivers that should be there.
[54:09.000 -> 54:11.560] He's one, um, who else would he say?
[54:11.560 -> 54:14.120] I mean, I think Bottas overstate his welcome in Mercedes.
[54:16.120 -> 54:23.040] But I just, I just can't stand Bottas and his, uh, he's the most undeserving seat,
[54:23.520 -> 54:26.400] but I think for sure Latifi has absolutely no right to be there.
[54:26.400 -> 54:33.700] And it's tough to say about the others. I mean, for example, between Kimi and Giovinazzi.
[54:33.700 -> 54:39.780] Should Kimi have gone last year? Is Giovinazzi doing a good enough job? It will be good to see next year.
[54:39.780 -> 54:41.280] When…
[54:41.280 -> 54:42.660] Zhao is coming in, yeah.
[54:42.660 -> 54:46.000] Yeah, Zhao. That's pretty much a done deal with Guangyuzhu.
[54:46.000 -> 54:49.620] Yeah, I think his team is paying like 25 million or something.
[54:49.620 -> 54:50.560] Yeah, yeah.
[54:50.560 -> 54:52.320] 25 million or more than that.
[54:52.320 -> 54:53.120] Something like that.
[54:53.120 -> 54:54.920] It's a massive amount of money.
[54:54.920 -> 54:57.000] He will be the first Chinese driver.
[54:57.000 -> 54:58.400] I think he has got family money as well.
[54:58.400 -> 55:00.440] But Zhu versus Bottas should be interesting.
[55:00.440 -> 55:02.720] Yeah, that's right.
[55:02.720 -> 55:03.840] Quite interesting.
[55:03.840 -> 55:07.800] I am laughing because, yeah. Yeah, I am right. Quite interesting. I'm laughing because yeah, yeah, I'm not expecting
[55:07.800 -> 55:12.400] anything from Bhotas. I think he's made his engine collection. He's found his alternate
[55:12.400 -> 55:18.680] career as an engine parts dealer this year. Honestly, it's really the most undeserving
[55:18.680 -> 55:33.000] seat of Formula One. Alright, so as we get to the tail end of the show, one thing we wanted to ask was what's next for Adwait?
[55:33.000 -> 55:38.500] What's next in RISING? What's going on in 2022 for you?
[55:38.500 -> 55:48.800] So I want to, like I said, this has been a very very difficult year and things't go well. And I wanted the year to have gone very differently on track.
[55:48.800 -> 55:51.600] So, I want to do EuroNASCA again next year.
[55:51.600 -> 55:53.800] And that's the plan.
[55:53.800 -> 55:57.600] Something else comes along great, but my full focus is on the EuroNASCA championship.
[55:57.600 -> 56:02.200] And I look forward to the season starting in April in Hockenheim.
[56:02.200 -> 56:04.000] Awesome.
[56:04.000 -> 56:06.580] So, yeah. So, we've got two Nostalgia questions. to the season starting in April in Hockenheim. Awesome.
[56:09.020 -> 56:12.180] So we've got two nostalgia questions. I'm gonna ask one, Sarang's gonna ask one.
[56:12.180 -> 56:15.300] There is this statement by you
[56:15.300 -> 56:17.860] that you've always wanted to crash
[56:17.860 -> 56:22.860] into one of those house parties in Chennai on ECR.
[56:22.900 -> 56:26.000] This is going way back. Where did that come from? Where did that come from. This is going way back.
[56:26.000 -> 56:28.000] Where did that come from?
[56:28.000 -> 56:32.000] This is going way back. So, has that happened for you yet?
[56:32.000 -> 56:36.000] I don't remember saying anything like that.
[56:36.000 -> 56:40.000] But, yeah, but no.
[56:40.000 -> 56:42.000] Actually, I don't remember saying anything like that.
[56:42.000 -> 56:44.000] But, I'd love to go to a party.
[56:44.000 -> 56:48.720] We've done a deep scoop, man. We've done a deep scoop. I actually, I don't remember saying anything like that, but
[56:52.360 -> 56:55.960] I'd like to go to some, someone's, I'm not one of those beach houses in ECR.
[56:57.920 -> 56:58.800] Somebody who is listening, please make this happen.
[56:59.620 -> 57:02.960] Yes.
[57:06.520 -> 57:09.200] There's this one celebration that you used to do with Anish Gohil, which is the headstand leg grab.
[57:09.520 -> 57:09.880] Yeah.
[57:11.160 -> 57:12.200] Where did that come from?
[57:13.040 -> 57:13.520] I don't know.
[57:13.520 -> 57:14.240] I don't know.
[57:14.240 -> 57:18.160] Like, so Anish is a friend of mine who also like, he's my spotter and he
[57:18.160 -> 57:19.800] had sponsorship and everything.
[57:19.800 -> 57:22.840] And, uh, I don't know where he got it from, to be honest.
[57:22.840 -> 57:27.280] I think he saw some, some American NASCAR race where the spotter did that with the driver.
[57:27.280 -> 57:32.480] And he said, yeah, I'm gonna do a headstand. I was like, dude, you don't have the core power to do it.
[57:32.480 -> 57:34.720] He was like, trust me, I'm gonna do it. And yeah, he did it.
[57:34.720 -> 57:38.720] And I think he was almost falling over and started to hold his hands. But kudos to him.
[57:38.720 -> 57:45.000] Alright, this was fun.
[57:45.000 -> 57:48.560] Folks, thank you for listening to the whole episode.
[57:48.560 -> 57:52.200] Your parting thoughts are gonna come from our third host
[57:52.200 -> 57:54.880] who's gonna take it away.
[57:54.880 -> 57:57.620] But we at F1 Fan Fiction are signing off.
[57:57.620 -> 57:59.440] This is Akash.
[57:59.440 -> 58:00.400] And this is Sarang.
[58:00.400 -> 58:01.840] Adwait, take it away.
[58:01.840 -> 58:05.160] Whatever you wanna tell to our audience, the floor is yours.
[58:05.160 -> 58:11.680] Yeah, firstly, thanks a lot, Akash and Sarang, for having me. I've really enjoyed this. I know we've delayed it by a bit.
[58:11.680 -> 58:18.120] But great to be on here. It's been really fun talking to you guys. And it's great to see what you all are doing.
[58:18.120 -> 58:25.120] And yeah, I look forward to keeping in touch. And for everyone listening, all the drivers out there,
[58:25.120 -> 58:30.400] just keep going, just never give up and let's then please provide all the support you can
[58:30.400 -> 58:34.280] for my 2022 campaign and we're going to go for gold and nothing less.
[58:35.290 -> 58:37.370] you