Plenty of vrooom

This is a very special weekend for motorsport, where not one but three Indians will be competing at almost the same time in two international events at the shortened Sepang track in Kuala Lumpur.

New kid on the block Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiv Sureshwaran will be competing in the reasonably competitive Formula Renault V6, while in the support race, Akhil Khushlani will be there in the Formula BMW. For the average racing fan at home, what matters is the ultimate stuff – Formula One.

But to get there, as our own Narain Karthikeyan has, it means going through a labyrinth of events, first at home and then abroad. Last season, Karun Chandhok won the V6 and is now in the GP2. But now we have two Indians in the V6.

It calls for a lot of money and without corporate support, none of them could have got even this far. The famous line in racing is: You keep paying to race and at the end one is left wondering whether the effort was worth it.

It holds even today in the highest echelon -- F-1 -- where to grab a seat even with a small team, there are people ready to spend the megabucks. Go to a country like Brazil, the drug-lords will raise it for their driver if they think he has even a ghost of a chance. And to look at smaller countries, how do we forget the case of Tiago Monterio from Portugal who raced for Jordan in 2005 and Midland F1 last season?

The point is, on a one to ten talent scale, drive and pure speed, Armaan or Parthiv do not lack compared to drivers from Europe and richer Asian countries. But if you talk of opportunities, the team management of Armaan and Parthiv have to struggle to meet the budgets.

Armaan, still in his teens, is lucky he has Akbar Ebrahim as father. Akku, as he is known in motorsport circles, has been there before and is trying very hard to push his son in the right direction. Of course, everything is again with corporate support.

In a nation where apart from cricket, almost no other sport gets monetary support, for every Armaan and Parthiv fighting to be there on the grid is something which has happened because of their talent. Should either of them do exceedingly well by the end of the season, they can perhaps aspire for something like the GP 2.

And as for Akhil, the Formula BMW is the stepping stone, From karting at home to BMW, it is an increase in thrust. But such is the competition even at this stage, you won’t survive unless you do well.

Perform or perish is the mantra. Oh, how often have we heard these words….