At 13, Karting Racer Aashi Hanspal Has Five National Podium Finishes

This 13-year-old go-karting racer has already won the accolade of being an Outstanding Women in Motorsports 2019. Mumbai’s Aashi Hanspal, a driving prodigy, took up motorsports in 2018 and within a year she raced ahead of many experienced names in the industry and created a niche for herself.

Aashi's first Podium came at the JK Tyre FMSCI National Karting Championship 2019, in Hyderabad. She finished top with a record time of 10:57:406 mins. In 2019, the Final Round of JK Tyre FMSCI National Karting Championship in Chennai, Aashi gamed up with three podiums in a row (winning two races at P1 and one race in P2 position). She was also the fastest in qualifiers among 150 odd racers thereby secured the pole position at the starting grid in the final races. All five podium finishes in the Racing Season 2019, Aashi debuted in style and now is a rising sensation.

'​How I race as a girl'

In a recent interview with Bangalore Mirror, Aashi talks about being ​in the male-dominated field of motorsport. Talking about her initial days, she said, ​ "People always ask me ​​how I race as a girl professionally since I am so young." She received the 'Outstanding Women in Motorsports - 2019' award at the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India annual awards for her five podium finishes in the National Karting 2019 season.

"With social media, I'm not just trying to promote myself or be popular among people in the racing fraternity, but change how people think. I want to make people realise that other than football, basketball, throwball, there's also a sport called motorsport, which is very underrated with our current generation. People just come to kart once or twice and don't consider making it a sport. It can be really thrilling and so much fun."

Read: Love for speed & flying: Meet F4 driver Sneha Sharma

Inspiration

Aashi's ​father is a rally driver and his influence drove her to kickstart a motorsport career. "When I initially started racing, my friends were a bit shocked, because I am not considered to be a 'tough girl' as such, but many people fail to realise that one does not just need to be tough or aggressive to be a racer. My coach has stressed on the importance of staying calm, as being aggressive can have a different outcome altogether," the young racer claimed.

The ultimate goal

​Aashi trains with the Rayo Racing Academy at the Ajmera’s Indikarting Circuit in Mumbai. Backed by a solid team of coach Saurav Bandyopadhyay, mentor Rayomand Banajee, and her father Raunaq Singh, Aashi's daily routine includes sufficient training and cardio, and on the track practice. "As a go-karter, I need to have the ability to take myself and my go-kart forward with ease. At times my coach even expects me to do exercises in the middle of sessions like pushups or skipping to test my strength," she expressed.

"I used to have fear of speed, because at times I felt that I was unable to control the go-kart. But now I have gotten used to it. I have left those fears behind. I have even crashed myself and I now know my limits and until then I have to keep pushing," she mentioned. "People usually are with their families before races to calm themselves down, but I dislike meeting people when they ask too many questions, give advice and talk, so I prefer staying away from such interactions until I am done with the race, for my peace of mind," she added.

​"Sometimes I fear bad luck - what if someone hits my go-kart, I spin and my chance of being on the podium goes away?"

Speaking about future plans she said, "I'll be doing around 20-25 events this year, including the National Karting Championship." She wants to be a Formula One racer. "I would love to be one of the first Indian girls to reach the Formula One series. Even if it's not F1, I would love to explore Formula racing. I just want to keep moving in the racing space and not be stuck in one place that I can't go ahead. I just want to keep going and growing, even if there are obstacles in the way, and explore more about racing," she claimed.

Feature Image Credit: Gramho.com

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