Abrar Bin Ayub, a 21-year-old young racer hailing from valley’s Apple town Sopore, is a 3rd year B.Tech Automobile student at SRM University Chennai.
Vice-Captain and driver of the college racing team – The Conrod, strikingly good looking Abrar has been recently sponsored by his college as a student racer in an international sports event to be held in Auburn, USA next month. Confessing that he had never participated in professional races before joining college, Abrar also confides that he had discovered his love for raging machines right from his childhood.
“It was there inside me, always,” Abrar recalls and adds, “I wasn’t able to kickstart my journey earlier because of financial problems. I went for the driver selection of Volkswagen Vento Cup (formerly known as Polo R cup) which is a part of Indian National Racing Championship. I finished third in selection, even ahead of formula 4 drivers.”
What further propelled the racing enthusiast’s spirit were the words of Volkswagen Motorsports’ head. “You must join racing, the pace you have got without track practice is amazing” – he told Anees Zargar (DNA Correspondent)
The young racer on guidance with Kenny Habul has been in his college racing team for two years now. He recently won the first prize and Rs 1 Lakh cash prize money for being the fastest racer in as many as 120 teams in manoeuvrability. Talking about his college racing team, Abrar, who is the driver and steering engineer in team, shares, “We design and build our own car with parts from the Auto News because they have a good price and most important good quality and race with it in a competition called BAJA SAE India, an intercollegiate design competition run by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).”
Speed dreaming
A perpetual dreamer, Abrar wants to see himself racing in BAJA 1000 and Dakar Rally while as his plans for this year is to finish podium at Raid de Himalaya. “It is world’s highest altitude rally. Although my parents and brother have saved some money for a year now for me to participate in the rally. But I will need a sponsor for that also. I will be the first bike racer from Kashmir to participate in a race of such huge magnitude. I am already dreaming of building a car and a bike in garage and racing with them,” he says while imagining himself on the wheels.
Apart from getting inspired and deeply influenced by Suresh Rana, the nine time Raid de Himalaya winner, and CS Santosh, the most accomplished rider of country, Abrar says that his family support has been a major force to take him this far. “There is money involved in this game and my family has been immensely supportive. My parents and brother have been saving money for a year now for me to participate in the next race,” he confides.
‘Kashmir has a lot of scope for the sport’
The young racer is not only passionate about his own career, but is equally concerned about the budding car racers in the valley. “Kashmir has lot of scope for the sport, but it needs proper attention from the respective authorities. Rally races can be easily organised in the valley, but such events call for efforts. Mughal rally was the only rally that was able to run for few years and was finally shut. Snow rally would be one such great idea,” he suggests.
A lover of Raid Rally, who likes to go on tough adventurous terrains, Abrar however, points out that there is a huge talent stocked in the valley. “It is sad to see boys driving recklessly on roads and performing bike stunts without any safety gear. Kashmir has some amazingly talented lads but they need proper guidance. People outside get paid to do so in supervised environment,” he mentions suggesting that the youth need to channelise their talent towards right track.
Worried about challenges ahead
Praising his college for sponsoring his name in a race in US, the racer further mentions that he is currently faced with a difficult situation. “I am on the verge of withdrawing my name from the Volkswagen Vento cup due to lack of sponsors. All other drivers have got sponsor. But, sadly none from my state have come forward to support me yet,” he states.
The young racer from the valley is also worried about disappointments. “My extremely supportive parents and brother have helped me in every possible way to reach to this stage but now the amount of money involved is huge which can become a barrier for me,” Abrar says after he tried contacting few sponsors in Kashmir but received no response.
If you want to support Abrar’s dream and sponsor him for upcoming racing events, contact: 9791098799
source:iamin.in