Bertrand D' souza

I drove the Volkswagen Ameo Cup racecar at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore recently. But this opinion piece is not about that experience, though I must say the Ameo Cup car was everything we hoped to see in a racecar and more.

I drove the Volkswagen Ameo Cup racecar at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore recently. But this opinion piece is not about that experience, though I must say the Ameo Cup car was everything we hoped to see in a racecar and more. Good job Volkswagen and its motorsport division in India. And thank you for providing such a platform for those kids in India looking to begin a career in motorsport.

So why does the world indulge in motorsport? Because it’s not just a sport; well it did start as a sport though in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. However, it was only from the 1940s that motorsport began to play a much larger role. Like any other sport, the need for speed necessitated the development of faster cars. Which meant engineering and research hours had to be spent to build cars that went faster. Faster engines, better aerodynamics, stiffer suspension, light-weighting. Then came the classic conundrum as summed by Juan Manuel Fangio, "To finish first, you must first finish." It put the onus on reliability and the automobile industry worked towards making sure their cars crossed the finish line without interruptions. Two decades ago there were less electronics involved in racing, unlike today where hundreds of micro sensors learn, adapt and execute millions of functions on any Sunday. As speeds increased, more racing drivers began losing their lives, leading to protests and eventually the adoption of better technology to make not just the cars but even the racing environments safer. A racetrack today is the test bed of manufacturers everywhere around the world. Except here in India.