A young man racing to get right to the top
15-year-old takes first junior formula race while keeping up his go-karting
go-kart and rookie formula racer Shayur Harpal is driving places and he does not intend to stop until he gets to Formula One.
The Johannesburg 15-year-old finished in the top six of his gokarting class at the third round of the 2013 South African Rotax Max Challenge near Pietermaritzburg recently.
But he has come to expect more of himself following the success of his first foray into driving formula cars in June, when he returned as championship leader from the 2013 Formula BMW Asia Cup Championship series in Malaysia. Formula BMW is a junior racing formula for single-seater cars.
“I had a bad event [at the SA Rotax Max Challenge] because we didn’t manage to get the cart all together to have the perfect package,” he said. “That was disappointing after coming back with the high of Malaysia.”
Shayur began go-kart racing six years ago.
“When I was younger, we used to go to drag races and track days and I developed a love for the sport.”
His father Avinash agreed. “It was my passion — but he wanted it more than I did,” said Harpal snr.
His family even moved to a different city so that he could compete.
“We used to live in Durban, but he kept nagging me for two years to move,” said his father.
“I want to take motor racing as far as possible — maybe FormulaOne as my ultimate goal,” said Shayur.
His sister, Neha, 12, races on a regional level.
Shayur said he had to learn to shift mental gears now that he was both a go-karting and formula racer.
“In go-karting, everything is on a smaller scale and you need to react quickly because everything is faster.” For car racing, he “had to get used to the gears and the clutch. It demands a lot more physically from you, as well as mentally.”
He remembers his time in Malaysia fondly. “It’s a very nice place; people are very kind. The food is different — it has a unique taste. They don’t eat with a fork and knife, they eat with a fork and a spoon.”
During his race there — his first international and first car race — he “just dug deep inside me and just gave it my all” to take the Formula BMW car to the podium.
He said his favourite tracks were in Johannesburg because of “the crowds here and the atmosphere that’s so lively”.
When not racing, the Crawford College pupil enjoys watching movies, playing soccer and video games and spending time with his family and friends.