Parikshith, daring to drive on a different road

Bengaluru, October 2; It is quite unlikely that a family of freedom fighters, politicians and civil servants will ever produce a race driver. But Parikshith Dardhalli dared to walk a different line.

Parikshith did not drove down the road trodden by his family but steered his career into racing from a young age, precisely from the time when he was a student of the Lawrence School, Ooty. ''It was then that I watched an F1 race for the first time, and I was hooked,'' he says.

But his trip has not been an easy one in the highly-competitive racing circuit in India, where you need a combo of money and performance to create a foothold.

Parikshith so far has been managed to hold his own in the racing world with some good performances. For someone who took to racing a tad late despite being an ardent fan from early years, Parikshith ingested the twists and curves of the circuit with consummate ease.

Parikshith received that hint about his future course when he emerged as one of the top names in the Indian Karting Championship in 2018 despite having minimum training days.

The same he emerged the 4th in the final, and the fastest racer in the final round in the Indian National Rotax Championship while competing for the BIREL ART Team. But the breakaway moment came a year later in 2019 when he won the Driver Selection Programme with DTS Racing.

Parikshith created waves in the JK Tyre National Racing Championship while competing in the Formula 4 LGB Novice Cup under the Avalanche Motorsports.

He did not win big there but competing against known names in Indian circuit convinced him that the decision to take to racing was not a wrong one and kept him motivated to return to the track.

In 2020, Parikshith came back to the JK Tyre National Racing Championship Formula 4 and secured runners-up trophy in the Rookie category for DTS Racing.

''Racing remained a passion for me from a very young age and once I started to race in the circuit regularly from 2018 I grew in confidence. It convinced me that I have made the right career choice and my fortunately my family remained fully supportive of my dream,'' says Parikshith.

Another big achievement came on his way earlier this year when Parikshith made a strong mark in India's first Endurance Dream Drive while driving from Manali to Kanyakumari, covering 4000 KM in his Hyundai Venue and sponsored by Audiolife.

The competition, which was sponsored by Big Bash Sports League founded by Mehul and Shital Pithawalla, was made in the TSD - Time Speed Distance - format and he covered the distance in 55 hours, one of the lowest in the event.

It has prompted him to dream about something bigger. ''Now, I have set my eyes on JK Tyre Formula 4 LGB National Championship 2021 with Avalanche Motorsports. Other events like Endurance Race and in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are also on radar.

''Hopefully, I will be able to perform well and go up to the next level and also it will enable me to find some more sponsors as back-up is the most needed element in racing events for a driver,'' says Parikshith, who adores F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Parikshith has big dreams in his mind and, perhaps, we might just get another fine racer for India.