Parikshith, daring to drive on a different road

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.

Parikshith
created
waves
in
the
JK
Tyre
National
Racing
Championship
while
competing
in
the
Formula
LGB
(Novice
Cup
under
the
DTS
Racing
India.

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
Leh
to
Kanyakumari,
covering
4000
KM
in
his
Hyundai
Venue
and
sponsored
by
Audiolife.
The
competition
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
Endurance
race
and
Formula
4
Asian
Championship
in
Abu
Dhabi
and
Dubai.
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.