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  Sports   In Other sports  28 Apr 2018  Brad fast-tracks dreams

Brad fast-tracks dreams

THE ASIAN AGE. | IRFAN HAJI
Published : Apr 28, 2018, 12:18 am IST
Updated : Apr 28, 2018, 12:18 am IST

Bandra-born Goan driver, Brad Dias moved to Europe recently and has just completed his first weekend in the FIA Formula 4 Danish Championship.

Brad will race with Jan Magnussen’s F4 team
 Brad will race with Jan Magnussen’s F4 team

What started as fun during a holiday trip home, turned into a serious profession for Goan car racer Brad Dias. The Mumbai-born 21-year-old driver, who lives in Hong Kong with his parents, has now announced his decision to move to Europe in single-seater racing, where he is competing in the year-old FIA Formula 4 Danish Championship in the 2018 season.

Brad completed his first weekend (round 1) with the team run by former Formula 1 driver Jan Magnussen’s F4 team, Magnussen Racing Experience, alongside 14-year-old Danish Frederik Kikkenborg. The series has a  total of eight rounds and will go on till October. This series uses a French manufacturer’s Mygale chassis with a 2.0 litre Renault engine, something which Brad is familiar with after competing in the Asian Formula Renault and the MRF F1600 Championship.

The year 2018 is Brad’s first foray in Europe with the aim to win races in his rookie season in the FIA-regulated championship. The Goan driver had his first taste of the Danish F4 car in Italy earlier this month. Prior to his move to Formula 4 Danish Championship, Brad took part in this year’s Round 1 of AMMC Macau Karting Championship, which he won as well.

“I was born in Bombay and have family members there. My mother and her family have lived in Bandra for a long time. The first team I raced with in India was Rayo Racing, which is based in Bandra too.”

“My family had no background in motor sports. The first time I made a start was when I was on holiday in Goa, and went to Bangalore for a two-day basic karting course. When I returned back to Hong Kong to start school again, I found a karting club and started practising on 100cc karts.

“The following year after I graduated from high school (2013), I started racing karts properly in the Indian National Karting Championship,” he said.

His dream to race in Europe was cut short three years ago but he is back where he wanted to race always. “A small hand injury in 2015 cut a nerve, which rendered my left hand useless for two months. I was based in the UK and wanted to start racing in a karting championship. But because of the injury I couldn’t start the championship,” said Dias.

Renowned driver manager Peter Collins coaches the talented driver in his pursuit to progress and make motor sport his profession. Collins has been in motorsport for over 40 years and has spent 15 years running Grand Prix teams, which include Team Lotus, Williams F1 and Benetton F1. Collins has provided career assistance and F1 test opportunities to numerous world champions, such as Nigel Mansell, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen.

The Goan is making progress with Collins guiding him. Despite struggling with finances, he wants to be successful in F4 and later graduate to F3.  

“I was evaluating different series over the winter, but I chose this because of the great value and chance to work with former Formula 1 driver and current corvette Racing Factory driver Jan Magnussen, and renowned driver manager Peter Collins.”

“Ultimately, I want to become a manufacturer-driver and build a career as a professional driver. I want to win a top-level single-seater championship as well. A lot of things are changing in motorsports worldwide and it’s hard to say how things are going to turn out.

After lot of thought, I decided to compete with Magnussen Racing Experience in the F4 Danish series, keeping in mind my next step, which will be to compete in Formula 3,” he said.

Tags: fia formula 4 danish championship, asian formula renault, brad dias