Mahindra revamp racing operations to compete with the best in business when Moto3 season kicks off in April.
After a disastrous 2012, Mahindra Racing were in no mood to be also-rans in 2013. They needed to make some drastic changes in their set-up to match the likes of KTMs and Hondas.
The result was a complete overhaul of the team — from the bike to technicians to new driver line-up. Now that everything has fallen in place, Mahindra Racing feel that they have a winning combination at their disposal when the Moto3 season kicks off in Qatar on April 7.
Mahindra unveiled their new driver line-up at their Mumbai headquarters on Wednesday, which is a combination of youth and experience. While 26-year-old Spaniard Efren Vazquez has been riding in the championship since 2007, 18-year-old Portuguese Miguel Oliveira is a bright prospect, who finished eighth last season.
Though Mahindra garnered just four points in 2012, both the riders are confident of doing well, especially with the kind of personnel the team has on its roster.
“Mahindra is a big company with same mentality of KTM (it won the manufacturers’ championship in 2012). They want to be world champions. They want to stay in front, not at the rear. This is one of the best opportunities of my life, if not the best,” said Vazquez, who finished 10th in the championship last season.
Mahindra have also shifted their base from Italy to Switzerland where their new partners — Suter Racing Technology — are based. The company is owned by former racer Eskil Suter and have a good pedigree in the racing circles.
And, no one knows the Suter technicians better than Oliveira, who raced for Suter Honda last season. “I don’t look at the past. Mahindra didn’t have a good bike last season but this year they have changed everything. That’s the main factor that prompted me to sign up with them. One thing that will work in my favour is the involvement of Suter. I know most of the technical staff. We have all the elements to be successful, now we just need to work hard,” said Oliveira.
Team CEO, Mufaddal Choonia, isn’t yet jumping the gun but is excited about the prospects this season.
“We weren’t entirely happy with the performance last season, so we decided to work with people who have experience and are champions. Suter had already proved themselves. There are not many companies who have been consistent like them,” Choonia said.
He added that they specifically wanted to hire drivers who finished in top-10 in 2012 and that’s how Vazquez and Oliveira came into the picture. “Amongst the few riders that we spoke to, Efren and Miguel were the ones who believed the most in the project. They were willing to work hard with us,” Choonia said.
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