Mahindra Racing CEO optimistic about the upcoming season

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 rider line-up. Mahindra 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.

Now that everything has fallen in place, Mahindra Racing CEO Mufaddal Choonia feels that they have a winning combination at their disposal when the Moto3 season kicks off in Qatar on April 7. Below are the excerpts... 

What changes the team has gone through in the off season?
We have had an extremely busy winter. We re-structured our entire operation while also developing the new bike. I have to give credit to everyone involved who has helped make the changes happen. Mahindra engineers have worked closely with their counterparts at Suter Racing and the result, in such a short amount of time, has been encouraging.

Are you pleased with how things have gone?
So far so good. The effort has been enormous and it has been satisfying to watch the professionalism of our riders and team members during the three pre-season tests. Equally satisfying has been the performance of the all new bike. We have managed to do a lot of laps with no real problems and this gives us great hope for the long season ahead. I know that testing was only a small step in the right direction and we do not want to get ahead of ourselves, but we have also been happy with the times Miguel Oliveira and Efren Vazquez have achieved after such a short development time in the factory.

What about your new riders?
I am extremely pleased with both riders. We chose them because they have great pedigree and are known as front runners. They also provide a great balance of speed and experience. I have been impressed with the professionalism and work ethic of both riders and, on a human level, they fit in well with the team. The fact that both of them speak far better English than I speak Spanish or Portuguese is also extremely helpful.

Now that you have tied-up with Suter Racing, how much of the new bike is developed by Mahindra?
It's very much a Mahindra bike. Of course, we have benefited enormously from the experience and expertise of Suter Racing Technology, our technological partner in the project. We certainly could not have proceeded from concept to track within such a short amount of time without the input of Eskil’s team. However, we have had Mahindra engineers involved in the project at every stage, in fact the entire project management has been done by Mahindra engineers. We have also carried out a lot of the design analysis at our R&D centres in India. So yes, a lot of Mahindra expertise has gone into the design of the new bike. 

What are your objectives for the season?
We are splitting our season into stages, which reflect the development planned for the bike during the season. For each stage we have objectives to improve our performance. However, I do not wish to be drawn into a discussion on specifics at this stage. Both our riders seem to be happy with the bike and are very enthusiastic about the season ahead, but I shall wait and see how we perform in the opening three races before making any predictions. Clearly, Mahindra is not involved in racing to make up the numbers and we are keen to be challenging the front runners during the course of this season.

Know the riders
Efren Vazquez
Age: 26
Country: Spain
Made his debut in 2007 in the 250cc (now Moto2) with Aprilia.
Finished fifth in the 125cc category (now Moto2) in 2010 riding for Derbi.
Finished 10th in the championship last season.

Miguel Oliveira
Age: 18
Country: Portugal
Made his debut in 125cc category with Aprilia in 2011.
Finished eighth in the championship last season. He best race was in Australia where he finished second.