Dhaka Tribune, September 17, 2013
LIVING THE DREAM
Tahsin Momin
Mahfujur Rahman Tushar, 24, is the first Bangladeshi to take
part in a Formula Series racing competition. Much is not made of the fact that
Mahfuzur Rahman Tushar is the Bangladesh's very first envoy in Formula Four,
but if his provenance is studied, it is perhaps surprising that Bangladesh has
not yielded a racing star before now. Tahsin Momin brings you an up close and
personal insight on Tushar
Born and raised in Dhaka, Tushar's love affair with cars and
speed started at an early age. During the 2002 Grand Prix season at
Silverstone, the legendary Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher became the
champion of British Grand Prix by beating his other Ferrari team mates, Rubens
Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya, motivating Tushar to participate in the
formula series racing Tushar's first impression of driving came when he was
only 13 years old, where he was asked by his father to park their car safely
near his grandfather's residence in Gazipur. He is a natural when it comes to
driving. He learnt to manipulate the vehicle by seeing how his driver
maneuvered it earlier
Being the son of a pious Muslim, Tushar spent about nine
years of his childhood studying at a city madrassah, from where he completed
his Dakhil (SSC equivalent) in 2006. "Though I had spent years abiding by
the strict rules of madrassah, I managed to find ways to stay in close touch
with cars and the racing world," Tushar said while narrating his
experience. He later joined Dhaka Polytechnic Institute to obtain a Diploma in
Automobile Engineering. He completed his graduation in 2011.
His pursuit for Formula Series racing began in 2007, when he
came back from the World Cyber Games Championship empty handed. That is when he
took a vow to become a Racing Legend. He went to the Google search engine and
searched for "Formula series racing near Bangladesh" Much to his
delight there was a racing track situated in the provinces of Tamil Nadu. He
jumped on the case and set off for India. His happiness was short-lived when he
figured out that the race track has been re-located to a new spot. Tushar
didn't give up just yet.
Perhaps close proximity to the inner demands and an
attraction as pervasive as motor racing, was what kept Tushar going. He
participated in monthly Go-Kart racing, at Fantasy Kingdom near Ashulia. In
2010, he became the second runner up for the competition and that was only the
beginning. In 2011, he became the "Speed Racing Go-Kart Track Master
champion. Tushar stood first amongst 300 other participants from throughout the
country. Fuelled by his recent victory Tushar decided to look for another shot
at his dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver. He repeated the same search
process in Google. The The results returned with "16 JK Tyre National
Formula racing in India by FMSCI This led Tushar to the FMSCI website.
Like many other young talents, Tushar had to overcome
obstacles in his journey 2012 was a year of calling for him, he obtained the
necessary training and passed the qualifying round held in Chennai for the
Formula 4 competition but due to a shortage of funds, he could not participate
in the expensive racing event the same year. His affection for motor racing
faced a massive blow to the face yet again. Nevertheless, this did not
discourage Tushar from trying harder and making it happen for himself.
2013 became the year when everything for Tushar changed. A
local company stepped forward to sponsor him. Tushar flew to India to attend
the Formula 4 competition titled 17th JK Tyre FMSCI Racing Championship-2013,
took place at the Kari Motor Speedway, Chennai, from July 19-21. Tushar
competed against 23 racers and represented Madras Motor Sports Club. He
finished in the 11th position.
Formula 4 is a platform which helps drivers aiming for the
upper tiers like F2 and F3 to gain experience.
Initially organized in England, it is now being held in a
few countries including India, Malaysia and Singapore. It is an introductory
stage for Formula 1, the most expensive motor racing event. Only a handful of
qualified racers from F4 can participate in F3 and following the same line of
action, one can step up to enter F2. Only the top three winners of an F2
competition are eligible to take part in F1.
This Bangladeshi racer is determined to bring glory to his
country through participating in the upcoming events. He hopes to make it to
the prestigious Formula 1 championship within the next five to six years.
Subsequently, he wants to establish a motor racing association in Bangladesh,
which would come in handy for training aspirant racers. He anticipates that
with time, the government and other private organizations will also become
interested. in holding motor racing competitions in Bangladesh, "Narain Karthikeyan
is the first Indian F1 racer and the main reason behind F1 taking place in
India. I wish to see the same happen in my country soon," Formula 4 is a
platform which helps says Tushar keeping his fingers crossed.
#mrtushar43 #carboy143
#bangladeshmotorsports
Note: "Most of my news has vanished since 2022 from the internet, this news is dedicated to those three guys who are directly involved in this kind of contempt.”
No comments:
Post a Comment