Pragathi Gowda, Deepa, Anushriya land in England for McLaren Formula Woman finals

Bengaluru, 1 March 2022: Pragati Gowda, the talented youngster from Bengaluru, rushed back from the Rally of Coimbatore on Sunday night and took a flight to England Monday morning, to take part in the Global Finals selection and was at the Nottingham Raceway, for the Formula Women McLaren trials on Wednesday. The other two to represent India are Deepa S John from Kerala and Anushriya Gulati, a racing champ from Uttarakhand.

“I am super excited and nervous at the same time. I am trying to adapt to the weather here. The weather is too chilling. I am looking forward to a new adventure in my life and tomorrow is going to be very special as it is the selection day. Just now, I finished my practice and came back. Trying to sort out certain things but yes, it is all going good and I am looking forward to a great run tomorrow,” the 19-year MBA graduate, who made a winning INRC debut in Itanagar in 2020 December, told INDIAinF1.com through an exclusive voice file over WhatsApp.

The attacking speedster, found the going tough in Coimbatore due to mechanical issues with a fan failure on Day 1, and as they were speeding to make up time on Sunday, their drive shaft broke in Special Stage (SS) 6, which halted their progress. Along with navigator, Trisha Jagannath, she returned to Bengaluru on Sunday itself, and took the Monday morning flight.

“I just finished practice at another circuit and I am too excited right now. It is really cold here and getting adapted to this weather is tricky, but fun. It is a new learning experience for me but it is also thrilling to be here and am looking forward to the practice session, qualifier and selection race tomorrow morning. Driving in this biting cold and representing India in itself is a wonderful feeling and I am eager to have a go,” said Deepa John, who beat a bevy of biggies in Vadodara last November. The automobile engineer by profession came first among women’s category and third in expert category during India trials.

Deepa John, is a gifted fresher from Thiruvananthapuram, a find at the India Formula Women selections. On the other hand, Anushriya Gulati, despite racing only for a couple of years both at the Madras Race Track and Kari Speedway is both a biker and an open-wheel Formula racer. She was also credited with a ride to the Khardung La pass up the mountains and when she moved to racing four-wheeler, she won the Rookie title in the JK Tyre National Championship beating seniors like Mira Erda. These two along with Pragathi, won the India trials. The Formula India Women selections were conducted in November 2021 at the Erda Speedway in Vadodara. Another Indian, Manisha Kelkar, will also take part in the Global Finals but not as an Indian contestant as she directly chose to come to the UK and successfully finished her assessment.

The trio will represent India at the finals to stand a chance to be a McLaren Customer Racing Driver. The three drivers came out flying among 23 contestants who were assessed over five parameters namely, driving ability, karting craft, physical fitness, media skills, and a general written test.

The Global finals will witness about 70 participants who would be competing against each other on March 2 and 3 at the PF1 International circuit which is the largest outdoor karting circuit in UK. Then 15 shortlisted drivers will head to Croft Circuit on March 3 for a further round of finals. Then the top 10 participants will head to Sweden for a final shootout on a different terrain, that is Ice. The final six will have two reserve drivers while the top four will get a drive in the British GT championship where McLaren will have two cars, with two drivers each.

Fans who wish to send their wishes to the three Formula India Women can comment here and we will forward them to the star drivers.