Most people, when they find themselves in a car hurtling down the road at 200 kmph, would be petrified. But then again, most people are not racing drivers. Armaan Ebrahim certainly is one. In fact, he is India’s best circuit racer.

The 24-year-old from Chennai, who is currently competing in the FIA GT series for the BMW Sports Trophy Team India, decided to “give it a shot” when the opportunity to become a racing driver presented itself when he was just 14 years old.
“It was never planned,” said Armaan about becoming a racer. “Nobody ever said to me, ‘Armaan, you’re going to become a racing driver.’ The Rotax kart came down to India for the first time in 2003 to Bengaluru. The man who brought the karts here, a Malaysian, struck up a deal with my father and JK Tyre to organise a few training programmes. All the racers of the time, about 40-45 of them, were going to be there. My father told me he was going and asked me if I’d like to come. So I went along and actually ended up winning at the programme,” Armaan recalled.
“I impressed them so much that I was offered training in Malaysia. I was always interested in sports, so I thought I’d give racing a shot. I spent the summer of 2003 training in Malaysia. I won the national championship in 2004.”
It is only natural that Armaan took to the wheel as his father Akbar was, after all, the national F3 champion in his time. “I was always into racing. As a kid, I would go to the track with my father and love it,” Armaan says.
So strong is Armaan’s connection to sports that if not a racing driver, he says he would be doing something related to sports. If he’s not setting the track on fire, Armaan can be found playing other sports or just unwinding at home. “I travel extensively, so when I have some time to myself, I just kick back and relax at home. Or just head to the beach on weekends. I’m very laidback that way. I play other sports as hobbies,” he says adding. “I enjoy playing cricket (he’s an opening batsman), I play squash, and recently, I started surfing a bit.”
On the track, Armaan is an aggressive driver. “Off the track, I’m very laidback but once I get into the car, for some reason, I go in the opposite direction, perhaps becoming too aggressive.” So has he imbibed this particular quality from his role model, Formula One legend Ayrton Senna? “You can have role models but you have to be your own driver. You have to adopt a style that suits you, keep improving but you cannot model yourself on someone else as that might not be what you’re cut out for. You can always take inspiration from legends. If there’s anything I’ve taken from Senna, it was how detailed he was in the technical aspect. That’s something to keep working on. You learn all the time.”
Armaan has certainly accomplished that. He is considered a race engineer’s dream, being as involved as he is in the tiniest of details that goes into constructing the machine, he says, “When you’ve got a whole team looking after the car, it’s a little difficult to be hands on but I always look at the data and ask engineers questions.”
His favourite movies are, “I watch quite a few. But when I find time, I like a The Godfather trilogy marathon and want to watch The Conjuring.”
It’s not just movies. Armaan likes watching TV shows too. “I love Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory... It is a long list.” Being on the road as often as he is, music can be an invaluable companion and Armaan says, “I like all genres — right from classic rock of the ’60s and the ’70s to metal and hip hop. It all depends on my mood, I suppose.”
Armaan is at home for the moment, relaxing before he heads off to Navarre in Spain for the penultimate round of the GT series at the Circuito de Navarra on September 28 and 29. Then it’s off to Azerbaijan. “It’s a street race on October 17, 18 and 19. Hopefully, I’ll do well in both the races, which could help me get better offers from other teams next season,” he signed off.