D. Vidyaprakash: Hats off to a hero

Four decades ago, D. Vidyaprakash drove similar races at Sholavaram. He impressed many and, at 75, he continues to capture the hearts of the people with his brilliant driving skills.

He was a little off the pace the first few laps. “That was because my car was extra heavyweight over fuel and also there were others jostling around. But, he took it easy and started setting the pace to
clinch a place on the podium.

He wasn’t surprised. “I expected it, and I can admit that now. I feel like doing another 50 laps now,” he said and quickly added the youngsters around gave him the additional turbo boost to quicken his
pace.

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Vidyaprakash had some advice for them as well. “Learn your car as tohow it handles and behaves, then come back to tell your engineers about the shortcomings and they will set it up for you.”

“You got to learn a lot about the electronics and the mechanical parts that are rapidly advancing now. Even a simple driver has to be on top of it by learning day and night. I used to go back home after every race and look at my Data Acquisition system,” he added.

He said he’s still learning a bit on this track. “There’s some more potential in me and it will take another 40 laps to get to the top of it."