Race ace

The first time Mira Erda drove a go-kart, she thudded into a wall and the steering wheel hit her stomach. “The experience shook me,” says the first Indian woman racer to compete in Formula 4 SEA Championship. Until then, she had only sat on her brother Vrajesh’s lap while he drove the go-kart. “As an eight-year-old I enjoyed the wind in my hair and the whole idea of karting. Soon, I wanted to drive it myself,” she says. That minor accident did not stop her from driving again, though. Soon, she was racing with her brothers.

But the biggest influence was her father, Kirit Erda, who was passionate about motor sports. “My father started a go-karting space in Vadodara because he wanted to do something related to his passion—motor sports. I think the passion flows in the blood,” says the 20-year-old from Gujarat. It was after her father took her to a professional go-karting race in Pune that she decided to take up the sport; she was nine at the time. “There was a serious accident there but, surprisingly, it did not scare me. My major concern was that there weren’t any girls in the race. At that moment, I decided to take up the sport more seriously because I wanted to prove that girls can do anything,” says the girl who qualified for the prestigious W Series in 2019—an all-women single-seater championship in which 18 racers from around the world faced off in F3-spec race cars.

Clad in a pair of denim pants, a white tee and a pink sweatshirt, Mira looks calm despite her flight getting delayed by almost 45 minutes. She quickly gets into narrating her story in the most fascinating manner. “How can a nine-year-old girl say no when her own father asks her if she wants to race professionally?” she asks. “At that point it wasn’t even about competing. I just wanted to have fun.”

Interestingly, her first race came just 25 days after she started training—she competed in the 2010 JK Tyre National Rotax Max Championship in India. Later that year, she also went for her first international race at the Plus Yamaha SL International Challenge in Malaysia. “I was the only girl in the 9-13 category (micromax category). You had to see the look on the faces of the boys there. They were restless and they tried to scare me a bit off track. Everyone there, except me, was super experienced. But I did not let that get to me,” she says.

In 2011, she bagged the award for the Best Improved Driver of the year at the national JK Racing Championship. And in its 2014 edition, she was the youngest Formula IV girl driver at the age of 14. She continued to train and perform consistently and became the Formula IV Rookie Champion of the Year 2016 and was honoured by the Federation of Motor Sports Club of India—the governing body of motorsports in India—with the Outstanding Woman In Motorsports award.

Another feather in her cap came when she became the first Indian woman to race in the Euro JK series, one of the highest classes of Formula racing in India. “People say women can’t drive but I am breaking all stereotypes, one lap at a time,” she says. Mira does not shy away from talking about her defeats as well. “I learn from my defeats. I was not at my best in 2017 and 2018. I had a couple of defeats during the time but the key is to keep learning and not compare. I will never try to become someone else. I just strive to be the best version of myself,” she says. She also emphasises on her family’s support, and says she wouldn’t have made it this far without them. And it is not just her father and brother who cheer her on. Her mother, Nima, was excited when Mira decided to take up racing. “For my first training programme in Kolhapur, the family travelled together in our Wagon R,” she says.

It is close to midnight when we reach the hotel where she is put up, and we decide to dine out. “I eat non-vegetarian food but anything vegetarian works for me now. Nothing South Indian, though. I come to Coimbatore quite a lot for my training and races and all we have there is South Indian food. I am tired of all the sambars, dosas and biriyanis,” she says. She goes for a cheesy pasta dish and one could tell that the girl loves her cheese. Time for dessert. Mira tastes a bit of tiramisu, goes for another scoop and gets her dessert packed. “I’ll just relax for a bit and have it later in my room. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, right?” she says, referring to the shoot day.

It is an early start on shoot day and, before the action starts, she takes a tour of THE WEEK’s office. “I am studying mass media. However, I have not yet decided on what to specialise in, but I think I have a flair for journalism. Not print media, more of television. In fact, racing and meeting media people inspired me to take up the course. It is great to actually see a media house,” she says.

As the pre-shoot arrangements kick in, Mira watches the action like a curious child. She gets her first coat of makeup on and we are set to head to our first shoot site—The Yacht Club in Kochi. On the way, Mira comments on the traffic in the city. “When I drive on our roads, I don’t speed. I am scared to even overtake another car,” she says. “On the track, even when I am going at over 200kmph, I feel it is not fast enough.”

According to Mira, the best part of being a racer is forgetting everything when you put on the helmet. “You are like a lion that wants to get out of the cage and chase its prey. The green lights go off and then it is all about you, your vehicle and the track. I just get lost when I am driving. There is always this small fear that I might lose control but I have learnt to believe in my car. The car does not know gender; it does not treat me like a female racer, just a racer,” says the Red Bull athlete.

The car she drives now is a Formula 4 BMW, which comes under the racing regulations mandating a 1,600cc capacity and capping the maximum power output at 160bhp (119.3kW), which is higher than Formula Ford and lower than Formula Renault. “We don’t buy the cars, we usually rent them. The car I race in has pedal shifters, gear on the steering wheel and a 1200cc modified engine. Just like the normal cars, we have the accelerator, brake and clutch, but we use the clutch for neutral and first gears only,” she explains. She also has a special rakhi for her car. “I always tie it to my car before any race. I talk to my car; I keep letting out positive affirmations. I also have an idol of my goddess near the steering wheel; minutes before the race starts, I touch the idol, relax and imagine good things. It is my calming mechanism,” she says.

According to Mira, most racers experience stress before the race and it is normal. “First of all, we stretch it out. We have a cycle of thoughts most of the time so we try to calm that. If we are under a lot of pressure, we feel pain in our legs and have doubts like ‘What if we mess up?’ But when the green lights go off, all these thoughts just vapourise,” she says. Mira goes on to talk about her plans to upgrade this year. “I want to try Formula 3 this year or the next. If I am experienced enough to try the F3 car I might try to race in F3 Asia, even for one round. I just want to see how I perform and how the car works. But the ultimate aim is to get to Formula 1,” she says.

As we get into the first leg of the shoot, Mira marches onto the shoot floor in her black outfit with red killer-heel-boots. She hops onto the bar stool, arches her back and without being given any directions, gets into character. After a bit, she begins to complain about the humidity but does not stop posing for the camera. She nods in approval as the photographer gives her a glimpse of some of the shots and rushes to the changing room for the next look.

After another comment on the sunny day, she goes on to talk about her racing wear. “It is very hot inside my racing suit; it is made of thick fire-resistant material. Unlike the boys, I have long hair, so it gets even more hot,” she says. The suit costs over a lakh and the shoes, around 20 grand. The inevitable question—how do you wash it? “My father washes it for me. He usually washes it with a mild detergent to take off the oil and grease stains,” she says. “Racing is an expensive sport. So, for my racing team, I charge only the basic cost. I am from a middle-class background and I know how difficult it is to be a racer.”

After a couple of shots near the pool, the crew gets ready for a speed boat ride for the shoot in the inland. As the boat gets into full throttle, Mira’s yellow gown looks like a dream. She puts her hands up in the air and screams as her curled hair dances in the wind. As the boat gets close to land, Mira longingly looks at the water. The wind has done quite some damage to the heat curls and the makeup artist gets to work. The photographer points to a dry bush as Mira balances in her boots with a three-inch heel. “There must be creepy crawly bugs there. And spiders. I am not a fan of bugs,” she says. But despite the hesitation she strikes a couple of poses near the bush.

The sun shows no pity and keeps on messing with her makeup. But thanks to her good skin texture, regular touch-ups weren’t really needed. The crew then creates a makeshift changing room with pool towels and gets her into her next outfit. She seems calmer in the emerald green gown. She grabs the stylist’s sunglasses and hops into the speedboat. “There is a picturesque place near the branches,” she tells the photographer. As the boat gets close to the place Mira pointed at, a dry tree in the shallow area gets in the way. “Even this tree looks pretty,” she exclaims, and gets ready to climb it. With help, she gets on top of the lowest branch. One wrong step, and she would be swimming in the famed Vembanad Lake. But she has it under control. The outdoor shoot over, it is time to head back to the studio.

She zips up her race suit for the final shoot. One can see a sparkle of pride and passion as she walks past the camera lights. Her hair in a high pony, her helmet carefully balanced between her hand and hip and her eyes radiating her love for the sport—the picture spoke a thousand words. The lights fire and the camera captures her story—the story of battles won and demons slayed.

MY FITNESS REGIME

My fitness regime mostly consists of body weight workouts, CrossFit, skipping, kickboxing, Pilates and some weight training. I love trying out different workouts every day. So, I try to find out different ways to focus on my strength and stamina.

I train around two hours every day. It starts off with five to ten minutes of running or cycling. Then I do 500 skips, three to four sets of pull-ups without support. Around four sets of supported pull-ups with different grips. And then I get into the main workout. Towards the end of my regimen, I hit the monkey bars, I do a handstand and a headstand, ring workouts and basic stretches.

WHAT IS ON MIRA’S PLATE?

Early morning: A glass of water with squeezed lemon/a glass of warm water with turmeric/water with cinnamon powder

Breakfast: Celery orange juice with some chia seeds. Berries and nuts. Green smoothie made of apple, spinach and some nuts, or maca pancakes and almond milk with avocadoes and strawberries

Mid-morning: Mixed fruit salad and two eggs. Sometimes, it is sweet potato toast, or just energy bars

Lunch: Big bowl of salad with a lot of vegetables. Or, bajra roti and drumstick curry. And sometimes avocado toast and Greek yoghurt.

Snack: Coconut water with chia seeds and strawberries

Dinner: Spiral vegetable noodles with steamed vegetables in pesto sauce. Sometimes it is sweet potato baked fries with broccoli almond soup

AT A GLANCE

A hobby that you once had and not anymore.

Reading. I think it is because I don’t have the time nowadays and I get sleepy.

Your first crush.

I never really had the time to check out boys. I always race with them and it is a hate and love relationship.

A show you binge-watched.

I watch a lot of thriller movies and series on Netflix.

Midnight indulgence.

Chocolate. Any dessert for that matter, but it should have a lot of chocolate in it.

Your biggest strength.

I think it is the fact that I am focused and I know what I am supposed to do when I am on the race track or any other field for that matter.

Your biggest nightmare.

I think it would be losing a race where I could have done better or I expected to do better.

If the genie in the lamp granted you three wishes what would they be?

Number one, that I would get to race in the international-level competitions all through my life; number two, that I would get to eat a lot of food. And three, that I get to drive a lot and enjoy more than I am doing right now.

Most prized possession.

My race car, my helmet and my overalls.

I am so connected to my car that I don’t really let anybody touch it.

A lie you told your parents that you distinctly remember.

I was at the college and my father was outside. I was the only one inside the campus and I told my father that there are many others with me. He caught me eventually though.

If you had just one day to live, what would you do that entire day?

Eat and drive. I would go to the race track and take a lot of food along with me. When I take breaks in between driving, I will eat food. These are two things I love doing.

Suppose your house catches fire, what are the three things that you would take along with you?

My phone, my charger and my racing gear.