Racing To Victory

“She’s undoubtedly India’s new female face on the country’s racing circuit. Chennai girl Alisha Abdullah has enough spunk and gumption to compete with male counterparts who have twice as much experience as her.”

At 25, Alisha Abdullah has made more men eat dust than any other young women her age. Not that she enjoys indulging in grimy sport; its just that once she gets behind the wheel its difficult to curb her natural penchant for speed. Hence, she rightfully holds the title of ‘Speed Angel’ as she zips past others to the finish line in nearly every form of motor racing there is.

She showed a passion for driving when she was just eight years old. Fascinated by racing, nine-year-old Alisha was drawn to go-karting. She was winning go-karting races by the time she was eleven. When she was just 13 years old, she won the MRF National Go-Karting Championship and the Best Novice Award in the National level Formula Car Racing in the open class .

Alisha then moved on to formula car racing and managed to come fifth in the JK Tyre National Championship in 2004. She made the switch from four wheels to bikes in the same year. In fact, she’s the only Indian women to have entered the final of the 600 cc bike race held at Malaysia. “I live for speed,” tells the feisty young lass. “I crave the adrenaline rush that I get when I’m racing. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else,” she says.

Eyebrows are often raised when she zooms past men, but this only makes the whole scenario more inviting for Alisha as she opines, “Speed thrills me. They say girls generally hate racing, but I love it and that’s why I’m here.” She also goes on to add, “Whenever I win a Championship in the open class, the exclamatory remarks that I get to hear from the men makes me really proud.”

Alisha takes part in about 20 to 24 races each year. She travels between Chennai and Coimbatore where the racing scene in South India is most active. She has trained at Bangkok on a Suzuki 766 cc GSXR and regularly trains at the tracks in Chennai. She adds, “I have to work-out regularly with weights as my frame (she points to her petite self) needs to have enough muscle on it to take the weight of a bike.”

Nowadays Alisha prefers to stay behind the wheel of a car. Having opted for a non-traditional choice of career, she makes sure she stays abreast with all the happenings on the national, as well as the international racing circuit because as she says, “Ultimately I want to be the best!”