Dina Patel: Youngest racer in town

The rising popularity of motorsports in Pakistan with time has laid a platform for the emerging drivers in off-road racing.

Following the footsteps of her parents, Ronnie Patel and Ushna Patel, their daughter Dina Patel has also taken the driving seat and recently claimed the first position in the women’s stock race of Thar Desert Rally.

While talking in an exclusive interview with BOL, the 18-year-old spoke about her journey, family legacy in motorsports, and plans as a professional off-road driver.

The Patel family has been taking part in car racing since 1979 and now Dina is the youngest member of the family to follow the tracks and also the youngest female racer in the country.

“I just barely turned 18 right ahead of the rally so yeah this makes me the youngest racer and also the youngest female racer too,” she said while talking about the achievement. “Beneath the popularity and fame, I’m just a little kid who’s eager to learn as she grows. People and fame are there one day and they are not there the other day. I don’t let this get to my head.”

Parents’ legacy in motorsports has inspired and motivated her to pursue it as a profession. However, the teenager believes that she needs to study further before she dedicates her life to the sport that her family loves.

“I have no sorted plans for what lies ahead but I do nevertheless carry on my parents’ legacy of racing,” she said. “For now, it’s my graduation and grades.”

The budding racer knows the importance of being a skilled human being and acknowledges the fact that the machine can just give you an advantage, but it cannot make you a champion. Moreover, she thinks that being a better and well-learned person will make her become a better driver.

“It’s not what’s under the hood, but who’s behind the wheel that decides the race,” she said. “My learning is my struggle and there are no head starts here.”

Dina’s next assignment is the Choolistan Rally which is far away and scheduled to begin on February 9.

She will be competing in the stock race category along with her mother, driving a Diesel Hilux Vigo, while her father will perform the duties of a navigator.

“I’m preparing for my next track in Choolistan in the stock category, driving Diesel Hilux Vigo, where my father will be my navigator and my mother will race in the prepared category,” she shared. “This time my father has stepped back once again for personal reasons but us, the women of the house, are vying,” she said.

Dina wishes to race whenever and wherever she gets a chance. She says that it doesn’t matter if she is racing in Pakistan or abroad.

Talking about the difference in her driving while in Pakistan and anywhere else in the world, she sounded confident that she can bring glory for her country and the family competing anywhere around the globe.

“I mean it’s better if I raced in my home country [for now] but it’s not like I can’t be doing it in foreign lands. It’s the same kinds of deserts, the dunes and the tracks are more or less the same everywhere.”

On the other hand, her father Ronnie, who is a Veteran off-road driver, is also happy to see his daughter making a mark in the local motorsports scene.

“My family consists of four people and I am happy that all of them are involved in motorsports,” he maintained while talking to Bol News. “My wife was the first family driver to come to motorsports and now my daughter is a part of it.”

The sport looks interesting though it still has all the risks an ordinary person can think of. However, the seasoned racer thinks otherwise as they tend to take cautions against any untoward incident.

“Motorsports are not risky at all because we take all precautionary measures,” he claimed. “It is riskier on the road where anyone comes to drive without any required training.”

He was of the view that if it was risky, he would have never brought his wife and daughter in this field. Instead, he urges other women to become a part of this game.

The proud father further stated that when he competes with his daughter as a navigator and when she is a co-driver, he asks her to drive slowly during the race as she is pretty aggressive in her approach.

“When I participate in races with my daughter as a co-driver and perform navigation, usually, the navigator tells the driver to drive fast but my daughter is very aggressive so I control her during the race,” he added.

The first female off-road driver of Pakistan and the mother of Dina, Ushna was also overwhelmed with the performance of her daughter.

“She has the capacity to race and she proved it in just her second event,” she said.

Ushna revealed that it’s much more challenging for her to keep her nerves calm when her daughter is competing as compared to when she is herself in a race.

“My daughter and husband race on the track together, so I am usually nervous until the car crosses the finish line,” she revealed.