Beyond the finishing line

Pune’s Diana Pundole pretty much ‘raced’ into the limelight even as she became India’s first female national racing champion by finishing first in the saloon category at the MRF Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024, in Chennai recently. Here she is, giving us lowdown on how she handles the pressure of the sport with her responsibilities towards home and kids, even she gets past the stereotypes, one day, one race at a time

"Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is absolutely necessary."

- Ray Knight

When your chosen path is motor racing, it is all the more necessary to be alert given that a split second’s distraction can cost you the race or your life. Twenty-eight-year-old Diana Pundole knows this simple truth all too well. As the accolades pour in, given her recent triumph at the MRF Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 held in Chennai recently, she remains concentrated on her tasks of the day having the trees and garden trimmed.

You can’t help being struck by how her quiet, unassuming persona is the very opposite of the flamboyant sport she represents. “It’s all about training, mental fortitude and staying calm. That’s what it takes to excel in a male-dominated sport—among other things,” she smiles.

How it all started

Diana was raised in a culturally rooted, proudly Parsi, yet forward thinking family. Her childhood was split between Mumbai and Pune. Her late dad Darius Buhariwalla, was a hotelier, while mom Jasmine Hoshang Rana, was a devoted wife, mother and ace driver. “Plenty of my childhood memories are of being driven around between classes—sports or piano—by mom,” she reminisces. “She was an amazing driver, smooth, confident and very relaxed at the wheel. When I was 17, she was the one who taught me. It’s such a myth that women can’t drive…at the end of the day, it’s all about social conditioning and practice. Not gender.”

The love of cars and driving was shared by Darius who loved nothing better than to watch the Forumla One Race every chance he got. “That was my first exposure to the sport—albeit from a distance,” says Diana.

Amidst all this, both Diana and her brother enjoyed interludes close to nature at their farms in Dahanu, Palghar, Maharashtra. “I am a nature lover. Gardening is like meditation for me. It makes me calm and happy,” she says.

But losing her beloved dad in 2017 was a body blow. “No one saw it coming. It was a shock to us all,” she says. The loss cut deep, because she relied so heavily on her father. “Whatever the problem, I always felt like he would take care of it all. To have that emotional security taken away was a shock. I went through a major sense of loss, and yes, identity crisis as well,” she expresses.

Marriage to businessman Hormuz Pundole, was followed by two kids, as well as an MA in English literature. Despite all this, Diana felt herself floundering and in search of her purpose. “Professionally I had yet to find what I was meant to do,” she says.

Along the way, Diana dabbled with the idea of teaching as a serious option—after all, she had taught in a pre-nursery in her teenager days.

It’s all about training, mental fortitude and staying calm. That’s what it takes to excel in a male-dominated sport—among other things

-Diana Pundole

But destiny had other plans for her. A chance dekko at an ad by JK tyres calling all female drivers across the country to participate in motor sports had her packing off to Coimbatore. Over 200 women showed up. Diana finished among the top six. “This was my first real exposure to the basics of driving, a detailed introduction to the various categories of sports cars, whether it’s a single-seater, saloon etc. We were walked through the stringent criteria of safety that the sport demands. Your car has to be ship-shape and well-maintained. There is an anti-inflammatory outfit to keep you safe, you are buckled in with a five point safety harness; the protocol has to be followed to a Tee. All of this was fascinating to me,” she says.

The top six women went onto compete as an all-women’s team at the JK Tyres National Racing Championships. “I knew at last that this is just what I was meant to do,” she says.

Over the next few months, Diana’s choices would be met with raised eyebrows and scepticism, even as some wondered aloud whether she was being, more so, since she has young kids. “There is this perception that racing is risky. It is, but fact is, there are far more road accidents than deaths on the track,” she says. Luckily for her, her husband and mom had her back. “That’s how I could make those regular trips down south to Chennai and Coimbatore, for that’s where the racing tracks are,” she says.

What it takes to ace the race

Racing is an expensive sport. Luckily, she was spotted in the races and found sponsorship. But that was only the beginning.

Given the male-dominated nature of the sport, she did face her share of bullying and heckling on the tracks. “Some of them would do what it took to ensure I got the ‘Did not Finish’ placard as the race result,” she smiles. “But I stayed focused. You see, there are only a few seeded female racers, and most happened to be second generation with a father in the sport. And here I was with no background in the sport, a rank outsider,” she says. “Nor did I have time to socialise at the parties or get togethers after the race, because I had to rush back home to the kids.

Practicing on the tracks interspersed with different races makes for a demanding schedule. Fitness is key.

“I have been a sportsperson from childhood,” she says. “Thanks to mom and dad, we played every sport possible, so getting into the fitness groove was not hard,” she adds.

Her daily workout includes core, glutes and neck strengthening exercises, besides exercises to strengthen the reflexes.

For calming and rejuvenating her mind, she relies on gardening, cooking and piano. “That really helps me unwind and de-stress,” she says.

Diana is a firm believer in giving back where she can. To that end, she also acts as a scribe for blind students whenever she’s asked to. “It is an enriching and satisfying experience to help out students who are pursuing their studies despite their challenges,” she says.

A simple philosophy keeps her going in life and on the racing track. “Stay fearless, focused and keep looking ahead,” she says.

It helps that her family members are her chief cheerleaders.

The making of a champ

So what does it take to win on the tracks ? “A combination of a lot of things,” she says. “To start with, you must have an ingrained love and passion for the sport; knowledge is essential, as are aggression and calmness in the right mix,” she says.

As it happened, her birthday was just two days before MRF’s National Racing Championships. “My only plans were to win. In my heart of my hearts, I just knew that I would do well,” she says.

That’s just what she did. It’s early days post her big win yet.

“People say, you are the first woman to win a motor car racing championship. Do you know what that means? I guess, I soon will,” she rounds off.