Having retired from an illustrious career in karting and single-seater racing, Rahul Raj Mayer is once again putting his helmet back on after an 8-year break. Rahul, 26, has been competing in the Super Sporting Class of the sixth season of the GR Vios Challenge one-make series this weekend and will race during the entire season.

With his long experience in motorsport, Rahul is in the Super Sporting Class for elite and professional drivers. In 2007, at the age of 11, he began karting and the following year finished 3rd in the Yamaha SL Cup (Junior) series. Two years later, he was 2nd in the Asian Karting Open Championship (Formula 125 Junior Open). In 2010, he finished 2nd for the Yamaha SL Cup (Senior) and 3rd for the Rotax Max Challenge Malaysia (Junior) series.

His increasing skills saw him race in Japan in the IAME X30 Championship where he came in 8th and was 3rd and 2nd respectively in the 2012 All Stars Karting Invitational (KF2) and Rotax Invitational Race (Rotax Senior) series.

That same year, he progressed into single seater racing, starting his career in the Formula Gulf 1000 (FG1000) Championship where after two wins, 10 podiums, a Pole Position and three fastest laps he ended the year 2nd in the Championship. He also spent two years competing in the UK’s BRDC Formula 4 Series.

2023 will be his first full season of racing since 2015 when he last raced in the NEC Formula Renault Monza series. “To be honest. there’s really not too great of a difference jumping from a single-seater into a saloon car as I have also driven several GT and GT3 cars. There are just two factors I am confronted with – the first is coming out of retirement after 8 years and the second is never having raced a front wheel drive car!” said Rahul who is today the owner of two businesses after deciding to no longer chase his Formula car dream in 2015.

“Basically, I just ran out of funding because pursuing a GP3 season would have cost in the region of RM5 million a season back then. Instead, I decided to go to university, then started working and here I am today,” he said.

“I have no clue how the comeback season is going to pan out. I could be on pace or off pace. Ideally,  the plan was to enter the Sporting Class but because of my racing licence and experience, I found myself being placed in the Super Sporting Class instead,” said Rahul. who will be competing as a privateer under Mango Racing with ‘2’ as his racing number.

“Mango Racing is essentially 1 driver, 1 mechanic and my team manager. We are a small privately-funded team with a minimal budget and therefore one of the priorities will also be to preserve the car for the entire season. I’ve had one test session in the Vios Challenge car. It is a tough car to drive. It has its own unique characteristics and no matter how experienced of a driver you may be, the Vios Challenge car is one that comes with its own driving style and I’ll have to find the correct way it wants to be driven. It’s certainly going to be a steep learning curve for me once the season gets underway,” he admitted.

The close racing action of the GR Vios Challenge is what attracted him to have a go. All the cars have similar engine outputs so it is all about driver skill. The similar power levels of the cars means that there is close racing, which also delights the spectators.

“I like the fun, the fact that you’re racing on a shorter track and everyone is just more dicey. The level of aggression on the track and having everyone push all out for a 30-minute race is so reminiscent of my Formula car racing days,” he recalled.

Managing two businesses and a racing team, Rahul also said that both will continue to become a priority. “I’m a bit pushy when it comes to both business and racing therefore I’m not expecting to pull back on one or the other. Every time the helmet comes on, you are somebody else and for me, the goal will be to succeed on both fronts,” he said.

This weekend’s round at the Sepang International Circuit is the first of 3 rounds for Season 6 of the GR Vios Challenge, with each round having 2 races. Some 40 drivers are competing in this year’s event and many will also take part in the other races on the TOYOTA GAZOO Malaysia Racing calendar. These are GR Vios Sprint Cup and GR Vios Enduro Cup, and all the events have big prize purses to be won.

Visit the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Malaysia website to find out more.