Story
Hope - If I can, you can too....
My Story
My parents tell me that I was yet born and at 24 weeks into my mom's pregnancy, doctor's had informed them that they can legally let go of me even before my birth as I had a rare condition called clubfoot. My foot was turned inwards and doctors told them that even if I was born, I would not be normal.
There were 4 miscarriages before and hence my parents decided that they would not let go of this opportunity to get this special child into their life.
Voilà !! I was born.
I underwent my first surgery on both of my legs when I was 3.5 months old and was in plaster since I was 11 days old. My legs got better with 70% correction. I underwent a second surgery on both of my legs again when I was 4.5 years old. I was only able to crawl until the age of 4 years. I used to sleep with special shoes which were binding both my legs together so that the condition did not reoccur. While the correction from surgeries was maximum, I was only able to walk correctly when I was 5 years old.
My father tells me that I was always fascinated by cars and would pop my head out of the car window and could recognize cars by its logo at the age of 3. He didn't know that I would embark on a journey of my life by driving fast cars.
Love and support of parents is important and they didn't let me down. They wanted to provide the best for me and used to always try new things so that they could figure out my interests and encourage me to perform normally. The try started from there. I had stunted growth due to surgeries and they put me into swimming to strengthen my legs. While I liked swimming, I didn't choose it as my career. They then tried putting me into skating and I went on to represent under 9 state-level competitions. I fared well but doctors suggested against it as it was too taxing on my legs. They encouraged me to join basketball only to help me grow tall. All this helped me grow and today, I am 5 feet 8 inches tall.
Dad took me to a karting track at the age of 11 and wanted to check if I could drive a 4 stroke kart properly. The track manager informed him that my timings were at par with some of the best and suggested to put me into a professional driving program. I underwent my first professional training program at the age of 12.
My dad enrolled me into karting national championship with BPC Racing for the Rotax National Championship in the junior category and that was the start of my motorsports journey.
I participated in India National Go-Karting Championship in 2017 and finished 7th out of 18 drivers on the grid. Having seen that I was at par to the champions in terms of timings, my father decided to move me to FLGB 1300 F4 cars as age being a limiter in this sports
I was 14 and youngest on the grid on FLGB 1300 cars. I still remember my first outing at Coimbatore track, where I was informed that I was putting in times which were better than many first-timers who have become national champions. With that encouragement, my father suggested that I participate in two events of 2018. Participated in MRF FLGB1300 National Racing Championship and closed at 7th position out of 22 drivers. Also participated in JK Tyre Novice Cup in 2018 and finished 1st Runner Up with equal points to the Champion.
In 2019, participated in MRF FLGB1300 National Racing Championship. I became one of the youngest to have won the 1st Runner Up in the championship.
I won 2020 and 2021 MRF FLGB1300 National Racing Championship in a row and became the only one to have defended the championship successfully
in 2023, I became Vice Champion in FLGL F4 JK Tyre National Championship.
My journey has just started, it is not an easy one. While everyone loves to move to Formula 1, the path is filled with challenges. I would like to move up the ladder by proving and trying to gather the right sponsors who can help me to achieve my goals and ambitions. Track time for testing is very essential. Having driven in Indian tracks on Indian cars, I would love to extend my experiences in global cars and tracks to gain international exposure.
This is my life journey so far and my name is Tijil Rao. I look forward for support and encouragement from one and all.