Vadodara teen is first Indian female driver to cruise into Euro JK Series

Mira Erda started racing at the age of nine, with national karting. Now, the 17-year-old is all set to for the highly competitive Euro JK series

Mira Erda, a teenager from Vadodara, who has participated in around 75 races both at the national and the international level, has become the first Indian female driver to compete in the highly competitive Euro JK series.

Mira began her racing journey at the tender age of nine initially in national karting. Her father owns a racing track in Vadodara and Mira used to accompany him quite often. It was during one such event in Pune that she decided to try out karting. The young girl enjoyed it so much that she decided to make her mark in the field.

Within a short time span she took part in five rounds of karting during the 'JK Tyre National Rotax Max Championship 2010' held at Kolhapur, Hyderabad and Coimbatore, in which she performed very well. In time, she transitioned from karting to formula racing.

The Euro JK series is the premium category in the JK Tyre National Racing Championship. The category features the powerful FB02 cars, which are powered by a 1.2-litre BMW bike engines that can hit top speeds of 240 kmph. The series was earlier known as the JK Racing Asia Series.

Mira has already stormed into the male bastion that was formula racing, winning dozens of awards.

Interestingly, Mira has just completed her twelfth grade boards and is having a packed season as she plans to not only race in the National Championship but also in national rallies and international karting competitions.

Mira is hooked onto the smell of burnt tyres and the adrenalin rush of speeding through the race track. But other women in general are yet to make a foray into racing.

Mira had told Times of India, "Things are changing, albeit gradually. Some of these girls, who come to watch my races, ask me for professional tips. But not many take up professional racing."

For years Mira has been carrying her books to the racing track. Since her school has been extremely supportive of her racing career, she has managed to balance her academics with her racing career. However, she does feel she misses hanging out with girls of her age.

On the racing front, Mira will not be participating in karting anymore and henceforth she would be concentrating on Formula races.