Sweet success for Shivesh’s driver search quest

Amanzimtoti racing ace Shivesh Bissoon advanced to the top eight of the inaugural Volkswagen Motorsport driver search on Tuesday, 20 September.

The driver search took place at Tuks High Performance Centre and Gerotek vehicle testing facility in Pretoria.

Sixteen pre-selected contestants from a variety of motorsport backgrounds were put through a number of strenuous fitness tests and technical driving exercises over three days.

The winner of the programme will receive a works drive with Volkswagen Motorsport in the 2017 VW Polo cup championship, one of the premier race categories in South Africa and a substantial prize for any budding racing driver.

Shivesh, a 23-year-old biokineticist and coffee shop owner, has been competing in the Rotax karting series since 2010.

He initially raced in the single gear 125cc senior max category and then changed to the faster two speed DD2 gearbox class earlier this year, before stopping his karting programme in an effort to raise funding for a change to the Polo cup next season.

Prior to the driver search, he had yet to drive a full-sized vehicle in anger around a track.

“The biggest highlight for me, besides getting through to the next round, was to actually get behind the wheel and push a full-sized car to its limits. There are some similarities between karts and cars but probably even more differences,” said Shivesh.

“I was satisfied with my performances during the initial driving shoot-outs but I feel that I probably left a lot on the table, because it was my first go at something like this.

The competition is stiff and I’ll definitely have to up my game if I want to take this all the way.”

The drivers return to Gerotek at the end of October to commence with the second round of evaluations, where more difficult challenges await them.

Shivesh remains sanguine after passing the first hurdle. “It’s a sweet feeling to have made it through but I’m not thinking too much of what’s at stake. I’m just going to focus on the present and take each challenge as it comes.

Thanks to VW Motorsport, Motorsport SA and my folks for the opportunity to be a part of something like this.”