Actor Ajith Kumar, who is currently turning heads in Europe with his achievements in motorsport, recently opened up about how his journey into racing began. In an interview with Mashable, the actor traced his passion for motorsport back to his early childhood in the 1970s.
Ajith shared that his first brush with racing came when he was just five or six years old. His father, P.S. Mani, worked in the pharmaceutical industry for a Mumbai-based company, where one of the managing directors—whom young Ajith fondly called “Vimal uncle”—used to race for Vijay Mallya’s team. This director had close ties with a tuner known as “Chewy uncle,” who was a prominent figure in the racing world at the time.
“This was my introduction to the world of motorsport,” Ajith recalled. “From there, everything began to take shape.”
The actor reminisced about his school days, particularly looking forward to the first two weeks of February each year. “We’d rush home from school, eat quickly, and head downstairs. The mechanics would involve us by handing over engine blocks or giving us tasks like scrubbing with petroleum brushes or carbon tape,” he said. “We would sit in parked cars and pretend we were drivers, mimicking gear shifts. That was the beginning for me. Even as a kid, I knew I wanted to become a race car driver someday.”
He also revealed an early fondness for two-wheelers, having learned to ride motorcycles at a very young age. Whether it was bikes or cars, the excitement of racing captivated him early on.
When asked about his racing idol, Ajith named legendary Formula One driver Ayrton Senna as the one he looks up to the most. Beyond acting, Ajith has made a significant mark in international motorsport. He is the founder of Ajith Kumar Racing, a professional racing team. His teammates include Mathieu Detry, Fabian Duffieux, and Cameron McLeod. The team’s technical and logistics support comes from Bas Koeten Racing.
The team has had a strong start in 2025, finishing third in the 991 category at the 24H Dubai endurance race. They also secured third place in the competitive 12H Mugello event in Italy. Most recently, they landed a second-place podium finish in the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup category at the Creventic Endurance Race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
