One salient tradition that has shaped motor racing careers over the years is that of second generations of racing drivers – a true demonstration that \u201can apple doesn\u2019t fall too far from a tree\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With their apparently insatiable appetite for success, scions of racing dynasties continue to follow in their father\u2019s footsteps, hence transforming into even more formidable competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when all is said and done, being a second-generation driver has its own advantages and disadvantages, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked how hand-me-down knowledge plays out in shaping a driver\u2019s career, Lota Motorsports\u2019 tarmac speedster Javed Lota sounds quite febrile in his talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Javed is sublimely fast on tarmac, having chosen an alternative career path to his rallying dad. By and large, Javed is happy with the breakneck nature that tarmac racing presents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing second generation is more of an advantage as you get to learn a lot from the first generation, the driving skills, techniques you employ on your driving lines, personal preparations for events and so much more. With the team effort and a well prepared car, you are familiar with the weaknesses in the vehicle, you know where to target to become stronger and how to improve your timings on the stages,\u201d explains Javed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Javed, who plans to partake in both Tarmac and Autocross championships next season, candidly admits that the second-generation facet has its own challenges to fathom out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe pressure is immense because the first generation looks up to you, and they want the results, so you have to always try your best,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–Early Days–<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Javed kickstarted his motorsports career with go-karts and ventured into a bit of rallying before settling on tarmac events. He has been a part of Delta Motorsports asphalt events for over a year now and is already bubbling with confidence well in time for the 2025 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Javed started this asphalt journey in October 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy first event was in Naivasha in a Subaru N12. In 2024, I started racing fully and had a new car, a Subaru N14. So the whole of 2024 has gone well. Unfortunately, we had one breakdown, which cost us the championship title, so let\u2019s see how the 2025 season pans out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRallying is an expensive sport, and I needed somewhere I could settle in the long run, so I scrapped an acquaintance with Delta Motorsports, and the rest is history. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his very first full season of racing in 2024, Javed steered his Subaru N16 with considerable vigour. But the event that cost him the championship was a Whistling Moran event in Athi River where he suffered engine gremlins, much to his chagrin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn 2024 we did six rounds with Delta, we kickstarted our season in February at Whistling Morans, then went to WRC Naivasha Service Park for our second event, where we had a Gymkhana set up; which went very well came second. Then we went to Machakos People\u2019s Park, where we did the RX, and finished second again. In our last event, we went back to Machakos and came third overall,\u201d said Javed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Weighing up the dynamics of asphalt and gravel racing, Javed went on: \u201cGravel racing is exciting, yes, with lots of sideways, whilst tarmac is something akin to a precision drive, sharper driving that is. In gravel racing, you encounter enough spectacular obstacles like jumps, hairpin bends, and water slashes. I would say both forms of racing are equally fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–Racing Bug\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The motorsport bug for Javed came from his father Naushad Kara Lota, who is a multiple Coast Champion and a previous winner of the prestigious Johnny Hellier Memorial trophy for the best placed Coast driver in a Mombasa KNRC event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d say my love of racing actually predates my memories. It\u2019s been in the family. My dad has been a Coast Champion for many years, did lots of gravel rallying back in the day, it\u2019s more like a culture we\u2019ve grown up with in the family. I guess it\u2019s now my turn to shine,\u201d Javed said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–Second Generation Siblings–<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Javed (25) and his younger brother Zuhair (17) are the two members of the Lota family venturing into their dad\u2019s tracks. While Zuhair is into gravel rallying, Javed hopes to become the next tarmac racing champion in his N14 Subaru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Javed is currently studying International Business Management virtually at London\u2019s Hertfordshire University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is not aspiring to become an automotive specialist like his dad but explains the reason why: \u201cMy dad has always pushed me to be an automotive engineer, but I decided to pursue a different path. Being a race driver, I only have general knowledge of cars, meaning I have to be well-versed with intricacies of pressure, tire grip, tire wear and other things like fuel mixture; which is general knowledge, and very key for a race driver to comprehend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One salient tradition that has shaped motor racing careers over the years is that of second generations of racing drivers – a true demonstration that \u201can apple doesn\u2019t fall too far from a tree\u201d. With their apparently insatiable appetite for success, scions of racing dynasties continue to follow in their father\u2019s footsteps, hence transforming into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":16282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2353,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-other-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/McRae-Kimathi.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92Nno-bk5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}