The Automotive Journey: Innovation, Failures, and Breakthroughs | Dr. Mohamed Fahed V P | TEDxCUSAT
Dr. Mohamed Fahed VP shares his journey in competitive off-road motorsport, detailing his participation in the Rain Forest Challenge (RFC) India. Despite physical limitations, mechanical failures, and lack of sponsorship, he and his team became the first Malayalam team to podium at RFC India, ultimately winning the diesel category championship through a strategy of completing every stage without a DNF.
Summary
Dr. Mohamed Fahed VP begins his talk with a personal backstory rooted in a deep passion for automobiles and motorsport, mentioning he learned to drive a jeep early on and that his love for the sport bordered on obsession. He describes how a Tata Motors advertisement featuring him as a driver brought him wider public recognition, which then motivated his team to push harder into the motorsport and off-road space.
He introduces the Rain Forest Challenge (RFC), explaining it is the third toughest race in the world after the Dakar Rally and King of the Hammers. RFC originated in Malaysia and runs across 16 countries, with India hosting its rounds in Goa for over 12 years. Fahed first attended RFC as a spectator in 2016-17, then as a team manager, before competing as a co-driver in 2018. He candidly admits he was physically unfit for the role — weighing around 100 kg at the time against an ideal of 80-90 kg — and struggled with endurance. During a critical winching stage, he blacked out, and his driver asked him to exit the vehicle, delivering a severe mental blow that almost ended his competitive career.
Rather than quitting, Fahed made a comeback. He sold his old jeep, bought a lighter second-hand vehicle, and began modifying it with technical upgrades including fiddle brakes, rear steer, and differential lockers. He competed at Bhoothathankettu in 2015 (where he lost), returned in 2019 with his upgraded jeep, won the event but was denied the trophy due to political disputes. He then won convincingly at a Kozhikode event — his first proper win — where no one could match his timing across two categories.
With growing experience, Fahed continued refining his vehicle. By 2020, a sponsor (identified as from Kerala) provided him a custom-built jeep. Despite the sponsor stepping back for nearly four years, Fahed and his team competed independently. In their first official RFC run, they finished as second runners-up — a historic achievement as no Malayalam team had podiumed before at RFC India.
For the 2023 edition, Fahed was approached by JSW, a major conglomerate entering motorsport. He joined their six-person team alongside Ujjwal from Arunachal Pradesh, described as one of India's most naturally gifted off-road drivers, and the legendary co-driver Chetan Changappa, considered possibly the best RFC co-driver globally. Against a formidable 11-person rival team, Fahed's team adopted a strategy focused on consistency — completing every single stage without a DNF (Did Not Finish). While competitors like Ujjwal's team had faster cars and superior co-drivers, they accumulated DNFs chasing speed, losing significant points. Fahed's team finished every stage, including a grueling 90-degree winching climb where they improvised with a misplaced anchor rope that caught on a rock and pulled them to the top. By Day 3, Fahed's team topped the standings. Despite Ujjwal pushing hard on Day 4 and gaining up to 4 minutes 10 seconds on individual stages, the accumulated DNF penalties on Ujjwal's side were insurmountable. Fahed's team became the first team in RFC India history to complete an entire event without a single DNF, ultimately winning the diesel category — a category that had only been won by a diesel vehicle once before in RFC India's history.
Fahed closes with a message of perseverance, noting that he was never celebrated locally — his neighbors and community often dismissed his pursuits — but that achieving something real in the face of doubt is what matters.
Key Insights
- Fahed argues that completing every stage without a DNF — rather than chasing fastest stage times — was the decisive strategy that won RFC India, noting his team was the first in RFC history to finish an entire event without a single DNF.
- Fahed claims that RFC India features the hardest terrain of any RFC event globally, stating that the Goan terrain is so punishing that vehicles cannot be preserved — they must be driven destructively, which inevitably causes mechanical failures and stage DNFs.
- After his driver asked him to exit the car during a winching stage at the 2018 RFC, Fahed describes receiving a severe mental blow that briefly made him consider quitting competition entirely, but he reversed that decision and treated it as his second start.
- Fahed explains that RFC's format is deliberately designed to prevent any team from dominating — the previous day's winner must open the toughest stage next, meaning being on top makes it harder to stay on top, as other teams benefit from watching the leader's line.
- Fahed states that diesel-engine vehicles had won RFC India only once in the event's history before his team's victory, establishing his win as a historically rare achievement for the diesel category.
Topics
Transcript
[0:03] think yout and we are hospital hospital in work hospital for the last 10 from my wife start hospital and all of my pass അത്രക്കും ഭ്രാന്തുള്ളതുകൊണ്ട് എന്റെ വാപ്പ എന്നെ ആദ്യം പഠിപ്പിക്കാൻ നോക്കി അങ്ങനെ ജീപ്പ് ഓടിക്കാൻ പഠിച്ചു വാസ് സ്റ്റാർട്ട് എന്തോ ഭാഗ്യത്തിന് ടാറ്റ കംവിദക [0:36] ഡ്രൈവർ ആബിക്കംദോ ആഡ് അങ്ങനെ ആ ആഡ് വന്ന പിന്നെയാണ് എന്താണ് ഞാൻന്ന് കുറെ പേര് സെർച്ച് ചെയ്തതും അങ്ങനെ എനിക്ക് ഫോളോവേഴ്സിന്റെ എണ്ണം കൂടിയതെല്ലാം ആൻഡ് ഇമീഡിയറ്ലി ആഫ്റ്റർ ദാറ്റ് ലൈക് എന്റെ ടീമിൽ കുറച്ചു പേരുണ്ട് അപ്പോ അവരെല്ലാവരും കൂടി പറഞ്ഞു ദിസ് ഈസ് റൈറ്റ് ടൈം ടു പിച് ഇൻ യു ഞാൻ ഒരുപാട് കാലം നിന്റെ പിന്നിൽ കഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുണ്ട് അപ്പ അപ്പോൊ ആളുകളുടെ ഇടയിലേക്ക് നിങ്ങൾ എന്താണന്നും നിങ്ങൾ ചെയ്യുന്ന കാര്യങ്ങൾ എന്താണെന്നും അറിയിക്കേണ്ട ടൈറ്റ് ടൈം ആണ്. ഇനി മുതൽ നമുക്ക് മോട്ടോ സ്പോട്ടിലും ഓട്ടോമോട്ടീവ് ഫീൽഡിലും പിടിച്ചു നിൽക്കാം [1:07] എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞിട്ട് എന്റെ ടീമിലെ എന്റെ ഫ്രണ്ട്…
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