Omkar Rane on UMA Bootcamp 2025, global motorsport exposure, and how Indian talent is shaping careers in racing engineering.
Omkar Rane
Omkar Rane, Founder of United Motorsports Academy (UMA) and D&O Motorsports, reflects on the growing seriousness with which young Indians are approaching motorsport careers. Drawing from the overwhelming response to UMA Bootcamp 2025, which received over 1,000 enquiries, Rane discusses how motorsport in India is shifting from fascination to viable profession. He speaks about the importance of rigorous selection, real-world international exposure through partnerships like RGB Racing in Spain, and why mindset, adaptability, and systems thinking are now as critical as technical skill. Rane also outlines how initiatives like UMA Bootcamp are helping position India as a credible talent source in the global motorsport and automotive engineering ecosystem.
1. UMA Bootcamp 2025 received over 1,000 enquiries. What does this level of interest say about the aspiration for motorsport careers among young Indians today?
The scale of interest was both encouraging and revealing. Receiving over 1,000 enquiries told us that motorsport in India has moved beyond fascination into genuine career aspiration. What was particularly striking was that applicants weren’t just students fresh out of college they included school students, working professionals, and even Indians pursuing higher studies abroad. This tells us that young Indians today are far more globally aware and are actively seeking career paths that combine engineering, performance, and international exposure. Motorsport represents all of that. It’s no longer seen as a glamorous but inaccessible world; it’s being viewed as a serious, skill-driven profession where merit and capability matter.
2. The selection process for the final 30 was notably rigorous. Why was it important for UMA to go beyond traditional tests and focus on interviews and video submissions?
Motorsport doesn’t reward theoretical excellence alone it rewards clarity of thought, honesty, and the ability to act under pressure. Traditional written or online tests fail to capture those qualities, especially today when generic answers can be generated easily. We introduced video submissions because they reveal intent. When someone speaks about a project they’ve built, a simulator they’ve assembled, or a car they’ve worked on, you can immediately sense whether that experience is real. The questionnaire helped us establish baseline technical understanding, but the interviews with industry professionals were crucial in assessing communication, problem-solving approach, and mindset. This multi-stage process ensured that we selected candidates who were truly invested in motorsport, not just academically qualified.
3. How would you describe the diversity of the final cohort in terms of age, background, and experience and why is this diversity important for motorsport engineering?
The cohort reflects the real-world motorsport ecosystem. Participants range from 17 to 35 years old, coming from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune, as well as Indian students studying in the UK and Germany. Some are mechanical and automotive engineers with formal motorsport specialisations, while others come from non-engineering backgrounds but have pursued this field through self-learning and hands-on work. This diversity is incredibly important because motorsport engineering is inherently multidisciplinary. On a race weekend, problems don’t arrive neatly labelled-they require different perspectives, experiences, and ways of thinking. A diverse team often arrives at better, faster solutions.
4. What makes the training with RGB Racing in Spain fundamentally different from motorsport education available within India today?
The difference lies in immersion and accountability. In Spain, participants are embedded within a professional racing environment. They’re not learning concepts in isolation they’re applying them in real time, with real cars, real data, and real consequences. They experience the pace at which decisions are made, the pressure under which engineers operate, and the importance of precision and teamwork. This environment accelerates learning dramatically. It teaches discipline, responsibility, and the realities of international motorsport that are difficult to fully replicate within classroom-based or simulation-only setups.
5. Many participants are very young, while others are working professionals. How does UMA Bootcamp cater to such a wide spectrum of learners within a single programme?
Motorsport has a unique way of equalising everyone. At the track, age and titles don’t matter competence does. Our programme focuses on core principles that apply to everyone: understanding vehicle behaviour, interpreting telemetry, communicating clearly within a team, and responding effectively under pressure. Younger participants bring curiosity and adaptability, while working professionals bring structure and discipline. When these groups work together, learning becomes faster and more organic. This mirrors real motorsport teams, where experience levels vary but collaboration is essential.
6. The top five participants will earn global internships with RGB Racing. What qualities will ultimately differentiate those selected for these roles?
Technical knowledge is expected it’s the baseline. What differentiates candidates is how they behave when things don’t go according to plan. Motorsport is unpredictable. We look for individuals who remain calm under pressure, communicate clearly, and can translate data into actionable decisions quickly. Teamwork is critical. The selected interns will be those who demonstrate accountability, adaptability, and the ability to contribute constructively to a professional racing setup. Importantly, the final assessment happens only after the full training period, ensuring selections are based on observed performance, not assumptions.
7. How do initiatives like UMA Bootcamp contribute to strengthening India’s position in the global motorsport and automotive engineering ecosystem?
They build credibility at a global level. When Indian engineers are trained and tested under international conditions, global teams begin to see India as a serious source of specialised talent. This has implications beyond motorsport. Skills developed in racing data analysis, systems thinking, performance optimisation are directly transferable to automotive R&D, electric mobility, and advanced engineering roles. Initiatives like UMA Bootcamp help bridge the gap between India’s vast engineering base and the specialised skills global industries require.
8. What kind of mindset and skill set do you believe future motorsport engineers must develop to succeed internationally?
Future engineers must be comfortable operating at the intersection of hardware and data. Telemetry, simulation, and analytics are now central to racing. At the same time, mental resilience is crucial. Motorsport is intense and unforgiving, and engineers must be able to learn from mistakes quickly. Humility, adaptability, and continuous learning are essential traits. Those who succeed are not just technically strong they are emotionally steady and open to collaboration.
9. Looking beyond this edition, how do you see UMA Bootcamp evolving in the next few years, especially in terms of global partnerships and scale?
Our focus is on quality-led growth. We are exploring further collaborations with global organisations, including a potential partnership with a German company next year. However, expansion will be deliberate. The goal is not to scale numbers quickly, but to deepen credibility and create sustainable international pathways for Indian talent. Over time, we want UMA Bootcamp to be recognised as a trusted bridge between Indian engineers and global motorsport ecosystems.
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