Horia Used to Work on Helicopters But Now Plans to Race a BMW i4 at Pikes Peak

Building a race team on your own is almost impossible for most people without corporate funding. But good things come to people who fight for them. Today's story revolves around a driver who started from the bottom and is now aiming for the clouds, the Race to the Clouds, to be more specific.

And it all seems rather fitting to know that 35-year-old Horia Platona has that objective in mind. Why is that, you may ask? Well, his former job had him working on helicopters. But he moved away from it to start Engage Racing and pursue his dream of going fast on land.

I couldn't stop thinking about racing

Horia attracted my attention last year while competing in the world's first electric Mini race car. Most people, even remotely into racing, don't approve of EVs today. And if you talk to an actual race driver, they're even more unwilling to let go of their precious internal combustion engines. But Horia saw potential in the Mini and won the national Super Rally championship, proving everyone wrong. I wanted to learn about his early days as an automotive enthusiast, and his answer did not disappoint.

"When I was four, Dad took me to my first rally event, and I couldn't stop thinking about racing since. He was a motocross motorcycle race engineer and lit the flame inside me. I only briefly rode on two wheels, although I have two bikes in my garage. I covered my room with posters of Ferraris and Subaru, as I loved F1 and the WRC. But ultimately, life guided me towards hillclimb and circuit racing." Although Horia's first car was a '93 Opel, he now drives a Toyota GT86. But I was curious about his early days of racing on four wheels.

At first, he took on the role of a rally copilot, as it was the only form of racing he could afford. But it was open-wheel racing that had a big impact on him. "I was part of my college's Formula Student team, and that's how I developed as an engineer. It was a student-only team; we had to build and race the car, develop the business plan, and so on. People wrongly assume these machines are simple go-karts, but they're not."

"Even Ross Brawn pointed out that only two innovative forms of motorsport remain: Formula 1 and Formula Student." Horia's switch to the electric Mini was also a bit of a shock, as he wasn't an EV believer before. He quickly figured out the areas where he needed to make some improvements, and it's now at a point where it can easily take on any Rally5 car on shorter distances. (due to heating issues).

The BMW i4 has great potential

Taking on a challenging event such as the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb isn't something anyone can do. You need to play things smart and be brave at the same time. And I was curious to know what triggered Horia's interest in the Race to the Clouds. "I knew I wanted to race there ever since I saw Ari Vatanen going up the mountain in the Peugeot 405 T16. The BMW i4 felt like our natural step: it has AWD and great potential! We wanted to build on something unique."

"We could have gone for a Tesla; buying parts off the shelf would have been easier. But we love a good challenge: it's the world's first i4 race car. There are 11 of us in the team, with eight engineers. We started from a blank sheet and sketched it out in July 2023, even before we bought the car. I tested it around the racetrack the day after it arrived at our garage. We already took everything out of it three days later, and it was on its way to Poland for the roll cage. The i4 started at 4,905 lbs (2,225 kg), and we hope we'll get it down to about 4,000 lbs (1,814 kg)."

"We will not likely finish work on the carbon fiber body kit for 2024, so that will have to wait until next year. Our main focus is on reliability under race conditions to unlock its full potential." Building a race car that no one has worked on before is more than challenging, but luckily, the team has already had several partnerships in motion since the Mini days. Drexler Automotive from Germany has developed two limited slip differentials, one for the front and one for the rear axle.

Of course, that's just a small part of the big picture, but I plan on going more in-depth next month as I visit Horia's garage for a sneak peek before the race. I could easily tell how passionate he was about the project and that he was also quite capable of making it all work. But I wanted to learn about the difficult parts of the process, too. "It's the budget. We need considerable financial support to finish the build if we're to make it to Colorado (which is almost 6,000 miles/9,656 km away)."

You have to be tough as nails to survive

"It takes about $250,000 to make this dream come true; everyone works on it without being paid." Horia already visited the track last year, and it was obvious to me that it had a big impact on him: "We stayed in Denver for two days and then drove straight up the mountain. Anya (his copilot) has been inside the car with me for many races before, and she doesn't get scared easily. I was driving a BMW 7 Series, and she felt uneasy even at 20 miles per hour around the hairpins. I could feel that all my senses were affected; my balance was off."

"Even if you take it slow, it still feels tough. At one point, I stopped on the side of the road to catch my breath, and the wind was blowing so hard that I couldn't believe what was happening. The conditions are tough; it's much steeper than you can tell by looking at pictures and very technical. You need to be at your best, as does your car." Practice makes perfect, but doing so at Pikes Peak isn't as easy as it would be around the racetrack. Luckily, we've got sim racing to thank for these days.

Rob Dahm will also be competing at the event this year, and I spotted him covering over 600 miles (965 km) in Assetto Corsa to learn the track. Naturally, Horia gave it a chance, too, despite not having much time on his hands with all the preparations. "I learned the track on the sim. I like driving there, but I rarely find the time. I play a lot of Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competizione, and the new WRC game, but it's all mostly for fun and reflexes. I chose Dirt Rally to practice on Pikes Peak, but you can't tell how bumpy the road is by just experiencing it in the real world."

If the i4 arrives in Colorado in time for the race, it's almost miraculous. But the team will fight until the last second to make it happen. While the goal of any driver is to win, you must be sensible and realize a first appearance at such an event is more of a test run for the future. "My first objective is to make it up the mountain safely and to have good race management. Of course, as a driver, I'd love to get from start to finish in less than 11 minutes. But that will be a priority starting in 2025."

"It is not a one-year project. We must watch out for battery temps and learn as much as possible for the next attempt." While the team is waiting for a Guinness World Records confirmation on the Mini, they're also working on a sound solution for the i4, which means it won't be as silent as you'd think. With any luck, their electric race car may even show up at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

As mentioned earlier, I'll dig up more information on the project at their garage. But I wanted to finish the story with some words of wisdom from Horia. I asked him for advice for a young person who would like to take up motorsports, and he noted: "It's the most beautiful thing you can do in life. But you have to be tough as nails to survive."