How Losing Makes a Winner – Yevan David

Credit to ©FOTOSPEEDY - GTSPORT

By Tahaan Jayewardene

It all started when a 6-year-old child got into a go-kart at the Bandaragama karting track in December 2013. Every year his family, living in Singapore at the time, would visit Sri Lanka. This holiday was different. His father took him to the karting track for fun, being passionate about cars and having been a racer in Sri Lanka himself.

“This time we tried go-karting in Bandaragama and it just so happened that it was [going to] change my life forever because I fell in love with driving,” said now 18-year-old Yevan David. 

12 years after that first drive, at just 18 years old, Yevan David will be the first Sri Lankan to race in Formula 3, having been confirmed for the 2026 FIA Formula 3 season. F3 is known as the proving ground for formula 1, the pinnacle of motor racing and the highest level any motor racer can hope to compete in. 

David has already become the first Sri Lankan to compete in the 2025 Euro Formula open, finishing second place in the overall championship, and taking home the Rookie Championship title. 

The first experience was clearly a life changing one. Although he did explain that he felt like any child would, having fun just turning the steering wheel. Him saying, “the wind blowing against your face and you’re going faster and faster every lap, and more importantly you can win and be faster than anyone else,” caught my attention, and his too. 

“I fell in love with that feeling.” 

Taking this new passion with him, young David and his family returned to Singapore. They bought a go-kart and he started practicing every weekend. 

The Turning Point

One of the biggest moments in David’s racing career was moving to Italy during the pandemic in 2021. He went from living with his parents, going to school as a normal kid, and racing on the weekends to living with his coach in Italy. “Because it was Covid, I didn’t see my parents for pretty much the whole year,” he adds. 

He recounts the lead up to this switch in his life, the months building up to the decision; “either we go all the way, and we do this full-time as a racing driver, or we choose a different path.” 
“I chose to go to Europe.” 

“It’s been five years now that I’ve been racing full-time in Europe and that moment changed everything. Because If I had not gone, there wouldn’t have been any karting achievements, any Formula 4 and especially [the] Euro Formula achievements. But here we are today,” he explains. 

“After the first year, I was so passionate and wanted to just keep going,” he said. It was no longer a question for him, whether he was going to continue through the second year. “So, it was a huge turning point for sure,” he added. 

Mental Stamina 

It’s only by having mental strength that one can build physical strength. People think you need to be physically strong for racing, David explains, but really your mental strength is essential. If your mentally strong enough to go to the gym and improve yourself, the physical side will follow. 

“[With] racing, you have to be so clear minded to just do a lap in qualifying, because you have to perfect every single corner and you get one lap to be the fastest.” You still have the whole race, but on the whole race as well, each lap, each corner, you need to be very precise and calculated for a long period of time, David explained. 

Being focused is a must but being tense because of that effort, can let even one slight mistake pull you out of rhythm. Instead, David clarifies, the key is to be fully, fully relaxed.

“You have to be free minded.” 

The interesting thing about racing, is the subconscious mind (the mind when it’s not thinking), is faster than when it is thinking. There is this flow state, described by other athletes as well, “where you don’t think of anything,” and just act/move/do. 

“Especially in racing, when your muscles and everything is less tense, you flow more, and the car gives you more feedback. Because you’re just relaxed. And then you perfect every lap. Every corner,” he said. 

Meditation 

A couple years ago, he recognised the feeling of being in ‘the zone’ but could never quite explain it. 

“I never understood it. I never knew how to switch it on. It just happened randomly sometimes.” 

In 2022, his mother and aunt (who were very much into Buddhism and meditation), recommended he try meditation for racing, seeing the potential benefits and how fitting it would be for a Sri Lankan athlete to use meditation toward their sport. 

Following this advice, he started with five minutes in the morning, focusing on breathing and clearing his thoughts, and trying to focus on one thing. Like any beginner, he’d get distracted, and it didn’t feel as though it were working. “But then I slowly started to understand what it was like to just relax and drive to the maximum.” 

“Things started clicking. I started to get better at meditation and at switching on the zone.” 

In the car when you’re so relaxed that you don’t have anything to think about, and you can just drive, that’s when your maximum capabilities come out, explains David. 

Taking the Losses 

Dealing with self-doubt and having the perseverance to keep going are the biggest challenges David has faced in his journey. 

“In any sport it’s very difficult to lose and everyone wants to win, everyone wants to succeed, and have that feeling.” 

To pick yourself up when you’ve had a bad race, or when something goes wrong, especially when it’s your fault (knowing you could have done better), is difficult, says David. “The way I see it, is you [pick] yourself back up and do everything you can within your control.” 

“But that’s definitely the hardest part, you know, taking the losses, taking the setbacks, and still being able to move forward.” 

Encouraging Youth 

“I think we need the exposure.” We have the work ethic and talent of young drivers in Sri Lanka, “but the cost and the budget that goes into racing is so difficult.” Any driver who can race in Sri Lanka would probably be okay but going abroad and racing in Europe is the challenge, he explains. 

Exposure to the global stage and saying to the world; we are a small island, the pearl of the Indian ocean and “we have drivers that are capable of reaching higher levels of European racing” is crucial. 

Good ways to increase exposure, would be giving young drivers sponsorship opportunities. For example, having shootouts where racing teams or organisations in Europe set up competitions with 20-30 Sri Lankan drivers. Therefore, “giving kids a chance to win [and] to prove who’s the best in go-karting, and then have the opportunity to be half funded or fully funded for the season,” he explains. 

“It’s definitely going to encourage kids to have the opportunity and encourage parents to be able to send their kids because there is a path to going to formula 1 without having to worry about the cost.” 

Whilst explaining that he’s still on the path himself, he said he wants to help create a better path, because of how difficult it is. Especially in Sri Lanka. 

“It’s my home and it’s my country. My country that has given me so much. So, I would want to give something back, especially to the young drivers who want an opportunity,” he explained.

12 years after that first drive, at just 18 years old, Yevan David will be the first Sri Lankan to race in Formula  3, having been confirmed for the 2026 FIA Formula 3 season

Sri Lanka’s Potential

From the time he started racing in 2014, he’s noticed how the sport has gained a huge audience around the world, especially in Sri Lanka. The increased interest in the sport, was more than David could have imagined. 

“If this can happen in a few years, I can only imagine what can happen within the next 5 to 10 years.” It’s been amazing to see how many people have entered motorsports and how many are passionate about it as well, he adds. 

When asked whether Sri Lanka has the potential to host an international racing championship, David said, “It’s already starting with a few Karting series in Bandaragama, but definitely within the next few years we can hold some bigger international events as well.”  

The international race that happened this year, the Asia Pacific Motorsports Games for example, was a one-off race, but there can be a championship held within the next few years in karting and maybe in other categories as well, explained David. 

“The passion is there so that’s what’s going to start it all.” 

He added that F1, F2 and F3 might be some years away, maybe 20/30 years down the line. “it’s definitely possible no matter how far it may seem.”

Racing is being promoted very well in Sri Lanka, especially in the last couple of years. He’s seen many local channels, and local papers publicise and promote he’s achievements. He also mentioned how the St. Thomas College karting team achieving third place in the endurance race in Dubai, was featured all over the news. He said it’s nice to see the local news promoting young drivers and young athletes in general. 

David expressed his thanks, saying he’s gotten a lot of publicity and opportunity from the promotion as well, adding that it’s a huge help and encouragement. Which has led to people supporting from Sri Lanka and worldwide, largely thanks to local media. 

Losing Makes the Winner 

Nobody who truly succeeds in anything of worth, ever claims to have won on the first attempt. Through every failure is a lesson worth ten times the value of a medal. That’s the beauty of failing, the power it holds over us, is the power we give it. 

The true winner is the one who frees themselves from failure. 

Credit to James Gasperotti