Israeli GT3 racing driver Bar Baruch is on track to achieve his lifelong dream of racing in Formula One since being mentored on mind blowing techniques by compatriot Guy Rosenberg who is guiding professionals in sport and business to face extreme situations with consummate ease.
Baruch did not believe in the mythical science of meditation when Rosenberg reached out to him for the first time. “When Rosenberg’s secretary called my father, I said ‘I don’t believe in this bull shit’ but ‘let’s try because I have nothing to lose’,” recalled Baruch who began with simple breathing sessions.
“Immediately after five minutes, I felt blood in my head like I was completely focused. I felt there is something in this way. We did a lot of practice, all of them not belonging to cars. Sometimes we went for swimming meditation,” said Baruch, relating how the conditions in a GT car were simulated where it was 45 degrees in the desert. “We sat in the car with a lot of clothes. It was like 60 degrees inside the car and we did meditation.”
It completely changed his mindset especially during the last part of the race. “When you drive racing cars driving at very high speeds because you have to use the maximum potential of the car, we are not using air conditioning and are not allowed to open the window. We have to deal with the big heat inside the car. You have to manage with other competitors, think how to be first on the podium. Physically and mentally this is a traumatic situation,” he said.
Meditation has given him the advantage to control his mind during these extreme conditions.
“Now I do three hours (of meditation) before the race. I completely disconnect from everybody. I stop to speak with the team unless it is something about the car. I don’t touch my phone, don’t eat, do nothing, only meditation by sitting inside the racing track of the car in a place nobody can see me,” said Baruch who related an incident where a photo of him ‘sleeping’ was published on social media of him when he was actually meditating before a race.
In fact he went on to win this race which had the longest grid of 24 drivers in one of the most competitive races of his career.
“I’m looking like a zombie but completely focused. This (meditation) completely changed my driving. I can use my maximum potential. I feel it in every aspect of life. If I go to the gym, I can meditate to do the practice session much better,” said Baruch, who is passionate about motor racing, having begun go-karting at the age of 10.
He started driving cars when he was 15, being chosen as the fastest 11 drivers in the world from 400 candidates during a test for the Formula BMW Talent Cup Academy in 2013.
He graduated to driving in the F4 circuit and was chosen by Lamborghini to drive junior GT cars before moving to GT3 which is the top category of GT cars when he was 20.
His best season was in 2018 with Official Audi before the outbreak of Corona where he finished third overall in the Italian Grand Turismo Championship winning four races and getting four third places.
His most memorable race was the final race of the season in the Mujello circuit where he overtook three rivals to take first position and the title. This season he has already won two races and finished third in another race.
His two ambitions is to continue in GT3 and get top positions in races like the LeMans 24hrs and achieve his life goal to drive in F1.
“Not only to get to F1. It is also to win,” added Rosenberg who considers GT3 drivers more skilled than some F1 stars.
Baruch has added road cycling to his training regime spurred by an Israeli champion rider. “I feel my approach changing in every spectrum of life. Last month I taught my best friend who was smoking a lot to reduce through meditation by 30 or 40 per cent,” he said.
His role models are the late Brazilian F1 star Ayrton Senna and Austrian Niki Lauda. Interestingly, Baruch is obsessed with the mechanical side of cars like Malagamuwa. “My life is a big car combined. I like everything that belongs to cars,” said Baruch whose pastime is playing video games.
“There are a lot of similarities between Bar and Dilantha. Dilantha started as a mechanic and is a technical person. Bar is not a mechanic but can be a mechanic in no time,” said Rosenberg.
Baruch wants to return to Sri Lanka as a tourist next time to explore the natural beauty of the island enamoured by his maiden visit fitting into Rosenberg’s plans to boost tourism here.