Ex-grand prix rider walks barefoot for six years to Pakistan to find God

Axel Pons is probably most-recognisable for his efforts in the Moto2 World Championship, but the Spaniard has recently emerged in a more unlikely location.

Pons — who raced 10 seasons of Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 2008–2017, scoring a best result of sixth in the 2016 Moto2 Italian Grand Prix — has shown up in Pakistan.

A video from the Pakistan Tourism YouTube channel, Pons is walking along a road and tells the people filming him that he’s been walking without shoes for six years.

Another video from the Wahaj Ali.B YouTube channel, he’s sat on a chair and first speaks to a child, then to the person filming him. When asked his name, he gives at first “Isa”, and then clarifies that his birth name was Axel.

“My story is very long, but I can tell you since I started walking three years ago that I decided to release all the weight and just get a backpack and walk,” he told the child.

“Around 15 months ago when I felt ready I decided to start walking east, towards the sun. This is what I’ve been doing this last year, and it’s been beautiful.”

Asked where he’s from, Pons responded: “I’m from Allah. But I was born in Barcelona, Spain.”

Pons said that the transition from racing motorcycles to his new life was made when he began to question the point of the racing lifestyle.

“At some point, I started to question what is the point of living such a fast life,” he said.

“I started going slower, slower, slower, until now where I’m walking around slowly, slowly, appreciating the details of life.”

On his on-foot journey from Spain to Asia, Pons added: “It’s nothing special, it came naturally. At some point, nothing else made more sense than to walk and to surrender all the weight that we were accumulating during our life, and just desire complete union with Allah, or with God.

“This is our way of practicing, by walking.”