INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Aditya finishes 2nd for 2nd podium: JK Asia Series

    Podium (L to R): Second placed Aditya Patel (IND), Race winner Aston Hare (RSA) and third placed Danial Hidzir (MAL) celebrate on the podium with the champagne. JK Racing Asia Series Round 12, Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida, New Delhi, India, 28 October 2012. © Buddh International Circuit

    New Delhi, 28 Oct 2012:  “It’s a great feeling being on the podium here in front of my home crowd and to do it again today feels just brilliant”, said India’s youngest racing sensation and JK Tyre prodigy Aditya Patel as he stole the limelight yet again by finishing a fantastic second in Round 12 of the JK Racing Asia Series today.

    Fellow Indian Akhil Khushlani impressed with his driving skills and finished seventh while Raj Bharath and Vishnu Prasad ended ninth and tenth respectively. Taken as a whole, it turned out to be a proud and outstanding weekend for India at the JK Racing Asia Series Round 12.

    Continuing to drive like a dream and in the lead for a major portion of the race, the young US Formula Project driver Aditya bettered yesterday’s third place end by finishing second after starting fourth on the grid. “It’s such a hard race because on the first lap I fought with Nabil and Afiq. I managed to get past Afiq on turn 5, something I did not do yesterday. I realised last night what my mistake was and tried correcting it and it worked today and I got past Afiq there”, he said.

    Championship leader Nabil Jeffri started on pole while yesterday’s race winner Afiq Ikhwan began in second position followed by South African Rookie Aston Hare.

    Aditya continued saying, “Afiq and Aston caught up with me in the slipstream and the race became a little bit tight. Fighting right through the race I ruined my tyres a bit early and I think after six laps I was sliding all over the place so it was really hard for me to keep Aston behind. Because we are teammates and the last thing teammates want to do is take each other off or something. It was the best I could do, I tried defending for a while but Aston was definitely quicker so no point really doing anything stupid so second is pretty good”.

    Aditya’s battle-filled Round 11 and 12 performances and twin podium finishes after being away from racing for one year prove that he is a talent to watch out for in the coming season. He is one who has what it takes to be one of the best junior drivers in the world. It may be recalled that the Chennai based youngster recently created history by becoming the first Indian driver to win the gruelling 24 hours of Nurburgring.

    Aston Hare cemented his Rookie Championship in style when he crossed the finish line first, ahead of Patel and Hidzir. Meritus.GP driver Afiq Ikhwan finished fourth after fighting hard despite losing power midway through the race while Nabil Jeffri, who led at the start of the race was given a drive through penalty for a false start infringement. He set the fastest time of the race with 1:59.479.

    “After the first lap I actually didn’t get a good start again, it’s just something that I need to work on. I dropped down to fifth and after that I had to work past Earl Bamber and Afiq at the time, it really wasn’t that easy to be honest, I really had to fight throughout the race. And when the race came to an end, I didn’t even know I was first, I thought I was second. So when Antonio told me I was first I was just so happy, you wouldn’t understand. Especially straight after coming off an injury, something I didn’t expect”, said Hare.

    “Before the race I had a long chat with my coach, Wesleigh Orr, and he told me, at the end of the long straight and into turn 3 just get the slipstream behind the other guy, can’t actually break much there, so push him a little to the inside and that actually played well into my hands.“I can’t wait to come back, definitely learning about the different cultures that’s here, it’s been quite an interesting experience” ended Hare.

    16-year old Danial Hidzir is known to be able to push the more experienced drivers whilst staying calm throughout. After he finished a respectable third, he said, “It was a good race, I really enjoyed it. My first podium at an F1 event, it is an amazing feeling. I would like to thank my father, Century, Tan Wei Ron’s father for bringing me here and the trophy would make a nice gift for my mother who just got engaged yesterday. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for her”.

    Though Hidzir did not have a great start, he stuck to his position during the race not wanting to be very adventurous. “I had an okay start, it wasn’t really good actually to be honest. I don’t know why, probably because yesterday my throttle cable got stuck and I was afraid that it would happen again. I just held on to my limiter a little ‘nicely’. Then at turn 3 I had a collision with Akhil, I managed to overtake him. After that, I was just fighting with Earl Bamber for three laps, it was a really long fight. He was good, he knows how to stay ahead but I managed to catch him at turn 5 and progressively push hard. Then I caught up to Afiq, and kept progressively pushing after and I almost finished P2 but there wasn’t enough laps”.

    Thanks to JK Tyre’s efforts, seven of the country’s young and most promising racers – Aditya Patel, Akhil Khushlani, Vishnu Prasad, Raj Bharath, Akhil Rabindra, Chetan Korada and Karminder Singh – got the opportunity to race in their home country in front of their home crowd. The series continues to cement its status as one of the world’s finest Junior driver development programs.

    All of the five circuits that the series visited in 2012 are Formula 1 circuits which are crucial to driver development in preparing them for higher levels of racing. The JK Racing Asia Series is recognised by the World Governing Body for Motorsport, the Federation Intenationale De L’Automobile (FIA), as having special status that allows for young inexperienced drivers to participate on a National License. The reason for this is that the Series provides them with an Education and Coaching programme that teaches them all aspects of what it takes to build a career in motorsport.

    The JK Racing Asia Series will return to India for Rounds 13 & 14 scheduled to be held from 30th November to 2nd December 2012.

    ends

  • Indian GP: FIA Sunday Press Conference

    Indian GP FIA final press conference on Sunday:

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)

    3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Martin Brundle)

    Sebastian, did you help design this race track or something? You seem so at home here, as  a driver and with your car.

    Sebastian VETTEL: I think it’s been an incredible two years for us, both times to come here and win the race, get the pole on Saturday and win the race on Sunday is fantastic. There’s always a very nice trophy so I’m very, very happy to pick up another nice one this year, so a very special grand prix. I don’t know what is it about this circuit but I really like the flow of it. Sector One is a bit slow with long straights but Sector Two and Three are really nice and I think we all enjoy it. Big thanks to the team, as I said on the radio, every single one is pushing very hard and I think there’s not one thing that stands out and makes the difference: not today’ not yesterday; not this weekend. I think it’s all of us working hand in hand together. If we’re here on the track or back in Milton Keynes, everyone is pushing hard and I think that’s what makes the difference. I’m very, very happy, I’m glad to be part of that and just enjoying the moment.

    You’ve led every race, every lap for three consecutive races now. The last man to do that was the great Ayrton Senna in 1989, you’re in great company and you’re clearly on great form.

    SV: Don’t say things like that! It’s very, very special. I think we all will remember Ayrton forever, not just because he was successful and he had these kinds of numbers speaking for him but he was a great person. So very, very happy.

    Fernando, do you ever, ever give up? You’re relentless.

    Fernando ALONSO. No, obviously, it’s not easy at the moment to fight with Red Bull but we will never give up. I think we are happy today, we have to congratulate them, they were fantastic this weekend so well done Red Bull, well done Sebastian – but yeah, we want to be happy and we want to enjoy Brazil, not only here so I’m sure we will do it.

    Bittersweet for you? You split the Red Bulls but you still lost points in the World Championship.

    FA: Yeah, we lost points but I think this was more or less the plan this weekend: we were not fast enough to compete against them, so we lost the minimum points, which is finishing second, so a s I said, better races will come.

    How fast was your car in a straight line. Take us down to Turn Four at the start, it was incredible.

    FA: Yeah, we were quite fast in a straight line but we are still missing a little bit of grip in the corners that hopefully will come in the next races. Today we have to thank the team for this fantastic straight-line speed that give us some good overtaking manoeuvres and some good action.

    Mark, you had to work hard to be up on this podium today.

    Mark WEBBER: Yes. First of all thanks to the crowd, they are fantastic today. I enjoyed the fight today; it was a difficult race, very difficult for me to get into a rhythm, we had a few issues we needed to manage on the car but fair play to the other guys it was a good, tough grand prix. Lewis and Fernando were very strong on the hard tyre and with our KERS it was very difficult. I was happy with how I drove and we’ll come back for Abu Dhabi.

    So when he breezed past you down the straight, you were missing your KERS at that time and just helpless? There’s nothing you could do?

    MW: Yes, that right. It was very difficult to defend there because you need the KERS to get you on that type of corner.

    Sebastian, we see some amazing names up here, champions including Fernando alongside you and you’re on there twice. Surely you must feel now that you’ve got one hand on that World Championship trophy for 2012.

    SV: The other one is probably Fernando and there are other ones as well. So I think if we speak about the World Championship, obviously this was another good step for us but still a long way to go and we have seen this year how quickly things can change. As I said earlier, it feels fantastic to be up here and have a race like that where everything works the way you want it to. Yeah, very, very proud, very, very happy and enjoying it. That was today. Now we are focusing on Abu Dhabi next week. There’s a lot more to come and we’ll try to take things step by step.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Sebastian well done, your fourth win in succession, which is amazing. And your thoughts on that.

    SV: As you said, it’s pretty amazing obviously. It’s very hard to target those kind of things. I think they either happen or they don’t happen. I think the secret, if there is any, is that we didn’t approach the first of those four races thinking we can win four. We focussed on the first one, then on the second one, then on the third one, then on the fourth one. So, really step by step. I think, as I said on the radio and earlier, I think the whole team is working together fantastically well. I don’t think there is one thing that stands out to make a difference. We can see that in every kind of area. We don’t have any problems on Friday, we get through our programme, we get more or less the answers we want, we are able to improve the car from Friday to Saturday with support here on the track but also in the factory. Guys helping us to improve the car. We get the most out of it in qualifying. We had a fantastic race today. Great pitstops as well, obviously those things are easy to forget and easy to remember when they go wrong but I think the pitstops were fantastic – at least the one I had. It takes a lot of discipline, focus in the right moment, to be there, to be sharp and I think we were in the moment. Not thinking about yesterday or last week or last race and not thinking about the end of the race or next week. So, really tried to focus on the moment, which I think is the best thing we can do to maximise the result today. As I said, I’m very happy, I enjoyed the race a lot. I think it was crucial to open a gap in the first stint to break the DRS early to Mark, who had a very good start I think, and it was quite close in Turn One. But I was able to brake a little bit late and have quite a good exit out of Turn Three, which was important for the remainder of the race, and then was able to open a gap, not just to Mark but also to the cars behind and obviously control the race from there. I think we were very competitive on the soft tyres; on the hard tyres I think McLarens and Ferrari were pretty competitive. Unfortunately Mark lost KERS but as I said, I think we were probably not as competitive on the primes as on the soft tyres but all in all a fantastic race. And again a fantastic trophy this year in India. Just very, very happy.

    A pretty amazing 33 laps on used soft tyres.

    SV: To be honest it’s difficult to know when you start the race how long you can go – but I think we felt after a couple of laps that the tyres were holding up reasonably well and then when you cross around 15/16 to 20 laps with still something in the tyres left, you obviously know it goes more to the direction of one stop. I think it was anyway always going to be one or two stops. On Friday the tyres seemed to last fairly well and again they did today. So yeah, it’s not always happening like that, sometimes we have a surprise on Sunday, so I think we prepared as much as we could but by that stage it was obviously clear to not split the 27 remaining laps in two bits: so to go with the prime stint and do the same as everyone else did. I think we all came the pits within five to ten laps.

    Were you actually being pushed in by Mark at the end there, back into the pits? Had you ran out of fuel?

    SV: Ah yes! I switched off the car. I was told to park the car under the podium but I didn’t know how far away it was. I didn’t remember that from last year. I think it’s the only big mistake that happened to us this weekend. But it didn’t really matter and Mark gave me a push. He’s quite popular for those sort of things. I think he gave Fernando a lift last year in Nürburgring when he had to stop on track. Yeah, gave me a little bit of a push to make it to Park Ferme to stop the car. Thank You.

    Fernando, as Martin was saying on the podium, we had a fairly good illustration of how good your DRS is on the straight. Two extraordinary overtaking manoeuvres, particularly at the start for example with the McLarens and then later with Mark.

    FA: The first lap we cannot use DRS anyway, it was just the slipstream and I was a nice run out of Turn Three and I could overtake both the McLarens. They were fighting but forgot I was there in Turn Four so they keep the fight by their own selves. We nearly touch each other but I was lucky to exit Turn Four without any damage and overtake one of them. Jenson was defending into Turn Six quite a lot so unfortunately we could overtake only one at the start. One after a few laps because I think we had a little bit more pace than Jenson and then with Mark it was a combination of KERS and DRS because I think Mark was running without KERS so that make a huge difference in terms of top speed and the overtaking was relatively easy.

    You must be pretty encouraged by this second place today. To be so close to Sebastian today.

    FA: Yes, I think it’s good news for us, seeing that we could fight Red Bull in the race. More or less we knew this. In qualifying we are not close enough to fight for pole position but in the race normally things improve for us. Today was another example but it was perfect for the strategy from the team: very good start, very good top speed and tyre management. Everything set up for the race, everything was fine and I push 120 per cent every lap so the combination was this second place.

    So when you look at Abu Dhabi, what are your hopes there?

    FA: I think we need to bring some new parts to Abu Dhabi, hopefully improve a little bit more then competitiveness of the car, try to be a little bit closer to Red Bulls on Saturday and hopefully on Sunday as well. Obviously three races remaining; championship is the main target so we need to recover some points and will be nice to finish in front of Sebastian in Abu Dhabi, whatever the position it is. And if we can win the race it will be even better – but for that we need to make a step forward. At the moment we are not able to win.

    Mark, a good start off the line.

    MW: It was good – just a shame it wasn’t a long Barcelona or Malaysia: it would have been a bit nicer but I had the run, obviously, but then the radius into Turn One on the inside… I mean we were together but it’s very, very tricky down in there and also I saw Fernando last year obviously if you brake on the limit it’s very easy to go a bit too far. So, Seb come across, which is fair enough and then I was worried about the other guys obviously having a very good exit on not just me but both of us. Turn Three: was very important to get to there in good shape. So, the start was good, exit at Turn Three wasn’t too bad. Obviously it’s tricky for all of use to get off there on the first lap. I got off there not too bad, got a little bit of a tow off Seb and then settled into the race from there.

    And then that first pitstop – you must have been longing to make that first pitstop and knowing you couldn’t – because you were losing time obviously just before the end of the stint.

    MW: No, I was pretty happy with where the stop is. It’s nice to go a little bit longer. We had to react to Fernando. We would have gone even longer. Obviously it wasn’t due to tyres, it was due to KERS that I started to lose the rhythm and the tempo: obviously when the KERS is coming on and off, we need to also screw around with the brake balance and lots of other things. The guys have got a huge amount of plate-spinning to try to feed that into the cockpit for me. The last thing you want in a one-stop strategy race is starting to have front locking. Because we need to do long, long stints. So obviously this is a pain in the arse and we had to manage it as best we can. The stop was really because of when Fernando pitted, so we had to react to that. Stop was alright and then the prime was a little bit more high-maintenance; a little bit trickier actually, I think for both Seb and I. I managed to break the DRS, managed to get away from Fernando. I then got myself together. KERS was there or there abouts, on and off, and then I caught… I mean the blue flags didn’t do nothing for the backmarkers, that’s the problem: the guys don’t know how much time they kill us in the fast corners. So, when you catch some of those guys in those corners, you lose a second and a half in one sector, or a second. Which happened twice. But, that’s the way it was. And those guys can’t do that when you’ve got guys… when you’re racing with Fernando, the three of us on the limit, Fernando’s going to be all over that stuff. So, it was back on again, and then when I had no KERS, I mean it’s not really a battle on the back straight. I went across to the inside but Fernando come past. They’ve got a very good top gear as well, big top speed. That was it. Then I pushed like… as strong as possible to get to the end of the race. So third, I’m pretty happy with how I drove, I think I drove a pretty good race but in the end it wasn’t enough. We could have got more points today for sure. Well done to Seb on the win.

    How much pressure from Lewis at the end?

    MW: Certainly needed to keep the focus and y’know, it’s so demoralising, that straight with no KERS. I think I was very lucky that Lewis made a mistake in Turn Three, I think on lap 57. I saw it in the mirrors, it was either 57 or 58. And that was important because I think he was starting to get a bit of momentum and I was very keen to keep him off the DRS as long as possible because once he got that I was toast. I think another two laps and he would have got me.

    When did you have the problem with KERS? When did you lose it first?

    MW: Around about lap 19, 20. Maybe a bit earlier. It was on and off and then completely off and then off. It was a moving target really.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Vinayak Pande – Hindustan Times) Fernando, yesterday you were quoted as saying that you were 100 percent certain that you will be this year’s World Champion. Do you still feel that way after this race?

    FA: Of course. We know that there were still 100 points yesterday and now 75 points (available). We are 13 behind. We know that we need to improve. We are not fast enough, especially on Saturdays, as I said, but hopefully we can improve the situation in Abu Dhabi or in USA. The races are long, and as we saw today with Mark, a KERS problem can happen to anyone, it can happen to Seb, it can happen to me and it can happen to all of us. Still many points on the table and I’m still very optimistic.

    Q: (Vinayak Pande – Hindustan Times) Of the three races that are left, is there any one in particular, do you think,  that will favour Ferrari?

    FA: I think Brazil will be quite good for us and hopefully it’s a happy Grand Prix.

    Q: (Sudhir Chandran – Chequered Flag) Now that you have been a part of two editions of the Indian Grand Prix, is there one unique feature about this track, destination or venue, which you find distinctly different from the others that you race at around the world, fans included?

    SV: I think every Grand Prix is special and has something special about it. Obviously it’s the second time that we’ve run here. So far, all the quotes from the drivers regarding this circuit have been very positive. It’s a lot of fun for us. It’s not so easy to manage the tyres in one lap for qualifying, but also over the race (distance) so it’s a big challenge and I think that’s what we like. There are some corners, like turn 15, where you always think that something went wrong and you will try and do it better next time. You get challenged to the limit which is obviously what we like. We don’t want to make mistakes but obviously we like those sort of places.

    On top of that, I think it’s an impressive country. Obviously last year I had a bit of time to have a look, and I think coming back is quite a big difference. Obviously, in here (the paddock) it’s something that we all know, the Formula One paddock but having a look at  Delhi or a little bit the life outside the circuit is very different to other places. I think there’s a couple of stations or a couple of stops on the calendar that are very impressive in that regard. India has a lot to offer. There are a lot of people here: 1.3 billion or more so quite incredible and just to see that, to see how people live here, to see the culture, I think is very very different.

    In life, I think a lot is always about expectations and in Europe expectations are very very high. Money plays a big role whereas here, I think, expectations are fairly low. Money is not that important. It doesn’t matter how old you are. I think it’s more important to have a healthy, happy life, to enjoy your life with your family, with your kids. Sometimes to compare the circumstances you live in, here in India compared to Europe – obviously I grew up in Germany – it’s black and white, it’s very different but it’s nice to see that the people are so happy, warm-hearted. I think it would definitely be nice to spend a little bit more time to travel around and get more of an idea. As I said, in here, everything is more or less the same. It will be the same next week when we go to Abu Dhabi, even though it’s a completely different place. As a country, this place has a lot to offer.

    MW: Good question and a good answer.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Moto und Sport) Sebastian, in the latter part of the race, the front end of your floor seemed to touch the ground. You could see sparks coming off it. Did it cost you time; it seemed to have repaired itself later on?

    SV: I noticed the problem. I think it was when I got the DRS of a backmarker, from Timo (Glock) actually, pretty close to the end of the race and obviously when you open DRS, you go much quicker down the straight and I saw some sparks. I think you’ve seen a couple of cars throwing out some sparks out of the back of the car this weekend. I don’t think it was really a problem. I didn’t feel anything regarding the balance (of the car). All the other laps it was no problem, but I saw it in the mirror, I saw Timo backing off and I think he was a bit afraid at the time. We obviously need to analyse what was the problem, but it didn’t cost us anything or slow us down.

    Q: (Shridhar Potdar – Sakal Media House) Sebastian, every time you make a point about the team members in the factory and those working behind the scenes. You seem to have a special bond with your pit crew which plays an important role in any driver’s success, whether he is a World Champion contender or not. Can you share what kind of relationship you have with your pit crew members and the main members of the team?

    SV: I think it’s the same for Mark and myself. Obviously we work very closely with the guys. I think we have 20 races a year, a couple of pre-season tests and obviously we spend a lot of time in the factory, we spend time here at the track, working with the members of the team, every single one: mechanics, engineers, all sorts of staff. Obviously you know who you’re talking to. If you’re new to the environment it takes a bit of time to get to know everyone and to get to know how everyone ticks. I think the special thing at the moment and the special thing at the beginning of the year at any stage is the atmosphere in the garage is fantastic, the guys are really incredible. I don’t know how they do it, they hardly sleep at night, only a couple of hours. They try to prepare the car as best as they can in order to give Mark and myself the best chance to have a solid race. Back in the factory, the people are pushing, obviously trying to improve the car. It’s obviously difficult to say thank you to each and every one because quite a lot of people work behind the scenes in our team, but everyone plays their role, it’s not a one man show. I think the result today or the result last week or whenever, the results in the last two years are not just thanks to me or thanks to Adrian (Newey), or thanks to any particular person in the team, I think it’s thanks to all of us. Everyone is pushing hard, there are lots of bright guys with good ideas. Obviously some guys are really important but all in all, that’s the spirit we share and it’s just nice to be a big part of it.

    Q: (L.P. Shahi – The Telegraph India) Sebastian, you say there is no one element that makes the difference. Are you under-estimating your own part in this?

    SV: No, that’s the way I see it. Obviously on a Sunday afternoon or a Saturday afternoon, whenever, in qualifying, in the race, when I’m out in the circuit in the car, then I know that there is a lot depending on me. If I get it wrong there’s no result, if I get it right it might be a good result. But I think there’s far more work behind that than just one lap in the race, or one lap in qualifying, one result in a year, in the season. That’s why I’m convinced of what I said and I think everyone is pushing very hard. Obviously it’s easier to measure if I make a mistake, I lose half a second in the last corner, it’s easy to say that instead of 1m 30.0s, I could have done 1m 29.5s but that’s why it’s difficult to measure the effort everyone brings in. The guys in the garage are working hard, preparing the car, preparing the pit stop etc. It’s obviously difficult to measure if you’re talking about performance or lap time, but then it becomes very easy to measure if you don’t finish the race, compared to a race where you do finish and you collect a lot of points. Sometimes it’s down to one guy who is obviously committed and does the right thing at the right moment, preventing a problem or sometimes his head is not right, he’s not fully committed then small mistakes add up to maybe a big mistake costing a certain result on a Sunday. I think that’s where it’s fair to say that we win together and we lose together.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, looking at the performance that you had during the race, and the result that you had at the end, second place, may we say that this was the best race of your season, or the best performance in the car?

    FA: I think it’s difficult to say, I don’t know, it’s difficult to chose. I’m really proud and happy of the Valencia performance, or Malaysia or some other races where we fight all the race through, Monza etc, but definitely this one was one of the best, I think, pushing from lap one to the last lap, not risking or taking more risks that in previous races with overtakings etc, so quite happy .

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Seb, there’s been all the stories on the internet about you and Ferrari. Could you set the record straight please: is there any arrangement, agreement, talk between you and your people and Ferrari?

    SV: This could be quite funny now, what I say… No, there’s nothing, nothing to tell you, nothing I’ve signed. Nothing has changed. It’s quite amusing. I don’t know where it came from but… I don’t read much, so it’s quite a surprise when you get to the circuit and get all these questions. Nothing to report. As I said, I can’t be  happier at the moment, I’m very happy with…

    Actually, there’s one thing I would like to say about this. As I said, there’s no reason to write anything or report anything but obviously, as I said earlier, you don’t know every single one in the team, and it’s hard to speak to every single one, so if there’s – sorry to say – some bullshit in the press, obviously there might be some concerns back in the factory, but I’m 100 percent behind them as I feel they’re 100 percent behind me and therefore I want to get this straight: there’s nothing to report and I’m very happy at Red Bull Racing.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, during the last ten laps when Fernando passed Mark, did you fear that Fernando would come back after you and may be successful?

    SV: You never feel too certain. Obviously it’s important, as I said earlier, I tried to open a gap to – you know – later on, and no matter what happened, to have a little bit of a cushion, to have time to react to be able to control the race in the end. Obviously I was told that Fernando got into P2, Mark had the problem, so I think, as Mark said, obviously with a completely smooth race he could stay ahead. As we also said, on the hard tyres, McLaren and Ferrari were quite competitive. I think I had the same gap when he started to be second as I had in the end, so I was able to keep the gap and control the race.

    Q: (Frank Schneider – Bild Zeitung) Question to Fernando and to Seb: Seb, first, is there anything you want from Fernando at the moment; and Fernando is there anything you want to have from Seb at the moment?

    SV: Could I…? Ah, no you have a cap. I was just about to say, his cap, but he hasn’t… Where did you get that from?

    FA: I can give it to you but… I didn’t understand the…

    SV: I think we are both happy with what we have.

    Ends

  • Karun, JRM finish 2nd (privateers) in Shanghai

    JRM's Karun Chandhok at Shanghai on Sunday 28 Oct 2012. Adrenna photo

    Shanghai, 28 Oct 2012: Indian racing driver Karun Chandhok’s JRM Racing has finished the final race of its first season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Six Hours of Shanghai, second in the privateers’ class and fifth overall, equalling the team’s best result of the season. The team achieved its second podium finish in a row, confirming the constant improvement shown throughout the year and finishing its first season in endurance racing third of the privateers’ LMP1 outfits.

    The #22 HPD ARX 03a driven by David Brabham, Karun Chandhok and Peter Dumbreck started the race from the Privateers’ pole and fourth overall, the team’s best starting position of the season. Karun got the race underway and was first in the #22, initially keeping in front of the Rebellion #12 and the Strakka cars. It was an intense battle that finally ended with Karun falling back into the clutches of both before stopping for the first pit-stop of the race, rejoining in sixth position overall.

    Two hours into the race the Strakka suffered a puncture and then required a replacement rear end, with Karun climbing back up to fifth. After a triple stint and 75 laps, the Indian handed over to Peter who immediately got up to speed, rejoining the race in fifth position overall and lapping at a very constant pace during his stints.

    During the final driver change the rear bodywork had to be changed, costing one minute and putting the team out of contention to fight for the win in the privateers’ class. However David still rejoined the race in fifth position overall and second in class, maintaining a close fight with the Rebellion #13. Even though he was experiencing problems with the steering wheel, he fought for second until, with 30 minutes to go, the Rebellion finally hunted David down. There was however drama on the penultimate lap when the leading Rebellion #12 stopped on track, allowing David to regain a position and cross the finish line in second position in class, only eight seconds behind the class winner.

    Karun Chandhok was thrilled to finish the season on a high with another podium. He said, “We started off reasonably well and the first couple of laps were okay but we realised early on that we were not quick enough when compared to the #12 Rebellion and the Strakka. I could hold the Strakka back initially as I had pretty good traction and straight line speed, but I got stuck behind a Porsche at the wrong moment and Jonny [Kane] got ahead of me. After that I just found a consistent pace and drove my own race. It was a bit lonely, with nobody behind, even though I did have a battle with Danny towards the end of my triple stint. But to finish on the podium again is a perfect way to end the season. We can be very proud of the way we have improved over the year and I have really enjoyed my first season in endurance racing.”

    Nigel Stepney, team manager and chief engineer, said, “We have progressed a lot during the whole season and it’s a testament to how far we have come that I am slightly disappointed we didn’t win! I We should have won this race but we know the reasons why we didn’t – we lost time changing the rear bodywork even though we did it without having to do an extra pit stop, and the problem with the gears didn’t allow us to be where we should have been. But the team has done an excellent job throughout the whole year, and with this first season of experience under our belt now we will see what we are capable next year”

    James Rumsey, team principal, commented, “It was a good day today, it’s always good to finish on the podium. I am sure that if we hadn’t had the problems we had during today’s race we would have won, so it’s a bit disappointing if I say the truth, but overall I am very satisfied with our first year in endurance racing. The team has done a fantastic job and has improved continually throughout the season. Our main task now is to use the winter effectively. We will improve the car and team’s performance and work on finding the funding for next season. I would like to congratulate Toyota on their incredible performance this year, and Audi on their World Championship win.“

    ends

  • Vettel takes vantage point for title shot: Indian GP

    New Delhi, 27 Oct 2012: Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel put himself at a vantage point to aim for a third straight win by taking pole in the 2012 Formula One AIRTEL Indian Grand Prix at Budh Internatinal Circuit at Greater Noida, about 40 kms from here. Red Bull Racing locked-out its third front row start in succession with Mark Webber taking P2. McLarens were on row 2 with Hamilton ahead as he warned that their better race pace on Sunday would potentially change the equation for world championship run, though its just an outside chance for race to championship.

    For Vettel it was pole number 35, and with Mark Webber alongside him on the front row, Red Bull made it the perfect Saturday. “It was a tight session, especially in the end,” said Vettel of Red Bull Racing’s third pole position in th ree races. “On my first run, I did a mistake in turn four and had to abort the lap, so we obviously decided to go for another run. I got the lap together and was very happy with the lap itself. Here and there potentially could have been a bit faster, especially around turn four because the second time I made sure I wasn’t locking up the fronts but all in all a great weekend so far, no problems with the car.”

    Webber, meanwhile, said he was happy to make the front row as he wasn’t expecting to be so highly placed. “I did my best, it was a pretty tight run thing between both Seb and I and then I didn’t get to do my last attempt,” he said. “I was surprised to end up second, to be honest, but I’ll take that and we can have a good race from there tomorrow.”

    After the phoney war of the first two parts of the session, which saw the pair cruise through comfortably, the battle heated up in the final top-10 shootout and both drivers found themselves pushing hard to establish dominance. First to err was Vettel, last year’s Indian GP winner suffering a lock-up at turn four, an error that left Webber in provisional pole position.

    Vettel was forced into making a second run but when he failed to improve in the opening two sectors of the lap, it looked as if his team-mate’s time of 1:25.283 would be good enough for P1. However, the defending champion delivered a big performance in the final sector to cross the line 0.044 ahead of Webber. The Australian tried to respond, but then came his difficulties with getting the tyres up to temperature behind the McLarens and he was forced to abandon the attempt and settle for second.

    Row two for tomorrow’s race will see Lewis Hamilton line up ahead of McLaren team-mate Button, while Seb’s main championship rival, Fernando Alonso, will start in fifth place, just ahead of Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa. Vettel, though, is taking nothing for granted and refused to accept that Alonso’s starting position was good news for his title bid.

    “You know the races these days,” he said. “You know a lot of things can happen so I don’t think [Alonso’s position] means a lot. Obviously, I’m very happy to be on pole; it’s the best possible position to start but there’s a hard race coming up tomorrow. I think we had a bit of a surprise on Friday in terms of long runs; everyone was quite competitive and tyres seemed to last reasonably well so we’ll see what that means for strategy tomorrow.”

    Alonso, meanwhile, admitted that Ferrari simply lacked the pace to take the fight to McLaren and Red Bull Racing and added that he will have to treat every lap of tomorrow’s race like a qualifying lap if he is to have any hope of victory. “We tried to get the most out of what we had but there was no way we could be ahead of the Red Bulls and the McLarens,” he said. “In the end fifth place is not so bad, because it would have been easy to end up even further back if anything had gone wrong.

    “Today it was impossible to fight [Red Bull],” he added. “When we had a similar car it was possible to fight with Vettel and we have even been ahead of them but now we are fighting against Newey and at the moment we cannot match him.”
    Behind the Ferraris, Kimi Raikkonen will start seventh, ahead of Sergio Perez, Pastor Maldonado and tenth-placed Nico Rosberg who did not set a time. The German’s team-mate Michael Schumacher endured another tough qualifying session however failing to make it through to Q3 for the 11th time this season. Afterwards the seven-time champion was at a loss to explain the lack of pace that leaves him 14th on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

    “I cannot really explain why, particularly when I compare the times to what I did this morning,” he said. “In practice, we were able to run similar lap times with much more fuel in the car but, for whatever reason, we were unable to get the tyres into the right working window and generate enough grip this afternoon. That means I am starting from quite an unpromising position tomorrow, but it also makes our tactics much simpler: we have to look forward and battle hard.”

    Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo was also left somewhat dissatisfied with how his afternoon turned out. The Australian had put in a big lap to escape the Q1 drop zone, though at the expense of team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne, but after finishing 12th in the opening segment, he couldn’t find a similarly good lap in the second session and will start 15th, three spots ahead of Vergne. “That was quite a good session for me and I was pretty happy with my laps,” he said. “However, my last run in Q2 was a bit scrappy. I had hoped to get a bit closer to Q3, but looking at our pace this morning, we did make a small step forward for qualifying.”

    ends

    Vettel strikes a pose after taking pole for the Indian GP on Saturday 27 oct 2012. Photo Red Bull content pool.

  • Aditya Patel on podium at BIC: JK Racing Asia Series

    Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of JK Tyre awarding Aditya Patel in Round 11 of the JK Racing Asia Series. JK Tyre photo

    New Delhi, 27 Oct 2012: India’s youngest racing sensation and JK Tyre prodigy Aditya Patel created history by finishing the Round 11 race of the JK Racing Asia Series with a fantastic podium finish at the Buddh International Circuit on Saturday. By finishing third, Patel has become the first Indian in the circuit’s two-year history to finish on the podium. Compatriot Akhil Khushlani put in a stellar performance to finish in fourth place according to a Zzebra press release.

    Afiq Ikhwan of Malaysia won the third straight title. The final race is on Sunday at 12 noon as a support race for the 2012 Formula One Airtel Indian GP.

    Armed with the glory of becoming the first Indian driver to win the gruelling 24 hours of Nurburgring in May, Patel has further cemented his position as one of the best junior drivers in the world through his results today. Having returned to single-seater racing after a gap of four years, the victory marks a phenomenal return for the young racing driver. Racing for US Formula Project, the driver put in a commendable performance in Round 2 of the Series at Paul Ricard, France and in Round 3 at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium to finish in the top ten, but missed out in Round 4 at Silverstone due to a rejected visa.

    Recounting the end of his race, Patel had a big smile at the clean battle where he got both Ikhwan and Jeffri at the hairpin on the last lap. Ikhwan then regained his lead at the next turn while Jeffri made a dive on the inside a few turns before the finish line. But being on the podium at his home race was wonderful for Patel “Obviously it’s a great feeling. I got into third place at the start and as the race went on, I gained a little and I lost a little. Then lap by lap I started chipping away at Nabil and Afiq. Then Nabil caught up to him with two laps to go and that’s when it got tight between the both of them.

    “It was a really really tight race. I was fighting for the lead with Afiq on the last lap and Nabil was also there and I think we were all over the place. At the end of the day, to finish on the podium was good but to know I could have won the race it doesn’t feel as great.

    “I know I have the pace to be with the leaders, it did take me a while at the straights to build up a rhythm and get faster and faster and faster, so I know what to do now and what not to do. It should be good” ended the US Formula Project driver.

    Representing championship-leading team Eurointernational, Akhil Khushlani ended the race in style with a fourth place finish. Fresh after his scintillating performance in Round 4 at Silverstone where he finished second, the 22-year-old racing driver from Hyderabad moved up from his eighth place start in today’s race to finish fourth. Khushlani raced in the series in 2009 when it was known as the Formula BMW, and has an impressive record of accomplishment with two podium finishes and top 5 finishes in over 12 races. He was a guest driver in the series last year during the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix and so is well versed with the track, which worked in his favour.

    There were great battles all the way down the grid. Akhil Khushlani who started the race in eighth had a few great battles to finish fourth. “The race was brilliant. I just kept my pace, drove sensibly and didn’t want to take risks. Eighth to fourth, I am quite happy with that and I hope tomorrow I can go for the podium”.

    Khushlani had to make some good manoeuvres and had good battles with Calvin Wong and Earl Bamber before making his moves on both Aston Hare and Rookie driver Aidan Wright on his way up. Hare was not too impressed with his own results saying “Again I didn’t get off the line properly but otherwise we were quick.

    It is worth a mention that both Patel and Khushlani have been a part of the JK Tyre motorsport program where they graduated from national karting and racing championships to Asian and European levels of racing.

    It was a moving moment for Afiq Ikhwan when he heard the Malaysian national anthem playing in the background for him after claiming first place. Ikhwan is on a winning streak after claiming both races in Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit at the last outing, and after a tough battle at the end, the win was worth it. The 21 year old crossed the line just ahead of compatriot Nabil Jeffri of Eurointernational after the duo and Indian Aditya Patel changed positions a few times at the closing stages of the race right through to the chequered flag. Patel finished the race in third and set the fastest time of the day with 1:50.803.

    Ikhwan made a quick announcement during the post race interview, saying “I’d like to dedicate this trophy to my mum for her 50th birthday”. He then continued to thank his team and sponsor Petronas for the race.

    “In the beginning I had a really good pace but the conditions of the car deteriorated after five laps and I don’t know why, we have to find out the problem. After lap 5 I saw Nabil closing the gap, he was coming really fast from third but I just did my job and continue doing what I do and kept defending my line right to the end of the race”.

    When asked what was his feeling hearing the Malaysian national anthem during a Formula 1 weekend, Ikhwan said “I’m really excited and really happy because its not easy to get a podium and we worked really hard for this weekend, so I really appreciate everything and would like to thank everyone in my team”.

    For Jeffri, the race win was not as important as the Championship points and although he was slightly disappointed he is looking forward to making amends tomorrow.

    “I started off a bit slow because I think I was a bit too relaxed at the start. I think I lost the race at the start because I didn’t push hard enough when compared to Afiq but then as the race progressed I pushed hard enough and managed to catch up to Afiq.

    “I did a few mistakes but my pace was there and I caught up to him until Patel came into the scene and was right behind me”. The trio battled into the last lap and Jeffri lost his second place to Patel before managing to reclaim his position at the end.

    “In the end it was a really good race, I had fun and most important are my points for the Championship and right now I am still leading, and I am very proud of that. I expected a win so for tomorrow I will come back stronger hopefully. I really want to win, I want to win in India and I want to win during Formula 1 to prove to the Formula 1 teams that I can win here too” ended Jeffri.

    Aidan – Wright did not have the best of starts and was playing catch up for most of the race. “From the start it was mainly trying to get back to where I started so I was trying to get back to fifth from eighth and I got to sixth so that was pretty good. Its good to know that we have the pace against people like Afiq who has been doing this for years so to be a Rookie here is really good.

    Round 12 of the JK Racing Asia Series will be held Sunday at 12 noon local time.

    ends

  • Hami confident of better race pace on Sunday

    New Delhi, 27 Oct 2012: Lewis Hamilton admitted after qualifying for the Indian Grand Prix that third place on the grid was the best he could do but that McLaren’s race pace should be equal to that of front-row starters Red Bull Racing on Sunday.

    Pole position winner Sebastian Vettel and second-placed team-mare Mark Webber were largely untouchable during the one-hour session but despite qualifying three tenths of a seconds adrift of Vettel, Hamilton afterward insisted he will be able to battle them in the race.

    “The team have done a great job this weekend in just trying to dial the setup in the car,” he said. “To have us on the second row… I mean we’re not quick enough to be ahead of these guys, but we can definitely challenge them in the race. I think our race pace was just as good as theirs through practice, so I’m excited about that.

    “I think Ferrari potentially have slightly faster pace overall. Over all of us maybe, but we don’t know what fuel they’re on,” he added. “Otherwise we’re all very similar. Hopefully, if we can get a good start and have a good fight with these guys in front, it’ll be a better race than the last one.”

    Hamilton will be joined on the second row by team-mate Jenson Button, who professed himself happy with fourth place on the grid.

    “Not too bad,” said Button. “We really struggled to get the tyres working on lap one so I went for a different strategy to most I think, I did a three-timed lap run, which really worked for me in Q2. However, in Q3 I didn’t have quite as good a balance as I had in Q2. I had a bit more understeer in the car. I guess the circuit gripped up. Not quite the perfect lap, but I’m pretty happy to be fourth, the second row.”

    Button concluded by backing up his team-mate’s assertion that McLaren’s race pace is as good as those around them.

    “We should be happy with what we’ve done today as a team,” he said. “We’re not far off the Red Bulls and we’re in front of the Ferraris. It couldn’t have got much better. I’m pretty happy with what we’ve done, we’ve just got to see what the car’s like tomorrow.”

    ends

    Hamilton's file picture of Friday in Indian GP at BIC. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 team photo

  • Kimi disappointed with P7, still high on motivation

    New Delhi, 27 Oct 2012: Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were left disappointed by qualifying for the Indian Grand Prix, with the seventh-placed Finn saying more was expected from the team’s E20 car.

    “We changed the car after this morning’s session and we were quite confident heading in to qualifying,” he said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t seem to have any grip this afternoon so it was much more difficult than we thought. I’m quite disappointed to be starting from seventh as I thought we had a much better car than that.”

    Grosjean, meanwhile, was even more disappointed after missing out on Q3 by less than two hundredths of a second.

    “I was expecting better so I’m a little disappointed,” said the Frenchman, who will start the race from 11th place. “However in terms of strategy, P11 has one advantage as you’re the first car that can choose the tyres it will start the race on and I have a couple of new sets in my pocket for tomorrow.

    Photo credit: Lotus F1 team.

    “I wish I could have got through into Q3 and lacking two hundredths of a second to make it there was frustrating,” he added. “On my second timed lap I was doing well, but for whatever reason the car snapped on me and I lost time. It was difficult to get everything right, but we’re looking strong to score some good points tomorrow.”

    Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane said: “It was a disappointing result. Romain reported poor overall grip in all corners, whereas Kimi had issues with the low speed corners – a nervous car on entry and poor traction on exit – which are typical comments made about a car which is lacking in all round grip.”

    Permane concluded that advancing from their grid positions could prove difficult.

    “We will do what we can in the race but we’ve seen very low tyre degradation and overtaking is difficult due to the circuit layout and DRS setup,” he said.

    Earlier on Thursday, Kimi answered a few questions about the Indian GP and the BIC track which is new to him.

    You gained another solid haul of points last time out; are you satisfied with the result in Korea?

    I think fifth was about where we should have been. There were a couple of times where we were in a position to make up some places and – for different reasons – were not able to, but even so we didn’t quite have the speed to match the Red Bulls and Ferraris. I was pretty much on my own at the end of the race but we had to keep pushing to maintain position and it wasn’t so easy. I wouldn’t say it was a fantastic race but at the end of the day we still picked up points for the championship so it wasn’t too bad.

    Just four races to go now; what can you hope to achieve before the end of the season?

    There’s no point setting targets; we just need to keep working as hard as we can to score strong points and see what happens from there. In terms of the championship, the gap to Sebastian [Vettel] is quite big now so it will be very difficult to catch him, but we’ll keep pushing all the way.

    How is your motivation as the goal of the Championship becomes harder to attain?

    We have to keep working hard and keep a high level of motivation. Personally I feel my own motivation is very high – like it has always been. I’m keen to get the best results I can. Of course, in 2007 the championship wasn’t decided until the last race so anything is possible. Let’s see what

    happens.

    What have you heard about India as a formula 1 destination?

    India is a brand new place for me. Like with Korea, I’ve never been to the country before which means I’ve never seen the circuit properly. I’m not like other drivers, so I haven’t driven the simulator to learn it, but all in all it’s not that much of a tricky situation. I like to go to different places and the challenge of driving a new circuit is always interesting. So far I’ve learnt tracks after a few laps in FP1 on Fridays. I didn’t have any problems learning the Yeongam circuit that way, and I don’t expect to have any issues here either. As for India, I have never visited the country before… I have certainly enjoyed Indian restaurants in almost every country I’ve been to though!

    Any special considerations for the weekend?

    We know this circuit is likely to be very dusty at the start of the weekend so that will make things interesting for the first practice sessions. We’ll have some new things on the car and it will be our

    second time with the new exhaust system so hopefully we can make more gains with our pace. India

    should also be pretty hot which should suit us. I’m looking forward to it.

    ends

  • Indian GP: Saturday FIA Press Meet

    New Delhi, 27 Oct 2012: World champion Sebastian Vettel set he pole once again and starts as a firm favourite to win the Indian GP on Sunday with the Red Bulls locking the front row but McLaren is raring to go keeping themselves at a striking distance with P3 and P4. Following drivers attended the FIA Saturday Press Conference:

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Sebastian, you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far: fastest in all three practice sessions and now on pole position: it couldn’t be a better start to your championship bid could it?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Ah, well, first of all it was a tight session. I think especially in the end. My first run, I did a mistake in Turn Four and had to abort the lap, so that was not as per plan. Before that obviously we had, yeah, quite a good qualifying session, so we decided to go obviously for another run and had only one set of tyres left. Fortunately I get the lap together and was very happy with the lap itself. Here and there potentially could have been a bit faster, especially around Turn Four because this time I made sure I’m not locking up the fronts but yeah, all in all, it was a great weekend so far, no problems with the car. I think the boys have been pushing extremely hard. We had lots of feedback from the factory as well which was very helpful from yesterday to today, so thanks as well to those guys there. We have to keep pushing obviously. I think we have a lot of races to go, important races, but the best chance of doing well is to focus on every single step. Today was qualifying. I think we got a very good result and now we look forward to the race.

    Obviously pole position last year and you won last year, as I say you’ve had an extraordinary weekend so far and you’re three places ahead of your main championship rival Fernando Alonso.

    SV: You know the races these days: you know that a lot of things can happen so I don’t think that means a lot. Obviously I’m very happy to be on pole; it’s the best possible position to start and I think if you ask those two [MW and LH] they would like to start in that position, so yeah, I’m very happy with that but there’s a hard race coming up tomorrow. I think we had a bit of a surprise on Friday in terms of long runs; everyone was quite competitive and tyres seemed to last reasonably well so we’ll see what that means for strategy tomorrow.

    Mark, fourth time you’ve been second on the grid so far this season. Could you have been on pole?

    Mark WEBBER: As Seb said, it wasn’t the smoothest session for him and I think also the same for me. The lap itself wasn’t too bad, last corner got onto the Astroturf a bit on the exit, so for sure didn’t have the cleanest run to the start/finish line so that was disappointing. But I’m driving the car. I did my best, it was close, as you say a pretty tight run thing between both Seb and I and then I didn’t get to do my last attempt. Obviously the McLarens doing very slow outlaps to get their tyres ready for the lap which is different to us and I had no grip in the first sector, so the build lap was… I didn’t get to do my second attempt, which would have been nice but anyway I was surprised to end up second, to be honest, but I’ll take that and we can have a good race from there tomorrow.

    Obviously a good one-two for Red Bull Racing.

    MW: Yeah, very good. As Seb touched on, I think the way the factory has helped us this weekend has been incredible. Milton Keynes has really been pushing hard, even though they’re not here they are with us in terms of work ethic and also for the team and the guys on the floor here. Obviously it’s not the easiest environment to work in, not in terms of temperature but in terms of other challenges and everyone’s getting through that pretty well. So far, so good, and today’s job’s done, tomorrow we’ll wake up with a new day.

    Lewis, only your second time third on the grid so far this season. Are you happy with that third?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, absolutely. The team have done a great job this weekend in just trying to dial the setup in the car. To have us on the second row, I mean we’re not quick enough to be ahead of these guys, but we can definitely challenge them in the race. I think our race pace was just as good as theirs through practice, so excited about that.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Sebastian, it was interesting to see the number of mistakes that have been made by all sorts of drivers, admittedly you had your own little error, up until then it seemed to be completely mistake free but it seems to be very difficult on that circuit.

    SV: First of all we started the weekend much better than last year, the circuit was in much better shape, I think they did a very good job in trying to clean the circuit so I think it was ready from practice one so that was very positive. Still around here there’s a lot of track improvements so in every session it just seems to get faster. Obviously when everyone puts on new tyres in qualifying then it gets even more quicker. Up to the point of Q3 we were very happy with the car and as you said had no mistakes. The first lap in Q3 wasn’t perfect: I locked my front right into Turn Four, I think I was just a bit too greedy under braking and it didn’t come back, so it didn’t stop locking and I went a bit straight, so I had to abort the lap because I’d lost too much time. And yeah, focus on the second attempt, which fortunately was fine. I was very happy, this time braking a bit too early for Turn Four but all in all it was a very good session for us, the car was fantastic. As we touched on earlier, the support we had from the factory, from Milton Keynes, was incredible, so big thank you to the guys there. I think we improved the car from yesterday. We had a couple of new bits, so seemed to be able to make another step forward so yeah, we have to keep pushing. Today is obviously a good result from us, first and second on the grid, one and two, but tomorrow is the main exercise with the race. I think the McLarens are very quick, went very quick in the long run yesterday, as well as the Ferraris. So, I think it will be a close race, also in terms of strategy it could be a surprise. We’ll see what happens.

    Pirelli have said there’s a possibility of someone running a one-stop strategy. Can you see that Mark, not necessarily for yourselves?

    MW: Well I don’t know how accurate they’ve been in the past but we can listen to them but we know come Sundays things can change, so we don’t get too wound-up with what Pirelli might say to be honest, because it’s changing on Sunday, even amongst all the teams. So we’re going to focus on what we think is the best on the day. Of course we take their advice but it’s not a bible. So, let’s see how the strategy goes. I think the car is working pretty well on Sunday conditions as well. Obviously today was a very, very strong performance from the whole team, to get the front row again for both of us was very good.

    Do you have a specific role in the championship now, would you say?

    MW: No. My job is the same as it always has been: push to the limit and get the most out of what I have.

    Lewis, you said you weren’t quite on the same pace as the Red Bulls but you must be pleased to be ahead of the Ferraris and third on the grid.

    LH: Third is a great position to start from so excited for tomorrow’s race, especially as our long-run pace seemed to be relatively good compared to the others. I think Ferrari potentially have slightly faster pace overall. Over all of us maybe but we don’t know what fuel they’re on. Otherwise we’re all very, very similar. Hopefully, if we can get a good start and have a good right with these guys in front, hopefully it’ll be a better race than the last one we did.

    The last couple of races have been quite difficult haven’t they?

    LH: Yes, I’m just looking forward to a race where we don’t have any issues and can just fight for position and try and get some good points.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to the Red Bull drivers: how do you explain such domination for the last three races? And how happy are you to have the two McLarens between you and Fernando?

    SV: I will start with the second question; tomorrow is the race, today was qualifying, no points are scored today. Surely it’s better to have him behind than in front. But I think we’ve seen a lot of different races this year; some races pretty boring, nothing happened; other races, pretty spectacular from the first to the last lap. I think tomorrow is going to be a long race, what sort of race we’re going to find out but that’s usually the exciting bit and that’s why we are looking forward to the race as well. As I said, I’m very happy to be in the position that we are in but that’s it. We go from there tomorrow.

    Q: And how do you explain the domination?

    MW: The drivers!

    SV:  Yeah.

    Q: (Sudhir Chandran – Chequered Flag, India) Sebastian, can we now safely call this your de facto home Grand Prix?

    SV: It’s a bit far away from my home country but I think I’ve liked this circuit from the first practice last year. Obviously last year was pretty special, to be the first winner here in India and to do it again this year is obviously the target. Let’s see what happens tomorrow, but as I said, I like the circuit, I think it suits our car as well, it’s pretty different in its characteristics, quite a slow sector to start with, with a long straight and then nice fast flowing corners towards the end of the lap. I think there are opportunities to overtake – hopefully we don’t have to seize them tomorrow. As I said, let’s see what happens.

    Q: (Shridhar Potdar – Sakal Media) Sebastian, in Japan, when you won the race, we saw you patting the car like a horse. It’s like a horse rider, after he finishes riding, he pats the back of the horse. This passion seems to be body and soul to you; is this passion the secret of your success?

    SV: First of all, the car is not a horse, so sometimes you might lose oil or fuel but I think the smell is nicer than what a horse drops! Obviously, you work together with your car. When we are out in qualifying on the circuit, in particular in qualifying or the race, we are obviously by ourselves. Sure we have contact with the team on the radio but it’s between you and your car… There is obviously a special relationship because when you’re out on track, you can’t come in and make a change whatsoever, it’s between you and the car. You’re very happy when you cross the line in a very good position after you’ve done a good race and say thanks to the car but also the car is what connects you to your crew. Obviously I’m working with the car on the track, the crew is working with the car in the garage. We all share a passion and obviously try to achieve a common goal. Maybe it’s just a nice gesture to say thanks.

    Q: (Marco dell’Innocenti – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Seb, to have two McLarens behind you tomorrow may not be too comfortable for you, but for Fernando, it could be more difficult. Is this an advantage for you, to have this cushion, this pillow?

    SV: If, could, would, should? We have to focus on the start tomorrow, focus on ourselves. We cannot influence what the others are doing. Fernando could have been a second quicker today than everyone and there’s nothing we could have done, apart from trying to mind our own business and trying to get the fastest lap we can, which I guess is everyone’s exercise in qualifying. It’s a long race tomorrow, a lot of things can happen and sure, if we are ahead, it’s better than being behind.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Moto und Sport) Lewis, it seems that corners five and six were the problem today. You had a nice slide there. I think Sebastian went off in the same place; is there anything in particular or special with that corner today?

    LH: No, not really. I think this track is incredibly challenging for all of us. The more and more we drive it, the more and more we realise that, and that’s what makes it a great circuit. Not everyone’s able to get the first lap… it takes a lot of focus and it takes a lot to get a whole perfect lap together. That’s a corner where you’re pulling a lot of yaw, a lot of G and putting a lot of load on the tyres and it’s very easy to… if you just touch the kerb or something like that you have an oversteer moment. You’re always trying to gain time through there because it’s quite an important part of the circuit, where you can gain time.

    Vettel addressing the Press at BIC after taking the pole for Indian GP on Saturday. Photo by Sutton Images copyright BIC

    Ends

  • Concorde Agreement should pave the way for stability: Monisha

    New Delhi, 26 Oct 2012: The following Team Representatives attended the FIA Friday Press Conference ahead of the Indian GP on Sunday: Eric BOULLIER (Lotus), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Caterham), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Stefano DOMENICALI (Ferrari).

    First a question to all of you: I believe you have had several occasions to discuss your team’s future in Formula One. How do you feel those discussions have gone with regard to your individual interests and concerns? Eric, would you start?

    Eric BOULLIER: Obviously, as you said in your question if you look at the personal interests there are always some concerns and issues, but I think we had positive and constructive meetings all together with Bernie and the FIA and even if we are still far let’s say from closing and signing any Concorde Agreement, even if I think it should not take long now, we, with a global vision for Formula One we all believe there are some positives.

    Monisha, your concerns?

    Monisha KALTENBORN: My concerns straight away! I agree with Eric that it was good that the teams were invited to this kind of meeting to get the status on the negotiations between the commercial rights holder and the FIA and what for us is important is that we come to a conclusion which is good for Formula One. We know that each team has its own position in Formula One – you have the bigger ones and the ones who are in the middle and further back – but we need to have something which is good for the sport, the stability of the sport.

    Cyril?

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: Pretty much the same thing here as Monisha. Obviously, it looks like the last corner of a long negotiation and as always there are last-minute adjustments and last-minute compromises. Not everyone can be equally happy but you just need to make sure that not everyone is particularly unsatisfied, which is certainly not our case. We’re making sure to protect our key interests, because obviously smaller teams are fragile and we need to make sure not to be unnecessarily exposed, so that’s what we are making sure of but we are on a good track.

    Martin.

    Martin WHITMARSH: I think in the short term we’ve all got our own self-interests, but in the longer terms we’ve all the same interests and I think that’s the sport is successful, that it’s buoyant, it’s exciting and that it’s also viable. As a few of the others have said in front of me I think you’ve got to recognize that there’s a lot of challenge for quite a lot of teams and it’s important for all of us to reach for compromise, find a way forward that’s going to make sure that we can sustain all those teams. The good thing is this isn’t the old era, which was I think very confrontational and probably good for the media but less good for the sport. I think people here are recognising that now is not the time to have wars, now’s he time to be constructive, where necessary compromise and find a way forward for the sport.

    Thanks. Christian?

    Christian HORNER: I think the guys have done a tremendous job of telling exactly what wasn’t discussed at the meeting, which is obviously confidential between the parties. So I’ll follow the party line and say, yes, it was a very constructive meeting and we’re getting close to a conclusion but I think that’s really all there is to say at the moment.

    Stefano.

    Stefano DOMENICALI: Well, the last thing I can say in this spirit is that it’s clear that there was something discussed between the teams and the relevant parties – the FIA President and Bernie Ecclestone, who represented the commercial rights holder. The thing is that at the end of the meeting it was the President of the FIA that left room for discussion for future points that the teams may suggest to improve what we are discussing. But I believe it is the right thing to say that here it’s important to speak about the division of the future of Formula One and I believe that we are starting from good grounds and we need to make sure that we finalise this as soon as possible.

    Okay, thank you. I’m sure there will be some more questions for all on that subject. Now, some individual questions to each of you. Eric, starting with you, if I may. Obviously you’ve done a fair amount of development over the last couple of races, but looking back at the whole season, have you exceeded expectations this year, given that you’ve also lost quite a few points as well? And looking forward, do you think you can make the top three or top four?

    EB: That was the target – to be top four this year. Top three would be the cherry on the top of the cake, but obviously it’s tough to fight with the guys in front of us. But I’m quite happy… I should say actually very, very happy with how the team developed and worked this year. Obviously, we had a tough 2011. A lot happened last year which was not in our favour but this year we clearly pushed back and brought back the momentum for us. The team at Enstone and at the track here did an amazing job and both drivers did contribute a lot to the success this year with so many podiums. But yes, we all want more. Obviously being in the fight for the third place is nice. It’s nice for the team. We obviously want to keep this momentum and keep pushing and take any opportunity. I think the session this afternoon, we had good pace on one lap and on high fuel, so I’m happy to be the headache of my colleagues.

    Monisha, definitely the first lady of Formula One, and of course you’ve recently stepped up to be team principal of the Sauber team. Here you are at your home grand prix. How proud are you of getting that far?

    MK: I think for oneself it’s a bit difficult to feel proud about that, I think that’s for others to say, because I was given this opportunity and I was very happy to take it up. Not much has actually changed for me because I was anyway doing more stuff, for sure. It’s just this little step to this title but now you really feel the entire responsibility on your shoulders.

    Cyril, a new appointment for you, what exactly is your role, what is the hierarchy now at Caterham F1?

    CA: My main role is CEO of the F1 team. As you know Caterham is a large group with many different activities, so my focus is definitely on the Formula One team. As you can imagine, there’s plenty to be done there. It’s a position taking care of the day-to-day business, reporting to the shareholders so anything about that but no more and even my experience in the automotive industry, in the Formula One with Renault, over the past seven years had some things that is quite normal as an evolution but a great opportunity. The only thing that maybe is particular is that this is Formula One and one of the shareholders remains the team principal.

    And is he the man you report to directly?

    CA: Obviously, the two shareholders and the rest of the Group.

    Looking at the championship Martin, you’re still there with a chance – it’s not over until it’s over. What are your feelings, what are the feelings within the team now as we tackle these last four races?

    MW: I think it’s really business as usual. We have four races and we have to try to do the best job we can. We come to every grand prix seeking to win and we’ll be doing nothing different in these last four races. It’s an incredibly competitive season as we’ve had ups and downs, I think we’ve underperformed in the last couple of grands prix so that gives you a bit of pain but it also gives you some determination to do something better in the last four races. So, I think it’s been an interesting season and there’s no reason to suppose it’s going to stop being one for a few races to come yet.

    What’s it going to be about, Christian and Stefano? Is it going to be about development of the cars? Is it going to be about the drivers themselves? Is it going to be about circuit suitability? Perhaps you can talk about your own feelings as we go into these last four races.

    CH: I think all of those factors are going to play an element. It’s going to be about getting the most out of the next four weekends; it’s going to be about being reliable; it’s going to be about being quick; it’s going to be about not making mistakes; optimising the package that you have throughout a grand prix weekend. It’s set to be a fascinating run-in to the championship over the next four races. I think we’re set for a real spectacle over the next four events. I’m sure it will go all the way down to the wire.

    Stefano?

    SD: I agree with Christian. For sure at the end of the day being pragmatic it’s important to do adding and summing up all of the points Christian was saying, not one point more than the other. So at the end of the day that is the situation that we have to face. And at the moment we are behind and we need to fight believing that it is possible because that’s the spirit I want to see within the team. And when I speak about the team I speak about everyone but I’m sure that is really what I feel walking around the garage and also in Maranello. We know that is a very tough job but that is part of the game. If you think where we were the first day of testing, and where we are now after a lot of months, I think that we need to be in one sense not happy but on the other hand very proud of what we did – because the first day when we shake down the car in Jerez was very worrying. So, I just recall my guys, to make sure we keep the momentum with the positive attitude up until the end and then we will see. If, in this case Sebastian – or another one, because as we always say, up to the moment where the classification is finished, we need to respect everyone – will win, they will deserve it, and we need to make sure that we will congratulation with them. But up to that moment we will make sure we will fight with every resource we have up until the end.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    (Sruthijith Kurupichankandy – The Economic Times) Question for the gentleman from Ferrari. Is it common for your team to use your car to make political statements – and if not, why did you decide to make an exception in India?

    SD: Well in that respect I understand what you are saying. There was a press release that was done two days ago, so if you want any clarification of that, our press office is absolutely very pleased to answer to your question. But y’know, if you look behind in the past we’ve done a lot of initiatives but y’know, there’s nothing that I want to into very specifically because it’s not really the place where I should do it.

    (Ajit Devadason – SIFY.com) Question to Monisha. Sauber have traditionally had a tendency to attract excellent talent, groom them and then pass them on to the big teams. Do you plan to change that?

    MK: Well passing them on was not really our strategy, it just happened.  So I wouldn’t really agree on that and say that we need to change anything on that. It’s true that historically we have been attracting young talent and it appears to be that we can provide them the right kind of platform that they can show their talent. Of course in the last case now we would have also liked to continue with Sergio but he’s going to fantastic team, one of the more successful teams in Formula One and for us it shows that we can still provide that kind of environment to a young driver to show his talent. And how we can change? Simply by ourselves being more competitive.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Christian, it’s an open secret that you’re in a slightly different position to the other teams when it comes to your stance on the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA). Could you explain to what extent that’s made your negotiating or bargaining position a bit more difficult when it comes to the general discussions, the entry, the costs, the potential tax, the new working group, all of that?

    CH: I think that they are two separate things. The resource restriction, the concept of the resource restriction was to – and still is to – reduce costs in Formula One, the costs to compete in Formula One, and that’s something that we’re not opposed to. We are fully in favour of costs being controlled in the sport, we just disagree with the mechanism, at the moment, how they are presented to control those costs and our concern is that different entities, different organisations are treated differently in what is proposed so far. It doesn’t include the engine, for example, so there’s freedom to spend, at the moment, on the engine, particularly the new power train in 2014. But I think that what has come out of the discussions recently – and with the formation of a new Concorde Agreement, it gives the opportunity to sit down with our colleagues and hopefully agree a strategy on what does work and what does control costs, for the larger teams as well as the smaller teams, for the future, that is sustainable, that includes all aspects of the operation of a Formula One team, because currently, as proposed, the RRA doesn’t deal with so many aspects, whether it be KERS, for example, whether it be exhausts, whether it be drivers, whether it be other aspects of spend and cost drivers in Formula One. So hopefully there will be that opportunity over the coming weeks and we remain committed to ensuring that there is a workable solution that’s transparent, that’s fair, that’s balanced for all the participants.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Do you feel isolated?

    CH: I don’t think we find ourselves isolated. We elected to leave FOTA just over 12 months ago so we haven’t sat in FOTA meetings. We attend all the technical working groups, we attend all the sporting working groups with the parties that matter, we’re present in all discussions.

    Q: (Daksh Panwar – The Indian Express) Stefano, the Indian government has criticised the decision to the put the flag (of the Italian navy) on the car. So given that that has created controversy, will you review it for Sunday’s race?

    SD: Honestly, as I said, I don’t think this is a matter for this press conference to discuss this subject, to be honest. And as I said, if you have any questions or doubt about it, we have our press office available to you.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Stefano, question about your car: Nick Tombazis said a few things before the weekend about the wind tunnel and updates not working as they are supposed to in the last couple of races. Are you confident on today’s evidence that you’ve got to the bottom of the problem there?

    SD: Well, it’s difficult to say. For sure, being a pragmatic guy, we need to make sure that with the little of what we expect, today we will analyse the data. It is difficult to see, for example, FP1; the track was changing every lap so we need to take that into the analysis that the engineers are going to do now but for sure, the elements that will make the difference really, up to now, up to the end, if we would like to bring new updates on the car, we need to make sure that they are delivering what we are expecting, saying without doing, but making sure that this will deliver the objective that theoretically we would like to bring and this is a fundamental element that also relates to the fact that we need to work very hard to make sure that the problems that we had this year, mainly at the beginning of the season, will not happen again at the beginning of next season, so it’s quite long work that we are doing at home to make sure that we will improve that situation.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Stefano, about the new elements on the car; what worked and what didn’t?

    SD: I don’t know! We will see when it counts. Today is too early to say. The people will have done a good job if the car has improved in performance relative to our main competitors. If that is not happening, of course that means we haven’t done a good job. But it’s too early to say.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Question for the back row, please: I understand you might not want to confirm any of your decisions regarding who you might have selected for your drivers for next year, but will you be confirming your line-ups before the end of the season or during the winter?

    EB: Before the end of the season.

    MK:  We as well.

    CA:  Same thing.

    Q: (Shreyas Sharma – Mail Today) To all of the teams; last year we saw that the tyre wear at the circuit was an issue. On the evidence of today do you think that has improved; whoever wants to answer that question?

    SD: I believe that last year…

    CH: Ladies first!

    SD: Ah sorry, for sure! Last year was a completely new track, for sure the asphalt was in its first year of life so I’m sure that this year the situation with the tyres if you compare to last year is different. And looking at the runs of today, it seems that the tyres are more stable than what we saw last year, but that is my feeling after the end of the first day of practice.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Monisha, Kamui was saying yesterday that he’s trying to find extra sponsorship and he’s busy working hard in Japan trying to find some backing. To what extent does his financial situation and backing influence the decision on whether he stays or not?

    MK: Regarding Kamui, we’ve always said that we know his strengths, his qualities as a driver and these kind of aspects have not played any role in it. If you look back, even when we took him up, also then people criticised us for that decision, and everyone knew that he doesn’t have any sponsorship package so nothing has changed on that.

    Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – ESPN Radio) So, Monisha, does the fact that he’s looking for a sponsor mean that he’s leaving Sauber?

    MK: I don’t know. I think you have to ask him that. We’ve not had any talk like that and, as I said, we are generally also looking at him, talking to him and I think we know him quite well by now, to know what we have if we keep him on.

    Q: (Ubaid Parkar – F1Pulse) Martin and Stefano, considering that there aren’t a lot of regulation changes next year, are you worried that Red Bull’s recent form means that you might be chasing Red Bull again next year?

    MW: The fact is that you go into every year with high expectations. I think everyone works hard to improve the car. Red Bull’s a very strong team, Ferrari’s a strong team, the three teams behind will all be competing next year so if you’re wise you go into every year worried about the eleven other competitors. You never know what they’re going to spring, you don’t know how good a job they’ve done. Sometimes you don’t know how bad a job you’ve done yourself, so that’s the exciting thing about Formula One. Everyone goes off the radar screen. We don’t get pace information for a period of time. We all work hard to develop a new car. As I say, during the winter you start to grow confident about what you’ve done but you’ve got to be mindful of the fact that there are eleven good teams working hard to beat you.

    SD: Well, on my side, with regard to next year, I would say that the situation could be more or less the same as this year. While everyone is trying to catch up the target that in terms of pure performance at the moment Red Bull have set, even in previous years, in my view, 2014 will be a re-set where there is a chance, where once again the field will be split into separate sections because it’s a totally new (set of) regulations, it’s a totally new power train, so I’m expecting that will be a year when we can see some incredible or interesting big surprises, or we can see the risk of having to field in one group because of this technical challenge that is huge. There’s not a lot of time, because of course all the teams will try to push hard in 2013 and then at a certain moment they will need to decide what to do for the year after and bear in mind that this year, I would say, most of the development that you can bring to the next year’s car, for 2014, you have to forget it and make sure that you have a good project that has to start from a white sheet of paper and you have no reference with the other competitors so it will be a big question whether… I’m sure that the first day of testing in 2014 will be quite a challenge and quite interesting for all of us.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Stefano, I heard your answer earlier regarding having the Italian flag on the car but are you not courting political controversy by displaying such an emblem, bearing in mind that the FIA’s statutes states no team or entity within Formula One is allowed to make political standpoint?

    SD: I think that if you look at what is written in the press conference (release) it is not really what you are saying. I think that you have to refer to that, to be honest, and look what is written exactly, and the reason why we put that on. There’s not any political intention or discussion in that. If you look at that, that’s really what is written.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) I have read it, and obviously you’re making a point regarding the two sailors that are in dispute with…

    SD: No, no, that’s not true.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) It’s on the website. I’ve read what’s on the website. You’re saying that it’s for the two sailors.

    SD: It’s not true, to be honest, what you’re saying.

    Q: (Dhruv Behl – Auto X) Just a generic question to the entire panel: what is India like in year two, compared to last year? So far, how has the weekend been?

    CH: I think it’s fantastic…

    MW: Ladies first.

    CH: No, absolutely, you’re quite right, Martin.

    MK: Go ahead, no go ahead. I could be slightly biased on that.

    CH: I do apologise. No, it’s fantastic to be back here. It’s a great track, it’s truly impressive what you’ve done here in India and I think that the race was tremendously well received last year. I think the circuit has a great blend of fast corners, slow corners, long straights, so it’s a pleasure to be back here and it’s great to see the evolution that’s happened during the last twelve months with what’s happened in and around the circuit.

    SD: Absolutely. I totally agree.

    MK: I fully agree with that. I think last year was really a fantastic event here and the FIA also awarded the promotor here with a special award for promotors at the end of the year. People were welcomed here with a lot of warmth. It’s difficult to really top that but to keep that and still get away with all the hiccups that we had in the first year is a great achievement.

    EB: Obviously I agree. I just say that when I arrived yesterday the first comment from my team was – as you will see – a lot of details and attention has been done to the track and it’s much much nicer and better. That’s really proved the commitment of the promotor and the country which is good.

    CA: Clearly some additional work has been done between the two years. Last year it was quite challenging work to be done, to deliver on time, which was the case, it was a good race, won by a Renault engine, so a good memory there. This year, we haven’t had much time to enjoy the country because we are in the middle of a battle to try and recover our tenth place. We would love to do that in India, obviously, it’s going to be challenging so if we could get a little bit of help from the weather, some rain, maybe that would help us in trying to get an abnormal race. Other than that, it’s great to be in a part of the world which is important for all the sponsors, all the car makers which are basically starting to appear here. It’s good to be here.

    MW: I think we’ve talked a lot about the facilities and I think the facilities are good and they’ve got better but I think the really important thing was that last year you really sensed that really crazy passion in its first year and it’s early days in this year’s race, but I think we want to retain that and build on it because clearly India’s a new and very important market for Formula One and looking ahead now, we’ve got to build upon the passion that we saw in its first year and make sure we don’t go flat, we don’t lose the interest, we’ve got to maintain that momentum. So the facilities are good but I think that this is such an important market for anyone, we’ve got to build on the passion we saw.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Stefano, considering the last three races, the gap of performance of Red Bull compared to your car and the others, how much chance do you have to close this gap and try to win this title?

    SD: In terms of closing the gap in performance, it’s difficult to say because our main competitors but also McLaren, they are always improving, so it’s difficult to say where we are relative to pace/performance but in terms of percentage with regard to the possibility of winning the championship, I think that, as we said before, there are too many elements that are on the table: strategy, race mistakes, problems that we still have – I would say – less than fifty percent because they are in front of us, but the race is full open.

    Ends

  • JK Racing Asia Series qualifiers today at BIC

    New Delhi, 26 Oct 2012: After completing its maiden European sojourn with races at legendary circuits like Paul Ricard Circuit, Circuit de Spa Francorchamps, Silverstone Circuit, the JK Racing Asia Series 2012 returns home for the penultimate round of the championship. Round 5 of the series will be held alongside the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) on October 27 and 28, 2012.

    The JK Racing Asia Series is a one of its kind championship in the ‘junior’ Formula class racing that provides young drivers an opportunity to race on some of the best tracks across the globe alongside top stars from the world of motor racing.

    JK Tyre has constantly promoted talent and given them the best available opportunity to excel. This season, JK Tyre created an opportunity for few Indian drivers to be a part of the much acclaimed series and represent India internationally. The season which began in Malaysia, 4 Indian drivers got the chance to be a part of the series. When the series moved to Europe, two strong contenders Akhil Khushlani and Aditya Patel were put on the grid to race alongside world class drivers. Now, when the series heads to its home turf, seven of India’s young and most promising racers get the opportunity to race in their home country in front of their home crowd. The seven Indian drivers on the grid are – Akhil Khushlani, the only Indian to finish second in the series at Silverstone, Aditya Patel, who was a guest driver at the Paul Ricard Circuit (France) and Circuit de Spa Francorchamps (Belgium), Vishnu Prasad, champion of the JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2011, National karting champions Raj Bharath & Karminder Singh, promising karting drivers Akhil Rabindra and Chetan Korada. While Akhil Khushlani & Aditya Patel will represent Team US Formula Project, Vishnu Prasad, Raj Bharath, Karminder Singh, Akhil Rabindra and Chetan Korada will be racing for the Indian team- Meco Racing at the Buddh International Circuit.

    “We always wanted to have our Indian racing champions race in our international series here in their home country and by creating an opportunity for seven Indian drivers, we have accomplished that. This was part of our initial plan when we acquired the series and we are very happy that we have accomplished that in the second year itself,” said Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Head- Motorsport, JK Tyre & Industries Limited.

    Leading this pack of drivers to carry the Indian tri-colour on the track will be India’s most promising motorsport talent Akhil Khushlani. Fresh after his scintillating performance in Round 4 at Silverstone where he finished second, ahead of the championship leader Nabil Jeffri, Khushlani would be keen to prove his mettle at home. Having raced in the series in 2009 when it was known as the Formula BMW, Khushlani has an impressive track record with two podium finishes and top 5 finishes in over 12 races. Akhil was a guest driver in the series last year during the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix and so is well versed with the track which will work in his favour. Eager to cement his position as one of the best racers in the country today and in a bid to fulfil his Formula One dreams, Khushlani is a strong contender for a podium finish and most certainly the driver to watch out for this weekend!

    Keeping Khushlani company on the track with Team US Formula Project will be JK Tyre prodigy Aditya Patel who will race for Team US Formula Project. This has been a comeback season for Patel, having returned to single-seater racing after a gap of four years. Patel put in a commendable performance in Round 2 at Paul Ricard, France and in Round 3 at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium to finish in the top ten, but missed out in Round 4 at Silverstone due to a rejected visa. The Chennai based Patel recently created history by becoming the first Indian driver to win the gruelling 24 hours of Nurburgring and with that under his belt, this will be Aditya’s first outing at the Buddh International Circuit where he is eager to race and prove a point.

    Completing the Indian contingent at the race will be Vishnu Prasad, Raj Bharath, Karminder Singh, Chetan Korada & Akhil Rabindra all of whom will represent Team Meco Racing, a team owned by Akbar Ebrahim & Armaan Ebrahim. While Bharath and Vishnu have an added advantage of knowing the track as both were part of the series in the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix held last year, it is going to be a challenge for Karminder, Chetan and Akhil. Prasad and Bharath participated in the opening round of the series this year. Vishnu Prasad, who won the JK Tyre VW Polo R Cup in 2011 and raced in the VW Scirocco Cup earlier this year, would be eager to showcase his skills which will give his career a much deserved impetus.

    It will be an opportunity of a lifetime for these youngsters to not only rub shoulders with the biggest names in the class but also to showcase their skills and prove their mettle on the racetrack infront of the world motorsports fraternity.

    The last four rounds of the series have witnessed some nail biting action between the drivers. The championship leader Nabil Jeffri, who missed the title last year by a mere seven points sits on top of the championship table with 164 points followed by South African Rookie driver Aston Hare in the second spot with 122 points and Ikhwan with 102 points in the third spot.

    The qualifying round will be held on Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 9:15 am (local time) with Race 1 (Round 11) at 3:30 pm the same day and Race 2 (Round 12) at 12:00 noon on Sunday, October 28, 2012.

    The JK Racing Asia Series is recognised by the World Governing Body for Motorsport, the Federation Intenationale De L’Automobile (FIA), as having special status that allows for young inexperienced drivers to participate on a National License. The reason for this is that the Series provides them with an Education and Coaching programme that teaches them all aspects of what it takes to build a career in motorsport.

    The JK Racing Asia Series uses the 140bhp FB02, which has an unrivalled track record for training future Champions and developing them for a success with graduates at the highest level of the sport such as Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastien Buemi in Formula 1, Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto in GP2, Jazeman Jaafar, Sebastian Saveedra and Carlos Sainz Jr in British F3, and many more. This coupled with the highest safety standards, makes the FB02 the most suitable machine for up and coming drivers to learn on.

    JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., the leading tyre manufacturer of India is the title partner for the JK Racing Asia Series. Organised by Motorsport Asia Ltd., the series is supported by Cody Maxx and official logistics partner, JAS Worldwide.

    ends

    Chetan Korada of India. A JK Tyre photo