INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Schumy back on podium after 6 years

    Valencia, 25 June 2012: A driver is as good as a car, might not be true always. But definitely the car influences the results and it is an accepted fact in Formula One, the pinnacle of motorsport. Seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher finished third in an incident filled race on Sunday but was called by the stewards. However, the Vodafone Mercedes McLaren driver kept his first podium finish since 2006, despite a post-race investigation into the possibility that he had not slowed down for yellow flags during the European Grand Prix in Valencia, adds an FIA release.

    The veteran racer had driven superbly from 12th on the grid to third and had hailed his best result since first in Shanghai in 2006 as a “deeply enjoyable” moment. However, the celebrations had to be put on hold as the Mercedes driver was summoned before the race stewards over a possible infringement.

    After meeting with the seven-time champion and Mercedes’ representatives, though, the stewards were satisfied that data from the car showed the German had slowed significantly in the instance in question and his third place stands.

    Schumacher only rose to the podium position in the latter stages of the race after he made a late stop on lap 41 for new soft tyres. Afterwards, as the leaders’ older prime tyres began to lose performance, Schumacher carved his way through the pack.

    And when Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado clashed two laps from home, Schumacher suddenly found himself third, though afterwards the Mercedes driver had no idea of his position.

    “I didn’t actually think about a podium at all at the end of the race,” he said. “It was crossing the line that I asked my guys ‘where did we finish?’ I saw [Mark] Webber’s pit board, and close to the end it showed him eighth and [then] seventh and I knew I was one place ahead of that. And then boys told me ‘that’s third, that’s podium’.

    “I can’t believe it! It’s something I didn’t really expect,” he added. “Being pretty heavily involved for most of the race in some kind of battling and then having Webber all the time on my tail and needing to fight forward but needing to pay attention to the back, that was very exciting. But that’s what I’m here for: to be excited and those guys got me excited, no doubt. And hearing finally the message P3 – yeah, that’s a sweet finish.”

    Schumacher admitted, too, that he result had only been made possible by a late-race strategy change.

    “We obviously had a late decision converting from a one-stop to a two-stop strategy, which meant we had good tyres towards the end of the race,” he said. “Other people either did a one or an early two-stop strategy and therefore struggled by the end because they had no tyres left.

    “All weekend, I predicted this to be a difficult one for us and it started to be difficult yesterday in qualifying, mainly because of my own mistakes and to recover from where we are, getting to third position is just awesome,” he concluded. “The team and myself have been criticised here and there, particularly lately, and this is the best way to answer criticism, to go back and deliver as we did today, and therefore I’m proud, thankful and very excited.”

    Team-mate Nico Rosberg also profited from the strategy and, remarkably, rose from 11th to sixth in the final two laps.

    “That was a really exciting race,” he said. “After the restart, I thought I would end up finishing out of the points, because I had the oldest tyres and therefore no grip, which made it very hard to defend. We had planned to try a one-stop strategy but had to convert to two stops, and thanks to the strategy guys, we were on fresh tyres when everybody else was struggling.

    “I was in P12 on lap 48 and P6 at the end, so it clearly worked and we are very happy with a good team result after such a chaotic race, with two cars in the top six. A great result for Michael with his podium and I am happy to score some more nice points.”

    ends

  • Sahara Force India looking to recapture form at Valencia

    Valencia, 19 June 2012: Sahara Force India looks forward to round eight of the season, the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
    Sahara Force India has come up with a track guide by Paul Di Resta. To view a video of Di Resta’s Valencia track guide, click on the following link: http://bit.ly/KYc1S9
    After a disappointing Canadian GP, team Principal Vijay Mallya said: “Looking back on Canada it’s fair to say that we have mixed emotions. We were disappointed with the overall outcome, but take the positives from knowing that we did have a quick car for most of the weekend. After a promising start to the race when Paul ran as high as fifth, everything dropped off and we underachieved. We have looked into the issues we had in the race and believe we understand why we lost out.”
    “I think Canada showed once again that Formula One is hard to predict at the moment. It’s seriously competitive with seven different winners in seven races, all of which is great for the sport – I would certainly go along with that. But while it’s hard to predict, we still need to lift our game, especially if we want to target fifth or sixth in the constructors’ championship. Yes, we’ve had one of our best starts to a season ever in terms of points scored, but the teams around us have also performed exceptionally well,” the  liquour baron continued.
    “The teams that we have been comparable with in the past few years like Sauber and Williams have been on the podium, and I’m sure our time will come, as long as we get things right. It’s something we need to do sooner rather than later because we are quickly approaching the midway point of the season. I hope we can recapture our form in Valencia, return to the points and demonstrate our potential,” concluded Mallya, who is also the Managing Director of Sahara Force India F1 team.
    Paul on Valencia
    Paul Di Resta looks ahead to his second European Grand Prix.
    Paul, tell us about the challenge of racing on the Valencia street circuit?
    It’s a mix between a street circuit and a normal track and it’s got a lot of corners to go with it – maybe the most corners of any circuit on the calendar. The track is very smooth but it’s tricky to get on top of the set-up and if you don’t find the sweet spot it can make quite a big difference to your laptime across such a long lap.
    Is it difficult to set the car up because of the variety of corners?
    The main challenge is to be strong in the low-speed chicanes and also through the high-speed end of the lap. There are some big braking zones too followed by big traction zones, so the degradation rate is quite high, which is why it’s hard to manage the rear tyres through the race.
    And what about Valencia as a venue?
    It’s a fun place to visit. The city has nice architecture, some great restaurants and we stay next to the beach so I sometimes go for a jog in the morning. City races usually provide a good atmosphere on race day and there are always lots of British fans who come along and show their support.
    Nico on Valencia
    Nico Hulkenberg reflects on Montreal and looks forward to racing in Valencia.
    What are your thoughts as you look back on the Canadian Grand Prix?
    I was disappointed with the weekend as a whole because things looked promising on Friday. I was unlucky during qualifying and I think that stopped us from getting a better result from the race. The important thing is that we understand the issues we had in the race and we can solve them. I think if we were to race there again today we would get a lot more from the race.
    Are you looking forward to racing in Valencia? What do you remember about your first race there in 2010?
    My race there in 2010 was not a particularly happy one. There was some bodywork burning away and I eventually had to retire. I’m looking forward to going back to Valencia because I like the track, even though we’ve seen how difficult it is to overtake there. The track has are a few special corners in the final sector of the lap and it’s enjoyable to drive. It’s also quite a long lap with 25 corners so it can be quite difficult to get a perfect lap together.
    ends

  • History made by Audi at Le Mans 2012

    Le Mans (France) 18 June 2012: Even as India celebrates with Karun Chandhok becoming the first Indian to take part in the historic endurance event, starting from pole position the nr1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro made Le Mans history by becoming the first hybrid car to win the 24 Heures du Mans.  Andre Lotterer took the chequered flag after 378 laps to retain the title he won with Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler last year and also secured maximum points for both the manufacturers and drivers titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

    For the record, 2,40,000 people travelled for the 80th edition of the world’s greatest endurance race and were treated to a classic race that was action packed from start to finish.  The main challenge to the nr1 Audi came from the second hybrid Audi driven by Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello but also from the two Toyota TS030 hybrids, which ran comfortably in the top three and led for some of the race. However a big accident destroyed the nr8 Toyota driven by Anthony Davidson and the second Toyota eventually retired with engine failure in the 11th hour.

    With the Toyotas out of the frame it was a straight fight between the four Audis but which Audi would be on the top step of the podium?  The nr3 Audi Ultra had problems when Romain Dumas went off at the first chicane and destroyed the front of the car.  The Frenchman managed to get the car back to the pit for repairs. Then Marc Gene did exactly the same thing at the same corner on Sunday morning and this effectively dropped them out of contention.

    The two hybrid Audis were evenly matched and the result was certainly not clear cut until McNish in the nr2 car went off at Porsche Curves and had to spend six minutes in the pits while the damaged parts were replaced.  However a safety car was deployed so he only lost 1 lap to the nr1 car. This was how the result looked at the end of 24 hours, with the nr4 Audi R18 Ultra in 3rd place, which isn’t entered for the FIA World Endurance Championship.

    The private team’s LMP1 battle was dominated by the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas with the nr12 Lola of Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani and Nick Heidfeld triumphing at the end of the grueling race and finishing 4th overall at the flag.  The nr 13 Rebellion Lola of Harold Primat, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Andrea Belicchi ran a close second to the sister car until a problem forced the car into the garage dropping it back to 3rd.  The nr22 JRM HPD-Honda was a distance 2nd and the Strakka Racing HPD came back out at the end after also spending a lot of time in the garage.

    The LMP2 class was won by the nr44 Starworks Motorsport HPD-Honda with Enzo Potolicchio and Ryan Dalziel adding a second class victory to the one they scored in Sebring and give the team a strong advantage in the LMP2 FIA Endurance Trophy. Tom Kimber-Smith, who replaced Stephane Sarrazin in the team for this race, scored his second Le Mans victory in consecutive seasons.   The nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca Nissan of Pierre Kaffer, Soheil Ayari and Luis Perez-Companc were the second WEC car in LMP2, while the nr 41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan scored a bumper 30 championship points for third for the British team.

    The LMGTE Pro category turned into a classic Ferrari versus Aston Martin battle with the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander holding off the challenge of the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari of Frederic Makowiecki, Jaime Melo and Dominik Farnbacher and the nr97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Adrian Fernandez.  The Luxury Racing Ferrari had a long pitstop towards the end of the race, dropping the car down two laps but still 1 lap ahead of the Aston Martin.

    The LMGTE Am class was equally close with the nr50 Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette of Pedro Lamy, Julien Canal and Patrick Bornhauser have a very close battle with the nr67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche.  This battle continued for a couple of hours before the Corvette got the upper hand.  The second WEC car in the LMGTE Am class to cross the line was the nr57 Krohn Racing Ferrari of Tracey Krohn, Niclas Jonsson and Michele Rugolo.

    The next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship is the 6 Hours of Silverstone on the 26th August before the championship heads to South America for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo three weeks later.

    RESULT – 17 JUNE 2012
    1 1 Audi Sport Team Joest Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer Audi R18 e-tron quattro 378 laps
    2 2 Audi Sport Team Joest Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 377 laps
    3 4 Audi Sport North America Bonanomi/Jarvis/Rockenfeller Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M 375 laps
    4 12 Rebellion Racing Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Lola B12/60 Coupe-Toyota LMP1 M 367 laps
    5 3 Audi Sport Team Joest Dumas/Duval/Gené Audi R18 Ultra LMP1 M 366 laps
    6 22 JRM Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck HPD ARX 03a-Honda LMP1 M 357 laps
    7 44 Starworks Motorsports Potolicchio/Dalziel/Kimber-Smith HPD ARX 03b-Honda LMP2 D 354 laps
    8 46 Thiriet By TDS Racing Beche/Thiriet/Tinseau Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 D 353 laps
    9 49 Pecom Racing Perez Companc/Ayari/Kaffer Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 D 352 laps
    10 26 Signatech Nissan Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov Oreca 03 -Nissan LMP2 D 351 laps

    17 51 AF Corse Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Pro M 336 laps
    18 59 Luxury Racing Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Pro M 333 laps
    19 97 Aston Martin Racing Fernandez/Mücke/Turner Aston Martin Vantage V8 LMGTE Pro M 332 laps
    20 50 Larbre Competition Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 LMGTE Am M 329 laps
    21 67 Imsa Performance Matmut Armindo/Narac/Pons Porsche 911 RSR (997) LMGTE Am M 328 laps

    CLICK HERE for full results from the 24 Heures du Mans

    DRIVER QUOTES
    Marcel Fässler (Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1):     “This was an incredible race. There were so many highs and low – especially for me. I had a great team. The mechanics gave everything after the accident to repair the car as quickly as possible. As always, my driver colleagues did a fantastic job too. For Audi, this is a great day. Clinching not just victory but a one-two result with the new technology of the e-tron quattro is a brilliant feat.”

    André Lotterer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1): “The new Audi R18 e-tron quattro is very strong and gave us a lot of confidence. It’s brilliant to have won yet again! That’s an incredibly nice feeling. It was a really strenuous race. A year ago, we were battling against Peugeot and this year against Toyota at the beginning of the race. Unfortunately, our rival retired. But we contested a very fierce race against car number ‘2’ in our team as well. Audi Sport allowed all of us to give everything. It was real racing, and in your own team that’s particularly interesting. Last year, we were running against Peugeot by ourselves after two major accidents. This year, the trust among the entire squad has grown even further. Competing with Audi continues to be very special.”

    Benoît Tréluyer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1): “It was a very tough race because traffic on track was particularly heavy this year. You had to be extremely careful not to leave the racing line while lapping as the track was extremely slippery there. There were a number of critical maneuvers. In the morning hours, we had a thrilling and fair duel with our ‘sister car.’ The duel between the two Audi R18 e-tron quattro impressively proved the potential of the hybrid car. I’m happy to be on the top spot of the podium again.”

    Dindo Capello (Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2): “Up until the accident it was a great race. When it happened we were in contention for victory. As we could see last year, you’ve got to take risks if you want to win. Without those risks, Audi wouldn’t have won at that time. That’s why we took risks this year too. The result is a bit disappointing for the whole team and especially for Allan (McNish). As a racer, I know how he’s feeling at the moment. Tom (Kristensen) and I know that something like that can happen to any driver anytime, especially when you’re battling for victory. Here at Le Mans, you can’t afford to give away even a tenth of a second anymore. Sometimes it works out and at others it doesn’t. For us, it didn’t work out this time. But next time we’ll have better luck again.”

    Tom Kristensen (Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2): “The race gave me a lot of pleasure because it offered everything. I particularly enjoyed the three stints at night. I was supposed to drive as fast as possible and complete twelve laps with each fuel tank filling. I managed this every time. Especially in the morning when we’d made up a lot of time and even taken the lead we were very confident. I’m sad that I wasn’t able to battle with André (Lotterer) for victory anymore on the final laps. But I’m even sadder about the fact that Dindo (Capello) didn’t win on his last run at Le Mans. He would have deserved it. We gave everything for that. ‘Well done’ to car number ‘1.’ They did a great job and deserve this success as well. Audi’s performance and reliability are impressive when you look at the challenges to be mastered in the race. At Le Mans, you’ve got to expect anything at any time.”

    Allan McNish (Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2): “I’m devastated. I’m sorry for our team: Dindo, Tom, the engineers and the mechanics. They did a perfect job throughout the race. Despite a few problems we were in contention for victory up to my accident. I caught a slower GT vehicle in the Porsche corners and expected the driver to stay on the right-hand side. But he didn’t. I haven’t got a clue why. I spun and crashed into the guard rail with the right front. That damaged the front bodywork and the suspension – the necessary repair cost us two laps. That was a very, very big disappointment.”

    Enzo Potolicchio, nr44 Starworks Motorsports HPD ARX 03b-Honda (1st LMP2): “This is an amazing result. We run in Grand Am, in United-States, that to me doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Last October, we decided to do something else while having dinner together and we ended up in the WEC. We won at Sebring and we now win at Le Mans. I’ve watched these two races on TV for so long and it’s a great feeling to win at these fabulous circuits.”

    Tom Kimber-Smith, nr44 Starworks Motorsports HPD ARX 03b-Honda (1st LMP2): “I would like to thank Enzo, Ryan and Peter Baron. We followed our plan. I won last year with a Zytek and I now win with a Honda. For me, a fast and winning car is just perfect. Any winning car is perfect.”

    Ryan Dalziel, nr44 Starworks Motorsports HPD ARX 03b-Honda (1st LMP2): “At Sebring we had a brand new car and we won.  At Spa, we had to do some work on the car but the Honda Performance Development chassis is perfect.  We haven’t got the pace of the Oreca chassis but we could do triple stints.  I think that was the key to our success.”

    “A clean car is generally the car which ends up in victory lane. Our car has got a couple of batters and bruises on it but HPD have built a really strong chassis.   We had a couple of small, strange things go wrong during the race – the ECU fell into the tub, for example, but they were small things and nothing that anyone could see from the outside.”

    Giancarlo Fisichella, nr51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia (1st LMGTE Pro):  “It’s been a fantastic race, amazing.  It didn’t start very well on Wednesday when I crashed the car.  Fortunately we changed the chassis and it was bad.  The mechanics did a fantastic job and build a new car in less than ten hours and it was great to get out in the last 20 minutes of qualifying on Thursday.  I have to say thank you very much to them, to AF Corse and Amato Ferrari because without them we couldn’t win this race.

    “I’ve won a few races in Formula One but this is a great victory and it’s very special.  Winning this race was my dream and it came true.  Thank you too to Gianmaria and Toni – they are professional drivers who did a fantastic job. All together we had a great season already last year and now this year.”

    Toni Vilander, nr51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia (1st LMGTE Pro): “As Giancarlo said we had some issues in practice but we never lost the faith.  We knew when the team put the new car together we’d have the speed.  Last year we were very close and came second in the end after leading by one lap with six hours to go.  This year we believed we could win from the beginning but it was a nerve-wracking last few hours as it feels like they’ll never end.  The team did a very special job in the preparation – taking 10 hours instead of two weeks – and then it was our job to finish it and we did it in the right way. I enjoyed the race a lot.  The start was interesting to see how a 24 hour race can be like a one hour sprint.  Drivers were going for positions from the green flag or start of the race and I’m happy with the weather.  I don’t really enjoy driving at night with the bad weather so overall it was a good Saturday and Sunday.”

    Gianmaria Bruni, nr51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia (1st LMGTE Pro): “Obviously it’s a great feeling, especially like Giancarlo and Toni have said, last year we were so close and we missed it.  This year we knew we could win the race, even when something happened like it did in free practice and we didn’t run at all with our car. We were a bit down, for sure, but we knew we were all together as a team and we could win.  We have a very good package.  To win this race means everything; it’s my second time but I hope to be up here more and more and still doing a good job.  I’m happy for Ferrari and the factory.  We’ve worked so hard from last year with testing and everything and it’s great we’re able to take this trophy back to Maranello.”

    RACE FACTS – HOUR BY HOUR

    HOUR 1
    End of the first hour at Le Mans. Andre Lotterer leads after starting on Pole from Allan MacNish in 2nd. The two Toyotas are 3rd and 4th with Alex Wutz ahead of Stephan Sarrazin. Nick Heidfeld is the top privateer. In LMP2 Olivier Pla is leading in 10th overall.

    In GTE Pro Stefan Mucke was leading in the nr97 Aston Martin before he came in for a pitstop, handing the lead to the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari of Toni Vilander. The nr81 AF Corse Ferrari of Matt Griffin is the current leader in GTE Am.

    HOUR 2
    End of the second hour and the nr1 Audi of Benoit Treluyer is leading from the nr2 Audi of Tom Kristensen. Problems encountered in this hour – nr99 Aston Martin into pits with intermittent traction control problems (Allan Simonsen). The nr71 AF Corse Ferrari (Olivier Beretta) span off into the gravel at Dunlop. The nr 29 Gulf Racing Lola Nissan hit the wall at MP129.

    LMP2 leader is still Olivier Pla in the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan-Judd. The top WEC car is LMGTE Pro is the nr97 Aston Martin (Darren Turner), 0.836s behind the nr74 Corvette who is leading the class.

    HOUR 3
    Third hour and the nr1 Audi is still in the lead with the nr7 Toyota of Nicolas Lapierre in second after the nr2 Audi pitted and was pushed into the garage with a problem. Nr8 Toyota (Buemi) is now 3rd. The two Rebellion Racing Lolas are leading the private teams with Neel Jani in the nr12 car in the lead.

    Olivier Pla continues to dominate the LMP2 class in the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan-Judd with teammate Bas Leinders in the nr35 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan second.

    The battle between Corvette and Aston Martin continues in LMGTE Pro with the nr74 Corvette of Tommy Milner ahead of the nr97 Aston Martin of Darren Turner. In LMGTE Am it is three Porsches covering the top three places with the top WEC car, the nr88 Team Felbermayr Porsche of Gianluca Roda, in 3rd place.

    HOUR 4
    At the end of the fourth hour the two Toyotas continue to run in the top 3 behind the nr1 Audi of Benoit Treluyer, who is just 10 seconds ahead of the nr8 Toyota TS030 of Sebastien Buemi.

    HOUR 5
    Safety car on track following a collision between the nr8 Toyota and nr81 Ferrari with both cars spinning off and hitting the barriers hard. Up to that point the nr1 Audi and nr7 Toyota had been fighting for the lead of the race. Oak Racing still hold top two places in LMP2. The nr51 AF Corse Ferrari is the top WEC car in LMGTE Pro, second behind the nr74 Corvette. The nr50 Larbre Competition Corvette is leading GTE Am.

    Also in the 5th hour, the nr3 Audi of Romain Dumas went straight on at the first chicane and hit the barriers, severly damaging the front of the car. Dumas got the car back to the pits and Audi made the repairs in quick time to get the car back on track in 23rd overall.

    Safety car period continues while repairs to the barriers are made.

    HOUR 6
    9 O’clock in Le Mans and it is an Audi 1-2-3 after the nr7 Toyota is pushed back into the garage with a problem. Marcel Fassler is 1m16s ahead of Dindo Capello. Nico Prost in the nr12 Rebellion is the top private LMP1 entry in 4th, 3 laps down.

    The nr24 Oak Racing Morgan is the leading WEC car in LMP2 but now 1 lap behind the nr48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca.

    In GTE Pro the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari is still the lead WEV car but is still behind the nr74 Corvette of Oliver Gavin.

    The nr50 Larbre Corvette of Pedro Lamy is the top GTE Am car.

    Toyota have issued statement regarding the condition of Anthony Davidson, the driver of the nr8 Toyota that crashed earlier. Anthony is reported as suffering from shock and backpain but is walking and talking OK.

    http://www.toyotahybridracing.com/toyota-racing-statement-anthony-davidson/
    HOUR 8
    11 O’clock and darkness has fallen at Le Mans, the sky is clear and there is little sign of rain. The nr7 Toyota remains in the garage after an abortive attempt to get back on track. The car stopped at the end of the pitlane before the line and the Toyota mechanics had to push the car back down the pitlane. The nr99 Aston Martin was also declared as abandoned in the pits and will take no further part in the race.

    The two Audi hybrids continue to lead with the nr1 Audi of Andre Lotterer completing 125 laps. The nr4 Audi is in 3rd ahead of the two Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas who continue to head the LMP1 privateers, three laps behind the leader.

    The top WEC LMP2 car is the nr24 Oak Racing, 2nd in class behind the nr48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca, but there nr35 sister car was reported as slow on track and had dropped down the order. This promoted the nr44 Starworks Motorsport HPD-Honda into 3rd in class and 9th overall.

    The GTE Pro class was still being led by the nr74 Corvette with the nr51 AF Corse of Gianmaria Bruni in 2nd. The leading WEC car in LMGTE Am is still the nr50 Larbre Competition Corvette of Patrick Bornhauser.

    HOUR 9
    Midnight and the top 3 are still the same with the nr1 Audi (Andre Lotterer) completing 139 laps, 1 lap more than the nr2 Audi of Allan McNish in second. The best of the rest in LMP1 is still the nr12 Rebellion Lola of Nick Heidfeld in 4th, with the sister car of Andrea Belicchi in 5th. The nr21 Strakka Racing HPD-Honda had a drive stop-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. The nr7 Toyota eventually got back on track with Kazuki Nakajima coming out of the pitlane in 47th place and 29 lap behind the leader.

    No change in either LMGTE classes and the best WEC car in the Pro class continues to the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari of Jimmy Bruni in 27th overall. The nr50 Larbre Competition Corvette of Patrick Bornhauser is 34th overall and the leading WEC car in the GTE Am class ahead of the nr57 Krohn Racing Ferrari with team owner Tracey Krohn at the wheel.

    HOUR 10
    1am and 10 hours into the race and the Audis are still 1-2-3 with the two R18 e-trons out front. The big news this hour is the nr35 Oak Racing Morgan-Judd and the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan both had long stops and finished the hour in 32nd and 29th overall respectively. The LMP2 lead is now held by Sebring class winners Starworks Motorsport with Ryan Dalziel 49 seconds ahead of the nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca of Pierre Kaffer.

    The nr74 Corvette is leading GTE Pro with Jimmy Bruni in the nr51 Ferrari in 2nd ahead of the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari in 3rd. However the Corvette is slow on track after suffering a puncture and is limping back to the pits. The top WEC GTE Am car is still the nr50 Larbre Corvette which is 3 minutes behind the nr67 IMSA Performance Porsche.

    HOUR 12
    12 hours and the half way point of the race. The nr1 Audi R18 e-tron has completed 187 laps and Marcel Fassler is 41 seconds ahead of the nr2 R18 Audi driven by Tom Kristensen. The nr4 Audi of Marco Bonanomi is in 3rd place 2 laps behind the lead car.

    The Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas are still the lead privateers, with the nr12 car of Neel Jani in 4th, 6 laps behind and the nr13 Lola of Jeroen Bleekemolen in 5th two laps further back.

    The Starworks Motorsport HPD-Honda is still in the lead of LMP2 in 7th overall, Tom Kimber-Smith lying 12 laps behind the leader and 2minutes ahead of the nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca-Nissan and 1 lap ahead of the nr26 Signatech Nissan Oreca.

    The nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari is in the gravel at MP96 and is being dragged out by the recovery vehicles.

    The nr51 AF Corse Ferrari of Toni Vilander is the current leader in the LMGTE Pro class, 2 minutes, 20 seconds ahead of the Luxury Racing Ferrari of Jaime Melo, with the nr97 Aston Martin of Darren Turner in 3rd.

    The nr50 Larbre Corvette is still the lead WEC car in GTE Am, 39 seconds behind the nr67 IMSA Performance Porsche. The nr57 Krohn Racing Ferrari is currently 3rd in class, 3 laps behind the nr67 Porsche.

    HOUR 13
    With 11 hours to go, the top three cars are still three Audis, with nr1 leading the field and Marcel Fässler has completed 208 laps. Allan McNish is second with the nr2 Audi, more than one minute behind the leader and Oliver Jarvis with the nr4 Audi is third.

    The two Rebellion Racing Lolas-Toyotas are still leading the private teams.  Starworks Motorsport (nr 44 HPD), PeCOm Racing (nr49 Oreca)and Signatech-Nissan (nr26 Oreca) are still the top three cars in LMP2

    In LMGTE Pro as well, the ranking hasn’t changed: the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Toni Vilander, ahead of nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari and nr97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage.  In LMGTE Am, the nr 50 Larbre Compétion is still second behind the nr67 Porsche, but Pedro Lamy is catching up on the leader.

    HOUR 14
    The nr1 Audi spins off in the Karting curve. Marcel Fässler had to go back to the pits for a quick checking. Allan Mc Nish takes the lead with the nr2 Audi at 4:22.  André Lotterer took over from Marcel Fässler in the nr1 Audi when the Swiss driver stopped for checking.

    Safety car at 4:51 after nr75 Prospeed Porsche (LMGTE Am) went off in the Porsche curves.

    HOUR 15
    After 15 hours, the nr1 Audi driven by André Lotterer is leading again after the nr2 Audi pitted.   Dindo Capello, who turns 48 today, took over from Allan McNish.

    The 2 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas still leads the private teams in LMP1.

    In LMP2, the top three leaders are still the same: nr44 (Starworks) ahead of n49 (Pecom Racing) and nr26 (Signatech-Nissan).

    HOUR 17
    8am and drama in the pits when the front left tyre of the nr61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari caught fire. The front left had seized on the circuit and Brian Vickers was attempting to get back to the garage but on the entrance to the pitlane the tyre caught fire. The marshals extinguished the blaze quickly and Vickers got the car to the AF Corse mechanics.

    The nr88 Felbermayr Porsche of Gianluca Roda stopped at MP44 and was pushed back behind the barriers by the marshals.

    The lead Audi (nr1 Audi R18 e-tron) collided with the wall while avoiding a slower back marker. There was damage to the left rear of the Audi but Fassler kept the car on track until the schedule pitstop.

    Loic Duval set the fastest lap of the race so far on Lap 256 with a lap time of 3:25.165

    The nr44 Starworks Motorsport HPD-Honda of Tom Kimber-Smith is still leading the LMP2 class in 8th overall, 1 lap ahead of the nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca-Nissan.

    The nr51 AF Corse Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella is in 19th overall and is leading the LMGTE Pro class by 2 laps.

    The top WEC car in the LMGTE Am class is the nr50 Larbre Corvette of Julien Canal, 45 seconds behind the nr67 IMSA Performance Porsche.

    HOUR 18
    9am and more drama on track after the nr2 Audi pits for fuel and rejoins just ahead of the nr1 Audi of Marcel Fassler. Fassler passes Kristensen but missed his braking point at the chicane and went across the gravel trap, rejoining the track behind the nr2 R18.

    nr42 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan (Martin Brundle) has an extended pitstop and rejoins after a few laps in the garage.

    Loic Duval in the nr3 Audi sets a new race lap record three times during the past hour, once on lap 266, then on lap 268 and then set a 3:24.189 on lap 269.

    The nr23 Signatech Nissan of Franck Mailleux went straight on at the first chicane on Mailleux’s out lap. The car was pulled out of the gravel by the snatch vehicles.

    The nr35 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan spun and rolled backwards at MP121. Car rejoined the track after a small delay.

    The nr12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota is still the lead private LMP1 entry with Nick Heidfeld 9 laps behind the leading Audi.

    The nr44 Starworks HPD is still the leader in LMP2 in 8th overall, with Tom Kimber-Smith 1 lap ahead of Soheil Ayari in the nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca-Nissan.

    In LMGTE Pro the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari is still the class leader in 17th overall, Toni Vilander is 1 lap ahead of the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari of Jaime Melo and 3 laps in front of the nr97 Aston Martin of Darren Turner.

    HOUR 19
    Five hours to go to the end of the race and the nr2 Audi of Dindo Capello is leading after completing 298 laps as the the nr1 Audi pits. Audi are currently 1-2-3-4. The nr12 Rebellion is still the lead privateer but the nr13 Rebellion Lola-Toyota hit trouble on circuit and is currently in the garage, promoting the nr22 JRM HPD of Karun Chandhok into 6th overall and the second LMP1 private entry, 9 laps behind Nick Heidfeld in the lead car.

    The nr17 Pescarolo Team Dome Judd is back in the garage with engine problems and the nr21 Strakka Racing HPD had a spin at the second chicane, with Danny Watts rejoining the track.

    Ryan Dalziel is now at the wheel of the nr44 Starworks HPD in 7th overall and leading LMP2, 1 lap ahead of the nearest rival. The nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca went off into the gravel at Indianapolis and the car had to be recovered by the marshals before Soheil Ayari could rejoin the track 3rd in class, having lost a place to the nr46 TDS Racing Oreca-Nissan.

    In LMGTE Pro It is still a Ferrari 1-2 with the nr51 AF Corse 458 of Toni Vilander still 1 lap ahead of the nr59 Luxury Racing 458 of Jaime Melo. Darren Turner, in the sole remaining Aston Martin, is a comfortable 3rd three laps behind Vilander.

    The nr71 AF Corse Ferrari of Andrea Bertolini is in the garage and has been for a while and reports are suggesting it might be the end of the race for the Bertolini, Beretta and Cioci.

    The battle of the race at the moment is between the nr50 Larbre Competition Chevolet Corvette C6-ZR1 driven by Pedro Lamy and the nr67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 RSR of Raymond Narac, with the gap just 6.2 seconds between the two cars.

    The nr55 JWA-Avila Porsche had a long pitstop with the mechanics stripping the rear brake assembly in the pits.

    After a pitstop for the nr67 IMSA Performance Porsche, Pedro Lamy is now leading the LMGTE Am class in the nr50 Larbre Competition Corvette in 23rd overall.

    HOUR 20
    11am and the nr4 Audi is in trouble, Marco Bonanomi stopped by the side of the track at MP8. The Italian got the car going again and got back to the pits to hand over to Oliver Jarvis. However just as the hour finished the nr4 Audi was seen to be slowing on the entry to the first chicane.

    The nr1 Audi with Benoit Treluyer at the wheel is now leading the nr2 Audi of Allan McNish by 2.5 seconds.  The nr12 Rebellion Lola-Toyota of Neel Jani is currently 4th, 9 laps ahead of the nr22 JRM HPD and 11 laps ahead of the nr21 Strakka Racing HPD.

    Starworks continue to hold the upper hand in LMP2 with Ryan Dalziel 1 lap ahead of Sohiel Ayari in the nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca. The nr26 Signatech Nissan, driven by Roman Rusinov, had a puncture which spun the Oreca at the first chicane. The Russian driver recovered the car to the pits to hand over to Nelson Panciatici and rejoin in 4th in class and 11th overall.

    A long stop for the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari allowed the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari to open a 3 lap advantage in the LMGTE Pro class. Stefan Mucke in the nr97 Aston Martin is now just 1 lap behind the nr59 Ferrari on the road.

    The nr50 Larbre Competition Corvette is still in charge in the LMGTE Am class and is now 40 seconds ahead of the nr67 Porsche.

    HOUR 21
    Three hours to go and it is still a great battle for the lead between the two hybrid Audis with no team orders getting the way of this great race. Benoit Treluyer in the nr1 Audi is leading Allan McNish by 18.7 seconds following the latest pitstops. The nr4 Audi is 3rd 3 laps behind, with seemingly no repetition of the electrical problems the car had in the previous hour. Marc Gene is a further 5 laps back in 4th in the nr 3 Audi Ultra, but as the hour finished the Spanish driver runs off the circuit at the first chicane and hits the barriers causing a lot of front end damage in an almost carbon copy incident of Romain Dumas earlier in the race. Gene is attempting to get back to the pits but the front left wheel is vibrating badly.

    Rebellion are still on track to take 50 points in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Private Teams, with the nr22 JRM HPD of Karun Chandhok in 6th overall 9 laps further back. The nr21 Strakka Racing HPD is in the garage with engine problems caused by cooling issues.

    In LMP2 it is still the nr44 Starworks HPD now with Tom Kimber-Smith back in the driving seat and holding a 1 lap advantage over his nearest rival.

    In GTE Pro the situation hasn’t changed in the last hour with the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari of Jimmy Bruni 2 laps ahead of the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari of Fred Makowiecki and a further lap in front of the nr97 Aston Martin of Stefan Mucke.

    In GTE Am Julien Canal in the nr50 Larbre Corvette is under severe pressure from Nicolas Armindo in the nr67 IMSA Performance Porsche. Armindo took the place on the hour but Canal is staging a fight back.

    HOUR 22
    Two hours remaining and the nr1 Audi of Andre Lotterer is one lap ahead of the nearest rival following a trip to the wall at the Porsche Curves by the nr2 Audi of Allan McNish and the safety car was deployed. The Scot managed to get the car back to the garage and a six minute pitstop by the Audi mechanics to replace damaged bodywork got McNish back on track still in second place. The nr3 Audi is also back on track following its visit to the tyre wall at the first chicane with Marc Gene now in 5th 1 lap behind the the nr12 Rebellion Lola of Neel Jani, which is still the leading LMP1 private entry.

    The nr44 Starworks Motorsport HPD continues to set the standard in LMP2, Tom Kimber-Smith 2 minutes 30seconds ahead of the nr46 TDS Racing Oreca of Christophe Tinseau.

    In LMGTE Pro the top three places are unchanged but the nr97 Aston Martin of Stephane Mucke is now on the same lap as the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari in 2nd place. Jimmy Bruni continues to control the race with a 3 lap gap to the nr59 Ferrari and is in 17th overall. The top WEC car in GTE Am is still the nr50 Larbre Corvette in 22nd overall, 1 lap behind the nr67 IMSA Performance Porsche.

    HOUR 24
    Chequered Flag and Audi take a historic 1-2-3 and Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler

    ENDS

  • Toyota Selects Drivers for Inaugural Etios Racing Series

    Three camps were held to arrive at the final 25 drivers
    – The candidates were selected by a team of experts
    – These drivers will drive at 2 Exhibition Races in 2012 and the EMR Series     in 2013 Bangalore, 11 June 2012: The nationwide hunt for the final driver line-up of the Etios Motor Racing (EMR) Series ended last weekend after 40 young racing hopefuls battled it out in the Etios Motor Racing cars. The selected 25 will be driving the Etios in its racing avatar this year at the Exhibition races in August and October, and next year at the inaugural season of Toyota’s single-make racing series, according to a Press Release here on Monday

    Toyota

    .
    The entire selection process was well-planned and thorough in order to select the most talented racers in the country belonging to the age group of 15 to 24 years old. These drivers will go on to compete at the Etios Motor Racing Series and in turn will also have bigger and brighter opportunities opened up to them in the field of racing both in India and overseas.

    Commenting on the EMR driver training programme, Mr. Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director-Marketing, said, “We had young aspiring racing drivers from all over India, and it was truly heartening to witness the passion and enthusiasm they showed for motorsport at the various EMR camps. In fact this further emphasizes the purpose of an initiative such as this for motorsports in the country. An experienced team put their heads together to select the driver line-up for the EMR Series, and will continue to partner us to hone the driving skills of the young talent the country has to offer. This is only the beginning, and we have a lot of excitement in store, starting with the exhibition races in August and October this year.”

    Driver Selection Process

    Camp 1 
    A record number of 3300 online registrations was received which were sifted through to get to a number of around 900 eligible participants. They were then invited to compete in the first round of auditions in four cities – Pune, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore.
    The arduous task of selecting 70 young drivers from around 900 was given to experts in the field of racing and rallying – Leelakrishnan, Farad Bhathena, Nawaz Sandhu, Karandeep Sandhu, Amittrajit Ghosh and Karna Kadur.

    As selections were held across the country at different tracks, the following was put into place to achieve the intended result:

    1. Tracks at all venues were redesigned by Red Rooster Racing to bring out driver skills
    2. Benchmark lap time on each track was set for reference
    3. Each participant drove eight laps
    4. Each participant was rated on 10 by the evaluators

    Camp 2
    The top 70 competitors were put through a more rigorous second round of selections where they were individually trained and judged by five top evaluators/ instructors with a motorsport background – Leelakrishnan, Ram Narayan, Rahul Kantharaj, Karna Kadur and Anish Rathnam. The camp was held over two days in Bangalore with a total of three rounds for a batch of five candidates in each round.
    Participants were judged on their go-kart driving skills with importance given to their lap times and consistency in lap times in Camps 1 and 2.

    Camp 3
    40 drivers were selected from Camp 2 who then went on to attend Camp 3 where for the final selection and training with the Etios Motor Racing cars. The participants were driving the EMR cars for the first time, hence were put through extensive training sessions over two days at the Madras race track (MMSC), and mentored by acclaimed motorsport drivers – Leelakrishnan, Ram Narayan, Rahul Kantharaj, Amittrajit Ghosh and Karna Kadur. The final 25 drivers (+10 reserves) were selected based on the consistency in lap timings and fastest lap timings set by the competitor on the race track.

    About Etios Motor Racing (EMR)
    Continuing the Company’s global legacy of motorsports, the EMR tourney will be supported by one of the most accomplished and acclaimed engineering companies in motorsport history – TRD(Toyota Racing Development), the corporate brand from the Toyota affiliate, Toyota Technocraft Co. Ltd. The EMR Series that is slated to be held in the second half of 2013 will be based on a single-make racing championship platform. The cars will be FIA qualified with racing parts supplied by TRD, and their technical expertise will be utilized throughout the series.

    Toyota will also partner and work closely with Indian motorsport experts, Red Rooster Racing (International) Pvt., Ltd. based in Bangalore, with Leelakrishnan former racing and rallying champion at the helm.

    MRF – pioneer of motor racing in India, DENSO – a Toyota affiliate that manufactures auto parts,and Savita – sole distributor of Idemitsu Oil products in India are now on board as‘Official Partners’ for EMR in 2012.

    The Etios racing platform will help talented young racers develop their skills, and further train them to gain a competitive edge for their future in motorsports. They will be mentored by experts in the field, and will be given an opportunity to compete amongst the best in the country. This series will not only highlight the technological prowess of the manufacturer, but also the endurance levels of the Etios and the ‘fun to drive’ aspect of the vehicle.For updates and information on Etios Motor Racing, please visit http://toyotaetiosmotorracing.in/

  • Karun historic debut at Le Mans helps JRM to 6th place

    Le Mans (France), 17 June 2012: Indian racing star Karun Chandhok has created history by becoming the first Indian to finish the historic Le Mans 24 Hours race as his JRM Team crossed the line in an exceptional 6th position. Chandhok, along with team-mates David Brabham and Peter Dumbreck delivered faultless performances to finish the race on the team’s very first attempt at the world’s largest motorsporting event, with over 400,000 fans in attendance through the week.

    David, the 2009 Le Mans winner, took the start in the team’s Honda HPD ARX-03a LMP1 car and immediately gained a place from the starting slot of 11th. The Australian set a consistent pace to hold 10th position overall before handing over to Karun Chandhok just after 17:00.

    Karun, who made history as the first-ever Indian to compete in the race, had a baptism of fire with an immediate quadruple stint in car #22 and had moved from P10 to P8 by the end of his time in the car. He then handed over to Peter, who started to exchange positions with the #13 LOLA Rebellion – gaining a position when the latter pitted and losing it when he himself refueled. Peter later moved up to sixth place when the #7 Toyota spent a significant amount of time in the pits.

    However on lap 114, Peter had a tyre failure coming through the Dunlop Curves and went off into the gravel. The Scot subsequently had to negotiate almost the entire lap with a puncture, and was pulled into the garage to check for suspension damage. No major damage was found but the delay dropped the #22 back to 17th overall. During the stop David took over from Peter for his second session in the car and the fight to gain positions began.

    The Australian made a charge, storming through the LMP2 cars and was back to 9th overall by the time he handed over to Karun Chandhok on lap 158. Karun soon went up to 8th and set about chasing the #44 Starworks car for 7th overall. On a stop on lap 169 Karun reported a problem with the clutch and was pushed into the garage. He rejoined in 12th overall but brought the car back to the pits in 9th when he handed over to Peter just before dawn.

    Peter then put in a long stint as the sun came up, completing 42 laps. When he came off shift a little after 07:30hrs the Scot had put the team back into 7th overall, clear of the LMP2 cars and three laps from 6th following issues for the Strakka Racing and #13 Rebellion. David then took over from Peter and consolidated the sixth position before handing back to Karun for another quadruple stint.

    Peter concluded the race for the #22 JRM Racing car amidst frenzied celebrations on the team’s pit wall given the magnanimity of what the drivers and the team had achieved in their very first attempt.

    Race summary:

    Hour 1: 9th (+3:29.011) / Hour 2: 10th (+1 lap) / Hour 3: 9th (+1 lap) / Hour 4: 9th (+2 laps) / Hour 5: 8th +3 laps) / Hour 6: 7th (+2 laps) / Hour 7: 6th (+3 laps) / Hour 8: 16th (+9 laps) / Hour 9: 13th (+10 laps) / Hour 10: 10th (+10 laps) / Hour 11: 8th (+11 laps) / Hour 12: 12th (+13 laps) / Hour 13: 10th (+14 laps) / Hour 14: 9th (+14 laps) / Hour 15: 8th (+15 laps) / Hour 16:7th (+16 laps) / Hour 17: 7th (+16 laps) / Hour 18: 7th (+17 laps) / Hour 19: 6th (+18 laps) /

    Hour 20: 6th (+18 laps) / Hour 21: 6th (+19 laps) / Hour 22: 6th (+19 laps)

    Hour 23: 6th (+21 laps) / Hour 24: 6th (+21 laps)

    With the team missing most of the earlier qualifying session Chandhok did not get a chance to run and will head into the historic race with a mere 18 laps under his belt. The team which will field a Honda HPD ARX-03a in the top LMP1 class, has drivers David Brabham and Peter Dumbreck partnering the young Indian.

    Karun Chandhok was ecstatic after finishing in such a high position in his first ever race here. “Driving for nine of the last 36 hours and sleeping for four makes for a pretty tiring ratio! I ended up doing the graveyard shift from 2 – 5am, which was very special and exhausting in equal measure. It made me really understand the unique, special nature of this race. Overall a very good race for us and it feels great to be the only Indian to have finished the Le Mans 24hr race. The whole team worked tirelessly and it is a great reward for all their hard work. We have all been flat out since the first test here. I am absolutely exhausted and look forward to taking a nice long break. To finish second amongst the privateer teams is huge so fantastic result all around.

    Team Principal James Rumsey was thrilled with the result after aiming to just get to the finish line today. “Before the race I said we would be thrilled to finish the race. That was an underestimation – we are absolutely overjoyed. It’s only our third ever event as a team and our first Le Mans so to finish, and to finish well, is almost indescribable. The drivers all drove very, very well and came together as a crew. David was invaluable in giving us his experience, Peter did a great job through the night – particularly after the puncture when things could have gone very wrong – and Karun did incredibly well to be so consistent on his first visit here. This week has tested everyone – we’ve had a lot of work, lots of late nights and yet everyone has pulled together to achieve this result. I am so proud of everyone and am sure that this is just the start of something very big. Watch this space.”

    Team Manager and Chief Engineer Nigel Stepney commented, “I’ve been in motorsport for longer than I care to remember, but this is a feeling that goes beyond anything I’ve experienced before. The sheer amount of effort that’s gone into the result in the months and weeks before this has tested everyone and it’s incredible that we have a result that justifies the workload. We’ve had more than our share of problems leading up to the race this week and a couple of minor issues in the race, but really reliability has been pretty good – the only issues we had were incidentals. There is a lot of luck in Le Mans and while we were lucky today, the preparation that’s gone in before has helped us get a bit of luck for ourselves.”

    About JRM

    After winning the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship with Nissan, The British-based JRM Racing will partner with Honda Performance Developments to enter the brand new FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP1 class.  JRM Racing will enter a single LMP1 Honda Performance Development ARX-03a powered by a specially designed and tested 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine. The ARX-03a is currently hailed as the most competitive petrol Le Mans Prototype around.

    ends

    Karun Chandhok on the grid to become first Indian at Le Mans. His team JRM finishes P6 after starting 11th. JRM photo

  • Force India miss out on points at Canada

    Montreal, 10 June 2012: Even as Sahara Force India prepare for the next GP in Valencia, Spain next Sunday, we shall go back to last Sunday at Canada where Sahara Force India drivers Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg just missed out on points in the Canadian Grand Prix, coming home P11 and P12 respectively.
    P11      Paul Di Resta (VJM05/02)
    Tyre strategy: Used supersoft, New soft, New soft
    Paul: “I think we all feel a bit disappointed to miss out on points today. To qualify eighth and run as high as fifth shows we were well placed and things were running smoothly for the first few laps. Then I seemed to suffer with some high tyre degradation on the super-softs so we pitted quite early, but on the soft tyres we just didn’t have the performance to race the cars around us and we slipped back. It’s a missed opportunity but sometimes you get weekends like this. We need to go away and analyse things, lift our heads high and bounce back harder next time.”
    P12      Nico Hulkenberg (VJM05/03)
    Tyre strategy: New soft, New supersoft, New soft
    Nico: “Our result today is a bit disappointing. We thought we could get in the points, but every race is hard to predict this year and we were not able to deliver what we hoped for. Ultimately we didn’t have enough speed today and suffered with high tyre wear compared to the cars around us. We had to do a two-stop strategy while a lot of our rivals were able to stop once and they got a big benefit from that.”
    Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director
    “A hot afternoon’s work and unfortunately we didn’t come away with the results we wanted. The car has shown strong pace throughout the weekend, but for whatever reason we could not find the sweet spot today. It’s a shame because for the first stint we looked very strong and Paul moved up to fifth place before his first stop. But we were not able to make the super-soft tyres last long enough and we didn’t have enough pace on the soft tyres. So we leave here feeling that we didn’t quite realise our potential, but determined to learn from the lessons of today before we arrive in Valencia.”
    ends

  • An interview with Narain Karthikeyan in Top Gear India Magazine 2012

    (This article first appeared in the May 2012 issue of TopGear India Magazine)

    It’s a mid-summer morning in Coimbatore. It’s unusually cool, as we stand in front of a huge white gate. Soon, a security guard escorts us to an outhouse in one corner of a big compound lined with trees and a well-manicured lawn that gives you the impression of an English courtyard.

    Except for a beautiful black 911, there is not a hint that we are soon to be in the company of an F1 driver. And then, with two playful dogs jumping all over, Narain Karthikeyan emerges and leads us to the drawing room, adorned with trophies and memorabilia. The 2005 Jordan F1 helmet stands out, reminding us of the glory of an Indian first competing in Grand Prix racing.

    Narain has just returned from Malaysia, and sits in his typical relaxed style. “It’s one of those rare days when I spend time at home between F1 races,’’ he says, to begin his free-wheeling interview with TopGear. With the rain-lashed performance still fresh in his mind, he speaks for the first few minutes about Malaysia. The mastery of how he piloted his car in the pelting rain at Sepang again showcased Narain’s driving skills.

    “It was a great feeling to dominate in the rain and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve always said I’m as quick as anybody else out there. But we knew the car wouldn’t sustain the pace once it dried up. It yielded nothing in terms of the result, but it was nice to prove your talent and show the control you have on the car in such adverse conditions, even if only for a few minutes,’’ he says. On the last lap before the race was red-flagged, the HRT driver was in 10th place and his sector-one time of 42.4s was faster than the nine drivers ahead of him. Only Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, who also flourishes in rain, came close, with a time of 42.9s.

    Narain Karthikeyan: No turning back

    As we settle down, Narain speaks about his father, GR Karthikeyan’s influence on him. “My dad was a rally champion in his time, and the great S Karivardhan was a relative, so the sport ran in my family blood. It became my childhood passion and I was very stubborn about becoming an F1 driver. My father encouraged me a lot but he also knew it was a daunting task,’’ Narain explains. “If you really want to become a professional racing driver, you go and train in Europe, to see if you have it in you to make it big,’’ Narain recollects his father’s words. “I was still a schoolboy and my father thought once I saw the tough competition and the difficulties of competing in Europe, I’d give up,’’ Narain feels.

    “That’s how I landed in France at the Elf School,’’ he points out. That was 1992, just after finishing school in Stanes Anglo Indian School in Coimbatore, and “I was all of 15 and raring to go. I impressed my teachers at the Elf Winfield Racing School, making it to the semi-finals of the end-of-the-course race,’’ he says. It was in the Pilote Elf Race for Formula Renault cars that his inherent talent was spotted. “Frankly, I didn’t understand that getting into Formula 1 is such a gigantic task. In hindsight, I feel it was a blessing in disguise, as I might have given up, had I known the tremendous difficulties one faces,’’ he confesses.

    “But I’m glad I worked with single-minded determination. It was always going to be tough since motorsports was primitive in India in those days,’’ feels Narain.

    Talking about his childhood pranks and how he and his friends used to ‘steal’ cars and do all kinds of stunts, he notes: “Those days, Coimbatore roads were not so busy and we used to take on empty streets… and I remember doing a Mahindra jeep when I was in Class 8. I had great fun, sliding, throwing-out and what-not,’’ he says while giggling.

    Narain Karthikeyan: No turning back

    On a serious note, he talks about how Karivardhan transformed motorsport in India. “Kari was a genius. He built completely indigenous racecars at a very cheap price, which allowed young race drivers to practice in single-seater cars. Those days when racecraft was virtually nil, and only a few understood the intricacies of Formula racing, he promoted motorsports and encouraged young talent,’’ Narain says.

    After his debut podium in Formula Maruti in 1993, Narain returned to Europe to gain valuable experience in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship. Then came his first chance to watch an F1 race live, at the Portugal Grand Prix in 1994. He was driving the F1 support race and became the first Indian to win any race in Europe at the British Formula Ford Winter Series. “It was an amazing experience watching an F1 race and it only reinforced my dream,’’ says Narain, whose pioneering work laid down a path for other Indians to follow.

    He crossed hurdle after hurdle and became the first Asian to win the Formula Asia International series in 1996. He moved back to England to make his debut in British F3 in 1998, after which he took time to settle down and finished third in the last two races. Five podium finishes, including two great victories at Brands Hatch in 1999, got him sixth place in the championship. In 2000, his third year in British F3, he did a notch better, moving up to fourth place, getting a pole position and fastest laps in Macau Grand Prix. He peaked with two stunning victories at Spa Francorchamps and Korea Super Prix, which got the attention of the world and soon landed him a test drive with Jaguar Racing.

    And that is how Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian to test a Formula One car at Silverstone, on 14 June, 2001. His amazing performance got him two more test drives for the Jordan F1 team in October and September, but it was a long wait till 2004 before he got an F1 call from Minardi. That effort proved futile because he couldn’t raise sponsorship money.

    “You can master the sport and do everything you can, but when it comes to sponsorship I keep my fingers crossed even today. Nothing has changed even after reaching the zeniths of driving skill. One moment, I go down to utter despair, but then, I find a glimmer of hope somewhere. It was the same in 2004, and even now. But in all these periods of uncertainty, I trained hard and kept myself ready. In all the ups and downs, I thank Tata for steadfastly supporting me in my grueling journey from F3 to F1, and even today,’’ Narain says thankfully.

    Narain Karthikeyan: No turning back

    With his F1 career on the backfoot, Narain took time out for family and married Pavarna in 2004. “I met her through a common friend in 2001. For an outsider, the racing life looks very glamourous and glitzy but for your own family and wife, it’s very hard to cope with the rigorous and unconventional lifestyle. But Pavarna has been a stabilising factor in my life and has stood as a pillar of strength,’’ says Narain.

    In Februray 2005, at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, the deal with Jordan saw him qualify 12th on the grid, ahead of giants like Michael Schumacher. On March 6, he created history when he became the first Indian to drive in Formula 1. He finished 15th in that first race. The rest as they say is history.

    Narain continued in Formula 1 as a test driver for Williams in 2006 and 2007, in his struggle to keep racing at the top level. And just when the world believed his racing career was over, he landed a drive with HRT in 2011. “I always said I still have the mettle and Formula 1 is a continuing dream. So I trained extra hard to realise that dream of driving in front of the home crowd as F1 made its debut in India,’’ he says with a smile.

    Narain Karthikeyan: No turning back

    Narain continues to live that dream for another year with HRT. Asked if missing the podium in 2005 at the Formula 1 US GP was his biggest disappointment, he says: “With only six cars, I came fourth. But my greatest regret is not winning in Macau in 2000. Starting from pole, I was doing the fastest laps. It was over-exuberance and I was pushing too hard and made a stupid mistake. I was not mature enough. A win here at one of the toughest circuits in the world could’ve changed my entire career path,’’ he says a tinge of sadness.

    “But I bounced back and retrieved whatever I could with dedication and hard work. That’s when I realised the importance of training hard. Now my training regimen is very strict. I do weights, endurance and specific workouts for individual muscles. Working to keep the neck and lower back fit is a complete routine in itself. I also do yoga and meditation,’’ says Narain, whose personal trainer now is Chandigarh-born German Balbir Singh, who once famously looked after Michael Schumacher.

    “Karthikeyan is a true representative of India’s young spirit and he has set an example for the entire motorsports fraternity,’’ was how Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described him. “The Padma Shree was one of my proudest moments in 2010. It is not just an individual honour, it has come as recognition for all of motorsports in India,’’ Narain says, just as the fax machine rings. It’s his day’s training schedule, from his trainer in Austria. No time to waste. Another race weekend, another battle beckons. The Shanghai GP is just days away…

    (Words: David Bodapati, Photos: Himanshu Pandya)

    This article is commissioned by TopGear and is first published in TopGear India Magazine in May 2012 edition and used here courtesy TopGear India. Copyright: TopGear

  • Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg meet the German national football team


    There was an adrenaline rush today at the German national football team’s training camp in Tourrettes: with around two weeks to go before the start of the European Championships, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg paid Joachim Löw’s team a short visit. Like good guests should, the two Silver Arrow drivers brought along a nice surprise, namely, two brand new examples of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Lukas Podolski, Marco Reus, Andre Schürrle and Tim Wiese didn’t need asking twice to complete a 18-kilometre tour of the Haute-Provence with the two drivers. __ A release from news2use on behalf of Mercedes F1 team.

  • Sailesh Bolisetti, first Indian to win at British GT

    Nurburgring (Nurburg, Germany) : The see-saw of fortunes finally swung in Sailesh Bolisetti’s favour when the Indian sealed his first victory of the season at race two at the second round of the British GT championship held here.

    The weekend had started on a positive note for the Vizag pilot, with his Lotus Sport UK team finishing third and first in the two official practice sessions. But an unfortunate onslaught of technical gremlins prevented Sailesh and his teammate

    Phil Glew from exploiting the performance of their Lotus Evora GT4 during the qualifying sessions.

    The first race turned out to be a disaster of a different kind when a sudden drizzle left the track damp leading to Sailesh spinning out on the warm-up lap while the car was on full slick tyres (not wets). The brush with the barriers left the Evora slightly bruised, but the team was able to stitch it up in time for race start.

    A slow puncture and a broken side view mirror further added to his woes and impeded progress during the race. Phil Glew then took over after the mandatory pit stop and tyre change, but could manage to do no better than fifth.

    Post-race, Sailesh was understandably disappointed given how things had turned out.

    “After showing promising pace in qualifying, it was disheartening to endure all the back luck we did. We definitely deserved better.

    “The pace was there all along and we fancied ourselves to challenge for the podium, but it was ultimately not to be.

    Things didn’t look brighter for race two as it was cloudy in the morning.

    Phil Glew was behind the wheel for the opening stint this time and he proceeded to battle all the way through with the front-running Ginetta’s for the lead, just managing to keep them behind.

    Glew pitted from the lead for the mandatory pit stop just past the 30-minute mark, giving Bolisetti the important task of keeping the victory challenge alive.

    “When Phil handed me the car from lead, the first thought in my mind was to preserve it and try to keep the opposition behind and the car out of the barriers.

    “The margin was slim but we managed to turn the car around in pits quicker than our competitors so I had a little more breathing space.

    Soon after, one of the Ginetta’s retired from the race due to a mechanical issue – giving Sailesh further leeway to hold on to the lead. From then on it was just a matter of maintaining the cushion and driving to the car’s limits.

    Finally, Sailesh crossed the finish line 27 seconds in the lead from the second-placed Ginetta, clinching his maiden victory in the series.

    “The team really deserved this given the tough weekend we had, they were extremely patient and perseverant throughout.

    “To win at a track which we’ve never driven or tested is the cherry on the cake, and it isn’t just any other circuit but a place like Nurburgring which is steeped in motor racing history”, quipped Sailesh on the brink of emotions.

    The first win is always the most memorable but Sailesh’s focus remains firmly on the job ahead.

    “You first win in a new series is always a great feeling, but it surely can’t be our last given the task ahead. We have some exceptionally strong competition so there is no way we can afford to lay back and relax.”

    For the team, it is all systems go for Rockingham, scheduled for June 9th.

    “We’ll get back to UK and back to our schedule. Hopefully we’ll get in some testing before the weekend as it is once again going to be a brand new circuit for me.

    “This is the critical phase of the championship so we need to push all the way. It is party-time tonight but thereafter it is back to business”, concluded the elated youngster.

    “Sailesh did a good job during his stint in the car, we knew it was a comfortable win if Sailesh just kept his head cool and drive without making any mistakes, which he did!”, said Phil Glew.

    Lotus Sport UK Team principal, Gary Ayles said “Sailesh showed a great performance today, but he could have done better provided he gets more practice on the circuits! This win has increased my responsibility of giving him better training
    and keeping this in mind, we are trying to make the necessary arrangements to get him more comfortable in the coming races”.

  • Indian-born CEO Monisha receives one-third stake in the Sauber Group

    Hinwil, 16 May 2012: In a major announcement, Peter Sauber said that he has taken a decision in the interests of continuity, to transfer a third of the stake in the Sauber Group to Dehradun-born Monisha Kaltenborn (formerly Narang). Kaltenborn. Peter Sauber, the Team Principal and President of the Board of Directors of all Sauber Group companies, will retain the remaining two thirds, according to Press Release by Sauber F1 team today.
    “When BMW pulled out of Formula One in 2009, Monisha Kaltenborn was instrumental in the team’s survival and since then she has been doing outstanding work in her capacity as CEO,” says Peter Sauber.
    “Transferring one third of the stake to her represents an important step for me in providing continuity. My desire is to ensure that the company continues to be led as I would want over the long term. Monisha Kaltenborn and my son Alex, who joined the company as Marketing Director in 2010 and has since also been a member of the Board of Management, both embrace this aim. It means we can offer our employees a positive outlook for the future.”
    CEO Monisha Kaltenborn adds: “For me this step is a mark of the greatest possible trust, which I will do everything in my power to justify.”
    Monisha, who completed 41 last Thursday, lives with her two children in Kusnacht, near the Sauber factory in Switzerland, when she is not globe-trotting with the F1 bandwagon.
    ends