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Author: David Bodapati
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Bernie’s 40-year reign comes to an end as Liberty appoints Chase Carey as CEO
Formula 1 Appoints Chase Carey as Chief Executive Officer and Bernie Ecclestone as Chairman Emeritus
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. & LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Liberty Media Corporation (“Liberty Media”) (Nasdaq: LSXMA, LSXMB, LSXMK, BATRA, BATRK, LMCA, LMCK) and Delta Topco, the parent company of Formula 1 (Delta Topco herein referred to as “Formula 1” or “F1”) announced today that Liberty Media has completed its previously announced acquisition of F1, the iconic global motorsports business, from a consortium of sellers (the “Selling Shareholders”). F1 has appointed Chase Carey as Chief Executive Officer of F1, in addition to his existing role as Chairman, and Bernie Ecclestone as Chairman Emeritus of F1. Bernie Ecclestone, who has given valuable service to F1 over many years, will be available as a source of advice for the board of F1.
Greg Maffei, President and CEO of Liberty Media Corporation, commented:
“We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of F1 and that Chase will lead this business as CEO. There is an enormous opportunity to grow the sport, and we have every confidence that Chase, with his abilities and experience, is the right person to achieve this. I’d like to thank Bernie Ecclestone, who becomes Chairman Emeritus, for his tremendous success in building this remarkable global sport.”
Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of F1, said:
“I am excited to be taking on the additional role of CEO. F1 has huge potential with multiple untapped opportunities. I have enjoyed hearing from the fans, teams, FIA, promoters and sponsors on their ideas and hopes for the sport. We will work with all of these partners to enhance the racing experience and add new dimensions to the sport and we look forward to sharing these plans overtime.”
“I would like to recognise and thank Bernie for his leadership over the decades. The sport is what it is today because of him and the talented team of executives he has led, and he will always be part of the F1 family. Bernie’s role as Chairman Emeritus befits his tremendous contribution to the sport and I am grateful for his continued insight and guidance as we build F1 for long-term success and the enjoyment of all those involved.”
Bernie Ecclestone, Chairman Emeritus of F1, added:
“I’m proud of the business that I built over the last 40 years and all that I have achieved with Formula 1, and would like to thank all of the promoters, teams, sponsors and television companies that I have worked with. I’m very pleased that the business has been acquired by Liberty and that it intends to invest in the future of F1. I am sure that Chase will execute his role in a way that will benefit the sport.”
The consideration for Liberty Media’s acquisition of 100% of the shares of F1(1) was comprised of cash and newly issued Series C shares of the Liberty Media Group tracking stock (“LMCK”) and a debt instrument exchangeable into shares of LMCK. The transaction price represents an enterprise value for F1 of $8.0 billion and an equity value of $4.4 billion(2).
With the completion of the acquisition, the Liberty Media Group will shortly be renamed the Formula One Group and the ticker symbols for the Series A, Series B and Series C Liberty Media Grouptracking stocks will be changed from LMC (A/B/K), respectively, to FWON (A/B/K), respectively, soon after the group name change has become effective. Liberty Media expects the group name change and the symbol change to occur later this week. F1 will remain based in London and Greg Maffei will be Deputy Chair of the board of F1.
The Selling Shareholders received a mix of consideration comprising: $3.05 billion in cash, approximately 56 million newly issued shares of LMCK and a $351 million exchangeable debt instrument to be issued by F1 and exchangeable into shares of LMCK. The cash component of the acquisition was funded from cash on hand at the Liberty Media Group. The newly issued LMCK shares are subject to market co-ordination and lock-up agreements.
F1, along with $4.1 billion of existing F1 debt (which is non-recourse to Liberty Media) and $0.7 billion in F1 cash(3), is attributed to the Liberty Media Group tracking stock.
Concurrently with the consummation of the acquisition, certain third party investors subscribed for $1.55 billion of newly issued shares of LMCK at a price of $25.00 per share. The proceeds from this investment were used to increase the cash portion of the aggregate consideration payable to the Selling Shareholders. The third parties are Coatue Management, L.L.C., D. E. Shaw Group, JANA Partners LLC, Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb Inc., Soroban Capital Partners LP, SPO Advisory Corp., andViking Global Investors LP (collectively the “Third Party Investors”).
Also concurrently with the completion of the acquisition, Liberty Media used the net proceeds of its previously announced cash convertible senior notes offering to increase the cash consideration payable to the Selling Shareholders by approximately $400 million for total cash consideration of $3.05 billion and retain in treasury the approximately 19 million shares that would otherwise have been issuable to the Selling Shareholders based on the per share purchase price of $21.26. These LMCK shares will be reserved by Liberty for possible sale to the F1 teams. To the extent such shares are not sold to F1 teams within six months following the closing of the F1 acquisition, the shares will be retired.
The aggregate number of LMCK shares issued at the F1 closing was allocated as follows: approximately 56 million to the Selling Shareholders, 62 million to the third party investors and approximately 19 million into treasury. Following the completion of the acquisition, there are approximately 217 million shares of LMCK common stock outstanding (pro-forma for the dilutive impact of the $351 million LMCK exchangeable security and excluding the aforementioned approximate 19 million shares retained in treasury). Following the completion of the F1 acquisition and the issuance of shares to the Third Party Investors (excluding the potential issuance of those shares retained in treasury), the Third Party Investors in the aggregate own approximately 29%(4)of the Liberty Media Group’s outstanding equity and the Selling Shareholders own approximately 33%(4) of the Liberty Media Group’s outstanding equity and have board representation at F1 to support Liberty Media in continuing to develop the full potential of the sport.
Liberty Media’s President and CEO, Greg Maffei and Formula 1’s Chairman and CEO, Chase Carey will be appearing on the CNBC television program “Squawk Box” from 7:00 am ET to 9:00 am ET on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 to discuss the completion of the acquisition in more detail. During their appearance, Mr. Maffei and Mr. Carey may make observations regarding Liberty Media’s and Formula 1’s financial performance and outlook and the impact of current economic trends.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the acquisition of Formula 1, the expected benefits of the transaction, the renaming of the Liberty Media Group and the corresponding change in ticker symbols and other matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These forward looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Liberty Media expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Media’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Please refer to the publicly filed documents of Liberty Media, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, for risks and uncertainties related to Liberty Media’s business which may affect the statements made in this press release.
About Liberty Media Corporation
Liberty Media Corporation operates and owns interests in a broad range of media, communications and entertainment businesses. Those businesses are attributed to three tracking stock groups: the Liberty SiriusXM Group, the Braves Group and the Liberty Media Group. The businesses and assets attributed to the Liberty SiriusXM Group (Nasdaq: LSXMA, LSXMB, LSXMK) include Liberty Media’s interest in SiriusXM. The businesses and assets attributed to the Braves Group (Nasdaq: BATRA, BATRK) include Liberty Media’s subsidiary Braves Holdings, LLC. The businesses and assets attributed to the Liberty Media Group (Nasdaq: LMCA, LMCK) consist of all of Liberty Media’s businesses and assets other than those attributed to the Liberty SiriusXM Group and the Braves Group, including Formula 1, Liberty Media’s interest in Live Nation Entertainment, and minority equity investments in Time Warner Inc. and Viacom.
About Formula 1
Formula 1®, which began in 1950, is the world’s most prestigious motor racing competition and is the world’s most popular annual sporting series. In 2016 it was watched by 400 million unique television viewers from over 200 territories. The 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship(TM) ran from March to November and spanned 21 races in 21 countries across five continents. Formula One World Championship Limited is part of Formula 1, and holds the exclusive commercial rights to the FIA Formula One World Championship(TM).
Formula 1 is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LSXMA, LSXMB, LSXMK, BATRA, BATRK, LMCA, LMCK) attributed to the Liberty Media Group tracking stock. With the completion of the acquisition of Formula 1 announced today, Liberty Media announced that the Liberty Media Group will shortly be renamed the Formula One Group and the ticker symbols for the Series A, Series B and Series C Liberty Media Group tracking stocks are expected to be changed from LMC (A/B/K), respectively, to FWON (A/B/K), respectively.
For more information on Formula 1® visit www.formula1.com.
References cited above: (1) Other than a nominal number of shares held by certain Formula 1 teams. (2) Calculated at time of transaction announcement. (3) Formula 1 cash and debt balances as of 7/31/2016. (4) Calculated based on the undiluted share count as of 12/31/2016 and inclusive of the dilutive impact of the $351 million Exchangeable -
Rajiv Sethu clinches Pro Stock championship
From left: Poederooijen, winner of Super Sport Indian 300-400cc National Champion along with other National Championship winners, Rajiv Sethu (Pro Stock 165cc) and Jagan Kumar (Super Sport Indian 165cc). Image by Srinivasa Krishnan Chennai, 22 Jan 2017: Young Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing clinched the title in the Pro Stock 165cc category after scoring a grand double over the weekend in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC Fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship which concluded at the MMRT track, Sriperumbudur, near here on Sunday.
Locked in a tight tussle for the title with team-mate and championship leader Hari Krishnan Rajagopal going into the final round, Sethu, returning from a major hip injury, kept his wits about him to win both the races to clinch the title. Hari Krishnan was under pressure to stay in front and had a disastrous weekend as he failed to pick up any points.
Also scoring a double in the National championship was Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing who continued his fine form while retaining title in the top-end Super Sport Indian 165cc class to finish the season with five wins from 10 starts.
Jagan, though, had to work hard for his second win this weekend as he was pushed for much of the six-lapper until he managed to get his nose in front in the latter half to take the chequered flag before doing a lap of honour to celebrate his fifth National title in a row.
Equally dominating was Auroville-based Spaniard Ami van Poederooijen of Rockstar Racing in the Super Sport Indian 300-400cc class as he completed a double for seven wins, six of them in a row. He had sealed the championship on Saturday after winning the first of the two races, but that did not stop him from further underlining his dominance by topping the second outing today.
The concluding day’s proceedings witnessed its quota of close and exciting racing, especially in the MMSC One-Make Championships as Meka Vidhuraj (Suzuki Gixxer Cup Open), Joseph Mathew (Gixxer Cup Novice), Kannan Karnan (TVS Apache RTR200 Open), Yashas RL from Bengaluru, who won all the three races over the weekend (TVS Novice), Mathana Kumar (Honda CBR 250) and Anish Shetty from Hubballi (Honda CBR 150) clinched the titles in their respective categories.
Provisional results: (All 6 laps unless mentioned)
National Championship – Super Sport Indian (300-400cc): 1. Ami Van Poederooijen (Rockstar Racing) (12mins, 19.918secs); Amarnath Menon K (Rockstar Racing) (12:30.675); 3. Abhishek V (Rockstar Racing) (12:34.792).
Super Sport Indian (165cc): 1. K Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (12:20.839); 2. S Kannan Subramaniam (TVS Racing) (12:20.878); 3. Harry Sylvester (TVS Racing) (12:21.161).
Pro Stock 165cc: 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (12:54.164); 2. Mithun Kumar PK (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (12:54.986); 3. D Dinesh Kumar (RACR) (12:55.286).
MMSC One-Make Championship – Honda CBR 250 (Open): 1. Hari Krishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:44.938); 2. Mathana Kumar S (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:45.576); 3. Ananth Raj P (Pro Lap Racing) (12:48.902). CBR 150 Novice (4 laps): 1. Piyush Ranjan (Patna) (09:11.729); 2. Anish D Shetty (Hubballi) (09:11.765); 3. Soorya PM (Chennai) (09:12.070).
TVS Apache RTR 200 (Open): 1. Arun Muthukrishnan (Chennai) (13:34.470); 2. Kannan Karnan (Chennai) (13:34.991); 3. Shyam Shankar (Chennai) (13:43.346). Novice (4 laps): 1. Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (09:07.614); 2. Hari Prasath R (Chennai) (09:09.367); 3. Peddu Sriharsha (Chennai) (09:10.905).
Suzuki Gixxer Cup (Open): 1. Aaron Gunawardena (Sri Lanka) (13:37.638); 2. R Rajinikanth (Chennai) (13:37.715); 3. Vivian Gladwin (Kanpur) (13:38.097). Novice (4 laps): 1. Joseph Mathew (Chennai) (09:16.665); 2. Amarnath Rajan (Chennai) (09:17.987); 3. Alexander AS (Chennai) (09:19.629).
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Jagan wins 5th championship title in a row
Chennai, 21 Jan 2017: Jagan Kumar of Team TVS Racing sealed the championship, with a race to spare, in the Super Sport upto 165cc class, the premier event in the final round of the MRF National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Madras Motor Sports Track, Irungattukottai, on Saturday. Jagan has won
Winners of Honda ladies race. Image by Srinivasa Krishnan the championship for the fifth time.
Jagan put in another commanding performance to seal the title in the premium Super Sport Indian (165cc) class on the penultimate day.
With just one more race to be run on Sunday and a maximum of 25 points available, 28-year-old Jagan, who chalked up his fourth win from nine starts today, took his tally to 166, well beyond the reach of his nearest rival and team-mate Kannan Subramaniam (122). It is Jagan’s fifth championship title in as many years.
Also clinching the championship in his class, the Super Sport Indian 300-400cc, was Auroville-based Spaniard Ami van Poederooijen (Rockstar Racing) who roared to his sixth win in nine races with another dominating ride.
Anthony Peter (Performance Racing) though finished second behind Bengaluru’s Yashas RL in the concluding Stock 165cc race earned sufficient points to annex the championship in the Stock 165cc class ahead of Hubballi’s Anish Shetty.
The championship in the Pro Stock 165cc class, however, is still wide open with Honda Ten10 team-mates Rajiv Sethu (169) and Hari Krishnan Rajagopal (153) in the frame for the title which will be decided on Sunday when the second of the double-header will be run. In Saturday’s outing, Sethu finished a distant first while Hari Krishnan came away without a point.
In the MMSC One-Make Championships, Mathana Kumar (Honda CBR 250), Anish Shetty (Honda CBR 150), Yashas (TVS Apache RTR 200 Novice), Meka Vidhuraj (Suzuki Gixxer Cup Open) and Joseph Mathew (Suzuki Gixxer Cup Novice) emerged champions in their respective categories.
Provisional results (all six laps unless mentioned):
National Championship – Super Sport Indian (300-400cc): 1. Ami van Poederooijen (Rockstar Racing) (12mins, 09.200secs); 2. Amarnath Menon (Rockstar Racing) (12:13.491); 3. Abhishek Vasudev (Rockstar Racing) (12:20.926).
Super Sport Indian (165cc): 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (12:14.805); Harry Sylvester (TVS Racing) (12:16.422); 3. Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:18.772).
Pro Stock (165cc): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:43.867); 2. Mithun Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:48.541); 3. Prabhu Arunagiri (RACR) (12:49.197).
Stock (165cc): 1. Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (13:28.353); 2. Antony Peter (Performance Racing) (13:28.368); 3. Soorya PM (Speed Up Racing) (13:28.513).
MMSC One-Make Championship – TVS Apache RTR 200 (Open): 1. Kannan Karnan (Chennai) (13:22.756); 2. Arun Muthukrishnan (Chennai) (13:23.539); 3. Prashanth Kumar (Karimnagar) (13:23.605). Novice: 1. Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (09:13.274); 2. Peddu Sriharsha (Chennai) (09:15.052); 3. Aditya Rao Immaneni (Bengaluru) (09:17.922).
Honda CBR 250 (Open): 1. Hari Krishnan R (Honda Ten10 Racing) (15:06.767); 2.Mathana Kumar S (Honda Ten10 Racing) (15:07.349); 3. Ananth Raj P (Pro Lap Racing) (15:07.919). CBR 150 (Novice, 4 laps): 1. Piyush Ranjan (Patna) (09:05.163); 2. Mahesh Murali M (Kerala) (09:07.506); 3. Soorya PM (Chennai) (09:08.460).
Suzuki Gixxer Cup (Novice, 4 laps): 1. Joseph Mathew (Chennai) (09:11.643); 2. Vishal S (Chennai) (09:22.692); 3. Alexander AS (Chennai) (09:24.259).
All Ladies Support Races (4 laps) – Honda: 1. Aishwarya Pissay (Bengaluru) (09:27.007); 2. Ryhana Bee A (Chennai) (09:39.365); Niranjanie Ravishankar (Chennai) (09:56.603). Alisha Abdullah Training Academy (4 laps): 1. Haritha R (Bangalore) (9:41.731); 2. Olesya V Dias (Goa) (10:09.644); 3. Renuka Gajendran (Bangalore) (10:29.673).
eom/david
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Keen battle on cards for National titles: Bike races
File photo of Jagan Kumar of TVS in action. Image by Anand Philar Chennai, 19 Jan 2017: The fifth and concluding round of the MRF Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2016, which spilled over from last year’s calendar, is set for a thrilling finish at the MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, near here, with titles in all categories up for grabs.
The card of 23 races to be run over three days beginning Friday includes the premium Super Sport Indian (400cc and 165cc) class along with Pro-Stock (165cc) and Stock (165cc) which form the National Championship besides MMSC One-Make Championships for TVS and Honda, and the Suzuki Gixxer Cup. Also scheduled are support races exclusively for ladies, by Honda and Alisha Abdullah Academy.
The Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) officials burnt the proverbial midnight oil to get the MMRT circuit facilities in order after the battering it received in December from cyclone Vardah that created havoc in the region while also forcing a postponement of the final round of the two-wheeler championship, which was earlier scheduled to be held on Nov 19.
Thus, it has been a three-month break in the championship and the riders, especially those in contention for the titles, are a bit eager to get back into action. As such, with so much at stake, the competition is expected to be razor-sharp as in all the previous four rounds.
In the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc), it will be a straight fight between two Rockstar Racing team-mates Ami van Poederooijen (135 points), a Spaniard based in Auroville, and Bengaluru’s Abhishek Vasudev (115), while a trio of TVS Racing mates reigning champion Jagan Kumar (141), Kannan Subramaniam (110) and Harry Sylvester (102), all from Chennai, are in title race in the Super Sport Indian 165cc class.
Two talented racers from Chennai who performed well in the 2016 Asia Road Racing Championships, Hari Krishnan Rajagopal (153) and Rajiv Sethu (144), both from Honda Ten10 Racing team, are locked in a tight battle in the Pro Stock (165cc) category, having won seven of the eight races between them over four rounds.
The Stock 165cc class will witness a four-cornered battle for top honours involving Hubbali’s Anish Shetty (122) of United Tech Torque, Antony Peter (Performance Racing, 120) from Coimbatore, Chennai duo of Joseph Mathew (Sparks Racing, 111) and PM Soorya (Team Speedup, 100).
The situation in the MMSC One-Make championships is much the same with the title race wide open and multiple competitors in the running for the top prize.
After Thursday’s practice sessions, action kicks-off with four races scheduled for Friday followed by a busy Saturday when 10 races will be run before the championship winds up on Sunday when the remaining eight are held. The programme will conclude with championship prize distribution trackside.
eom/AP Media press release
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Double Pole, Circuit Record & 2nd to start off Jehan’s 2017 season
Jehan Dharuwala on 14 Jan 2017 after claiming double pole. Image by Rayo Racing Christchurch, New Zealand: Sahara Force India Academy Racer Jehan Daruvala, has begun his 2017 in the best possible way, as he grabbed the first two pole positions of the season and went on to break the circuit record for the Toyota Racing Series Cars in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The eighteen year old Mumbai student was quick throughout practice amongst a competitive grid of 20 cars which also includes home favourite and Ferrari Academy Racer – Marcus Armstrong, RedBull Academy Racer – Richard Verschoor, Pedro Piquet – Son of Former F1 World Champion, Nelson Piquet and many more highly accomplished racers from all over the world.
Jehan dominated the first qualifying session and bagged pole position for race 1 with a laptime of 1:17.424 around the 3.33km Ruapuna Park Circuit. Marcus Armstrong was right behind Jehan 0.158 seconds adrift. Austrian racer Ferdinand Habsburg was third.
Qualifying session 2 was a far closer affair as Jehan once again bagged pole for Race 3 & broke the circuit record as well. (Race 2 starting positions are based on the reverse grid of Race 1 finish). This time however Marcus was a lot closer, being just one thousandth of a second slower than Jehan. British racer Enaam Ahmed was third, also within just one tenth of a second of Jehan. Jehan’s laptime of 1:16.800 was well under the earlier record of 1:17.062
Race 1 saw Jehan start well from his pole position slot upfront. He pulled away and soon opened up a comfortable gap of over one second to maintain his lead without any challenges from behind. A safety car period soon ensued and during the restart down the extremely long start finish straight, Marcus who was right behind Jehan took advantage of the excellent slip stream. Jehan could unfortunately do nothing about the situation, as in such a case, the car behind was able to build up a lot more speed and overtake easily. The positions remained the same, due to limited overtaking opportunities and Marcus won the race less than a second ahead of Jehan. Richard Verschoor came in third a further 1.1 seconds behind Jehan. Interestingly three different Formula 1 Team’s Academy racers completed the podium in race 1.
“It has been an excellent start to the season. I was quick straightaway and I am happy with the double pole earlier today. There was nothing I could do at the restart due to the slip stream that Marcus had from my car and I had to settle for second.” said Jehan who will contest another two races tomorrow.
Ruapuna Park incidentally, is the same venue where Jehan won his maiden race in Formula Cars, a year ago. Jehan will start fifth in Race 2 as per the reverse grid rules and Pole for Race 3.
**END**
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2017 F1 final Race Schedule
F1 race calendar 2017
26 March – Australia (Melbourne)
9 April – China (Shanghai)
16 April – Bahrain (Bahrain)
30 April – Russia (Sochi)
14 May – Spain (Barcelona)
28 May – Monaco (Monte Carlo)
11 June – Canada (Montreal)*
25 June – Azerbaijan (Baku)
9 July – Austria (Spielberg)
16 July – United Kingdom (Silverstone)
30 July – Hungary (Budapest)
27 August – Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
3 September – Italy (Monza)
17 September – Singapore (Singapore)1 October – Malaysia (Sepang)
8 October – Japan (Suzuka)
22 October – USA (Austin)
29 October – Mexico (Mexico City)
12 November – Brazil (Sao Paulo)*
26 November – United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi) -
Nico’s Formula Won
Abu Dhabi: With the season poised to end in a grand finale at the Desert destination, Autotrack was present to witness history as Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg just managed to not only thwart the tough tactics of teammate Lewis Hamilton but also got a well-deserved second place with some astute, error-less driving which was enough for him to take his maiden World Driver’s Championship despite Hamilton winning here in the last GP of the season.
In full-blown donuts, he soaked in smoke and joy, and as it turned out a week later, it was his last F1 race, as the German champion decided to quit the sport. Winning the championship was his life-time goal and that achieved, he retired. The last two years, despite Mercedes’ domination Rosberg could not win the championship as his teammate Hamilton beat him on both occasions and it was Formula None for the German. Now it’s Formula Won as the German was on the top of the world.
He also became the first father-son duo to have both won the F1 Drivers’ Championship. The year was completely dominated by the German manufacturer who comfortably won the Constructors’ championship. The two drivers won 19 of the 21 races held in 2016 between them.
The other big news for India is the 4th place in the Constructor’s Championship for Sahara Force India. The driver duo of German Nico Hulkenberg and Mexican Sergio Perez performed consistently and upped the ante in the second half after the upgrades in Barcelona to seal the important 4th place. Perez finished 7th scoring 101 points while Hulkenberg was 9th with 72 points in his last season with Force India. Perez got two third places at Monaco and Baku but Hulkenberg was unlucky to miss podium finishes, especially at Spa, Belgium, and his points do not justify his vast contribution to the team. Frenchman Esteban Ocon moves to Force India from Manor for 2017 to replace Hulkenberg.
“The team’s performance is worth 10 times the achievement as we operate with a fraction of the budgets that the top-three teams have at their disposal,’’ said Vijay Mallya, the team Principal, in a chat with Autotrack a couple of seasons back when the team finished fifth. This year he could not attend the races except the one near the team’s base in Silverstone due to his travel restrictions. “His vision and his ability to make the resources available to the team was the reason for this success. The entire team is motivated and worked hard and its a true team achievement and we will continue to fight and lead the midfield,’’ told deputy team boss Robert `Bob’ Fernley to this magazine. Three cheers to the team as it keeps the Indian flag flying at F1.
With new regulations, the season begins in Australia on March 26, 2017.
Text: David Bodapati, Photos: Srinivasa Krishnan
Note: This story first appeared in Autotrack magazine in the Jan-Feb 2017 issue.
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Karna-Nikhil duo are INRC 2016 champions
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 18 Dec 2016: Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai of Team Yokohama R2 became the National champions in the Indian National Rally Championship for the year 2016 despite finishing sixth overall in the MRF 42nd K1000 Rally 2016 which concluded near Hosadurga, about 220 kms from here.
Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik drove in a steady and cautious manner to bag the coveted K1000 rally with a time of 51 minutes, 40.2 seconds. This is the second time that the Team Mahindra Adventure driver has won India’s oldest rally in the country, the last one being in 2013. The Ghosh duo became the only son and father pair to win the popular K1000. Amittrajit’s father and chief of current INRC promoter RRPM, Arindam Ghosh won the K1000 in 1981. He was one of the aggressive bunch of speed masters in early 80s who clinched the Karnataka 1000 in a Fiat over 1000 miles of rough and tumble.
Phalguna V Urs and Chandramouli finished second a time of 53:38.1 while Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt came third clocking 54:30.5.
Favourite Gaurav Gill of Team Mahindra Adventure dropped out in the very first stage with a driveshaft failure. Arjun Rao was another prominent casualty who had a gearbox failure while running third.
Talking to India in F1, Arindam Ghosh, Director, Ramakrishna Race Performance Management (RRPM), the promoters of the Indian Natinal Rally Championship said: “It has been a lovely year of rallying and it can only get better from here. We promise to bring back an even better championship next year”. Earlier, he hinted that the INRC may use the Saturday for some night rallying, running a loop of special stages on Saturday nights instead of extending the event by another day which has financial and logistical implications. For the first time INRC, became a one-day event with rallying only on Sunday. Till 2015, the National Championship used to run for three or two days with a Super Special Stage either on Friday or Sunday.
Abhilash PG and Srikant Gowda took overall honors in Indian Rally Championship (IRC), run concurrently with the INRC, in 54:31.4, some 5 sconds ahead of Mohammed Kasim AA and Sanath G Ritesh. M Guttedar and Sheraz Ahmed were third timing 1 minute and 0.9 seconds.
Amittrajit and Ashwin took home Rs. 50,000/- in prize money.
Provisional Results: Overall winners: 1. Abhilash PG / Srikant Gowda GM (54:31.4); 2. Mohammead Asim AA / Sanath G (59:28.4); 3. Ritesh M Guttedar / Sheraz Ahmed (1:00:00.9).
IRC: 1. Abhilash PG / Srikant Gowda GM (54:31.4); 2. Mohammead Kasim AA / Sanath G (59:28.4); 3. Ritesh M Guttedar / Sheraz Ahmed (1:00:00.9).
INRC: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin M Naik (51:40.2); 2. Phalguna V Urs / Chandramouli CM (53:38.1): 3. Rahul Kantharaj / Vivek Y Bhatt (54:30.5).
INRC 2000: 1. Rahul Kantharaj / Vivek Y Bhatt (54:30.5): 2. Bopaiah KM/ Gagan Karumbaiah (54:35.8): 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / Jeevarathinam J (54:56.0).
FMSCI Cup: 1. Sridhar N Urs / Roopesh BC (1:01:59.3); 2. Krishna Kant Yadav / Sagar M (1:06:32.3); 3. Ganapathy SC/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (1:12:21.7).
Support event: Gypsy Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha N (1:03:37.4); 2. Shiv Kumar Reddy/ Vinay Prasad BK (1:07:45.8); 3. Nayan J Sharma /Shuchindra SP (1:11:09.6)
ends/david
Karna Kadur (left) and Nikhil Pai after winning title in Hosadurga on 18 Dec 2016. Image courtesy Red Rooster Perf.ormance -
Akbar Ebrahim elected President of FMSCI for 2017-18
Chennai, 13 Dec 2016: At the FMSCI Annual General Meeting of 2016,held in Chennai yesterday, Akbar Ebrahim was elected as the President of FMSCI and J.Prithiviraj elected as the Vice-President.
The 43rd Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Motor Sports Club of India (FMSCI) was held here on Monday, the 12th of December 2016. Elections were conducted for member clubs to be elected to The following Clubs/Councillors were declared elected . COUNCIL for 2017-2018:
The FMSCI council for the two years of 2017 and 2018:
- Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) – KD Madan
- Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) – Shivu Shivappa
- Coimbatore Auto Sports Club(CASC)- J. Prithiviraj
- Calcutta Motor Sports Club (CMSC) – Sanjay Sharma
- Indian Automotive Racing Club(IARC).- Ketan Mehta
- Motor Sports Club of Chikmaglur (MSCC)- Farooq Ahmed
- Meco Motorsports Club (MMS) – Akbar Ebrahim
- Ramakrishna Race Performance (RRPM)—Arindam Ghos
Elections were also conducted for the post of President and Vice-President and the following were elected by the General Body.
Akbar Ebrahim – President
- Prithiviraj – Vice President
Akbar Ebrahim is a well-known former racer and organizer of the National Rotax Max Karting Championship for last several years. He has been in the FMSCI council for the past four years and as a Chairman of 4W Racing Commission has streamlined and brought in many racing initiatives and programs which have resulted in a quantum jump in car racing in India.
Akbar Ebrahim said: “ It is a great honour to be elected as the President of the FMSCI. I intend to dedicate my time and energy towards further development of Indian Motorsport right from the grassroot level all the way to the top, Nationally and Internationally for all disciplines of the sport.”
An action-packed 2017 calendar awaits motorsports enthusiasts with 13 National Championships in various disciplines set to kick off in January itself.
At the recently concluded FIA AGM , the following Fmsci nominees were inducted in to the following FIA Commissions.
1) Driver’s Commission – Karun Chandhok
2) Drag Racing Commission – J Balamurugan
3) Rally Commission – Ashwin Pandit
4) Circuits – Manoj P Dalal
5) Medical – Dr Uday Balakrishnan
6) Land Speed Records – Hormazd Sorabjee
7) Women in Motorsports – Navaz Sandhu
8) Volunteers and Officials – Prabha Shankar
9) CIK Karting – Rayomand Banajee
10) Truck Racing – Vicky Chandhok
11) Closed Road – Mohan Nagarajan
12) Hill Climb – Raj Kapoor
13) Off Road – Jayesh Desai
FIM Comissions
1) GP Roop Kumar – Technical
2) Anand Sashidharan – Legal.
eom/Press release from Sharon Spears, Media Assistant, FMSCI.
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Nico Hulkenberg in seventh heaven: Malaysian GP Qualies
Sepang, 29 March 2014: It was a wet Saturday afternoon in Sepang this year and Sahara Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg qualified in seventh place repeating his Australian performance while teammate Sergio Perez will start P14.The Qualifying sessions were delayed for over 45 minutes and all the drivers had to manage in conditions that left visibility very poor with water and spray making driving tricky with the new engines.
German Hulkenberg, rejoined the Indian outfit, after a year’s sojourn with Sauber team. Sauber, with its team principal in Indian-born Monisha Kaltenborn, are close competitors for Sahara Force India, which pushed them to 7th place last year to regain its sixth place. The change of tyre compounds midway through the last season after the Webber tyre flew and hit a cameraman, had ruined the chances of the Indian team, which would otherwise may have achieved much better results. Many also feel, the Pirelli’s safety-first strategy was one of the crucial reasons for Red Bull winning their fourth title. Vettel, who struggled in the initial races, became a dominating force in the later half of the season.
This year, Force India, vows to do better than last year. “I made a public statement that we would improve year and we have been doing that. We reclaimed our 6th place and dry or wet, I want both our cars to finish in top ten,’’ said Vijay Mallya, Team Principal.
Hulkenberg clocked 2:01.712 for P-7 on Saturday. “It was pretty challenging with the weather conditions today. There was so much rain, standing water and spray. Visibility was an issue and it was hard to see your braking points. It’s tricky to drive these engines with lots of torque in these conditions and you need to be really smooth with the throttle out of the slow corners, but I enjoyed the challenge. We’re in P7 and in the top ten on the grid for the second time in a row, which is a result we can be satisfied with. I think we have shown all weekend that we have the speed to be top-ten material whether it’s wet or dry and I hope to score a good helping of points tomorrow,” commented Hulkenberg.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez, popularly called Checko could not make it to the final qualifying session after clocking 2:02.511 in Q2. “The conditions out there were very difficult and they kept changing with every lap, especially during Q2. I had a better feeling on the intermediate tyres and when I changed to the full wets I struggled to keep the temperature in them, which made it hard to put together a good lap. Tomorrow we will need to try and recover from P14, but we have to see what the weather will do. I also need to solve the rear locking which is affecting me under braking in the wet conditions. I’m still confident we can have a good race and I will keep fighting to score as many points as possible,” he said.
Team’s Managing Director Vijay Mallya added: “Another very wet qualifying session in Sepang presented us with challenging conditions today. Nico looked comfortable in the wet and matched his starting position from Melbourne with seventh place. He has been in the top ten in all the sessions this weekend and should be in good shape for tomorrow. Sergio struggled more in the wet and didn’t have confidence on the wet tyres. We will try and solve those issues tonight because there’s a good chance of more rain tomorrow.’’
Talking to India in F1, he commented as a parting shot: “Whether it’s wet or dry I’d like to see both Sahara Force India cars well inside the top ten.”
However, Nico was realistic when he spoke of the problems a day earlier: “I think we can be satisfied with what we learned on Friday. We worked through the programme and there were no big issues on my side. Of course, the hot weather here means conditions are tough and we found that tyre management during the long run was quite challenging.
“It’s even more difficult this year because there is more wheelspin with these engines and the rear degradation is quite high. We collected the usual data for the tyres and the set-up, and I think there is still room for improvement. I need some more grip and we need to tweak the balance before final practice,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Chief Operating Officer Otmar Szafnauer, sounded optimistic: “Apart from some lost track time for Sergio on Friday, which resulted from a fuel system issue, our preparation for the Malaysian Grand Prix has gone largely to plan. We are happy with P-7 and will try to finish both cars in points for the Sunday.
“We met our mileage target for the tyres and signed off the cooling solutions we have in place for this weekend. The long run performance looks competitive, although coping with the high tyre degradation will be critical on Sunday afternoon,” he added. But rain may bring along its own problems.
The mood in the Indian camp, both inside the garage and the among the team personnel, looks very bright. A good Sunday at Sepang is in the offing for the Force!
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