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Editorial
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Success Mantra in Sports – a rare book on Sports Psychology by MN Viswanath
Bengaluru, 19 Jan 2017: The book, Success Mantra in Sports, written by sports psychologist MN Viswanath, was released by Arjuna Awardee Ashwini Nachappa at the Hockey Stadium here on Wednesday.“There is an urgent need for such a book not just for athletes, coaches and trainers but for all parents and students. How to handle fear, how to control our emotions, how to realise our inner potential… Be it music, be it arts, studies or sports. Every child needs such books to help train their minds,” felt star athlete Nachappa who beat PT Usha on her day, only after she underwent Sports Psychology training under Bupen Das which removed her `mental block’.
“Some books entertain and some books teach. But we rarely come across books which serve both the purposes. With apt and meaningful real-life experiences, it’s a practical book with simple concepts, mind drills and ideas. The book teaches without sermonising and just flows as it makes you think,” opined renowned counsellor and founder of Banjara Academy Dr Ali Kwaja.
Celebrated athlete Arjun Devaiah also spoke about how he struggled to come up as No.1 in the country in his event. “Having started my competitive athletics only in early twenties, I had to face a lot of negative comments. Some coaches even suggested it was time to retire and I was just starting my career. But I had the hunger to succeed and I was determined. With great focus and hard work, I did achieve my goal and represented the country but looking back I feel I would have tamed my career with lot more conviction and ease had I had the support of a sports psychologist,” he felt. “Hardwork, devotion, determination, dedication and other such words, concepts and ideas are all fine. But what one needs to do to succeed in sports is to implement these with discipline in everyday life. Only then one can achieve, what he dreams,” he concluded.
The 376-page book addresses key mental aspects of sports in an easy and simple manner with a lot of anecdotes and narrates personal experiences from an impressive range of top national and international sportspersons. “Many years back, I found it difficult to find a professional psychological support for my table-tennis playing son,” revealed MN Viswanath, the author which prompted him to write the book. And after four years of research and hard work, the book fills the gap of a long-felt need.
Celebrated Australian sports psychologist Dr Michelle Pain, in the foreword says that she is proud to have Success Mantra in Sports in her collection. “Vish is a keen teacher who wants to bring sports psychology concepts to the general public in India for a minimum cost and he had achieved it with this book. This book points to correct thoughts and actions anyone can put to good use that can lead to improved performances and enjoyment of sports,” she recommends.
Veteran coach and Dronacharya awardee Mr Lingappa, 93, was fecilitated on the occasion.
For media queries or to get a copy of the book please contact Kiran Kumar, Media Hanger, at 98864 95757
ends/david
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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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As we enter a new season, INDIA in F1 dot com, thanks all the motorsports enthusiasts and fans
Bangalore, 31 Jan 2015: As we begin the season, www.INDIAinF1.com enters its 10th year, and on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the revamped website, we salute all the Indians in the world of Formula One, especially, the Force India F1 team and the Indian origin first F1 lady team principal, who is at Sauber F1 team.
We also fondly remember the efforts and contribution to the Indian sport by the two greatest ever Indian talent Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok. We also acknowledge the Indian origin German Balbir Singh, who made his presence felt in the F1 circles with his expertise as team personnel. At this time, we also acknowledge the hard work and efforts of Vicky Chandhok, former President of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) and the Jaypee group for the successful conduct of Formula One race in India for three years. We hope and urge the new president Bharat Raj of India Mines Group, to continue the efforts to bring back the show-piece event. An interview with the current FMSCI president will appear soon.
As a culmination of decades of effort and passion, when Narain Karthikeyan, the fastest Indian in the world, became the first Indian driver in Formula One (F1), the site began in 2005, but soon had to close for various technical reasons. Earlier, in 2002, when the founder of this site (yours humbly) became the second Indian journalist to cover an F1 race live (at Sepang 2002), the idea was to bring out an exclusive F1 magazine in India. However, as the first F1 website in India, we were able to withstand and began regular updates from Jan 2011, and today thanks to our supporters, fans, we have more than 1000 regular visitors to the site everyday. At one point, we have gone below 3-lakh site mark in the Alexa rankings.
Today we start a series of articles on Indians and Indian contribution to the world of Formula One.
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Bianchi undergoes surgery at Mie General Hospital
Suzuka, 5 October 2014: Marussia driver Jules Bianchi, who was involved in a serious-looking crash was operated for a head injury and is under observation. He is stated to be in a state of coma after the operation.
Messages from all the teams and drivers are pouring in with prayers for his speedy recovery and support to family and friends.
FIA statement:
On lap 42, Adrian Sutil lost control of his car, spun and hit the tyre barrier on the outside of Turn 7. The marshals displayed double waved yellow flags before the corner to warn drivers of the incident. A recovery vehicle was despatched in order to lift the car and take it to a place of safety behind the guardrail. While this was being done the driver of car 17, Jules Bianchi, lost control of his car, travelled across the run-off area and hit the back of the tractor.
Once the marshals reported that the driver was injured, medical teams were despatched and the Safety Car was deployed. These were followed by an extrication team and an ambulance.
The driver was removed from the car, taken to the circuit medical centre and then by ambulance to Mie General Hospital.
The CT scan shows that he has suffered a severe head injury and he is currently undergoing surgery. Following this he will be moved to intensive care where he will be monitored.
Mie General Hospital will issue an update as soon as further information becomes available.
eom
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Michael Schumacher OUT OF COMA; `Shifted to a Swiss rehab hospital’ in Lausanne
Reports said that seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Shcumacher of Germany is out of come. Schumy suffered a head injury late Dec last year and was in coma till now. It was reported a few minutes back that he is out of coma and the manager who revealed the news preferred to maintain the family privacy at this difficult time and not disclose the place where Michael is shifted for rehab.Rumours are rife that he is shifted to a Swiss hospital at Lausanne. It is expected that Schumacher is still not normal and would require to go a long way in rehab to learn to talk, walk and be able to recognise like a normal people.
All the team at INDIA in F1 website wishes him speedy recovery and our prayers are with the family and we would respect their privacy.
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Of aquaplaning, marbles, flatspots, graining… and Pirelli tyres: A Paul Hembery view
Bahrain, 4 April 2014: Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery summarised 10 key tyre points for 2014 between the two free practice sessions at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where the P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft tyres have been nominated.
1. More energy goes into the tyres from sliding
Pirelli changed all the slick tyre compounds and profiles this year to take into account increased wheelspin and lack of downforce. Paul Hembery: “The cars are sliding around more and that has a big effect on the tyre. There’s only 5% less energy going into the tyre in the new-look Formula One – but instead of it coming from lateral forces and cornering, some of that energy is now coming from sliding.”2. Fewer marbles out on track
There are fewer marbles out on track: one of Pirelli’s key objectives. Paul Hembery: “We did see some in Malaysia, but that’s not a good example as it’s a very abrasive track. Overall, we’re very confident that we’ve made a suitable step forward in the direction of reducing marbles.”3. Less aquaplaning and more performance from the rain tyres
Pirelli changed the compounding and design of the full wet tyre to improve aquaplaning performance in particular. Paul Hembery: “Firstly, we saw during qualifying in Melbourne that there is a closer crossover point with the intermediate tyre, which makes it more usable. Secondly, in Malaysia there were no comments about aquaplaning, which was all we heard about last year. The new rain tyre performs even better in cool temperatures: during wet weather testing in Barcelona it was three seconds a lap quicker than the previous rain tyre.”4. Decreased graining
Pirelli has used all the tyres so far apart from the supersoft, with decreased graining. And even when surface graining does occur, it soon goes away. Paul Hembery: “Compared to previous seasons the graining brushed off after a few laps.”5. Flat spots disappearing
Even though the cars are locking up more under braking, flat spots are not remaining on the surface of the tyre as they used to, thanks to the new compounds. Paul Hembery:“After the drivers complete another section of corners, the flat spots wear off, whereas in the past that would have caused another tyre change.”6. Two-stop races to become normal
With so much to learn from the new cars, it was only in Malaysia that tyre strategy really emerged. Paul Hembery: “Hulkenberg completed the race with just two stops as opposed to the three-stopper that we felt would be the case. With the rapid evolution of the cars we anticipate this year, we’re sure that we’ll see the vast majority of races all moving towards a two-stop strategy.”7. Why degradation is important
Wear is the physical consumption of the tyre, which has been substantially reduced this year (and why you see fewer marbles). Degradation is another thing entirely: the loss of tyre performance per lap. Paul Hembery: “It’s a strange situation when drivers talk about degradation: it needs to happen as if it doesn’t, we won’t have any pit stops. It’s a parameter that is vital to create the strategy.”8. Tyres less stressed than before
Despite more torque the rear tyre footprint isn’t being worked as hard as it was last year – due to the updated construction. Paul Hembery: “We can see that in the wear profiles: it’s slightly concentrated in the centre of the tyre. As downforce increases that will change, because the biggest improvements will come from increased downforce and traction from rear tyres.”9. Regular gaps between the compounds
Pirelli aims to have one-second gaps between all the compounds. While this is not currently the case, it is likely to be by the end of the year. Paul Hembery: “We were slightly surprised by the gap between the hard and the medium, which was one and a half seconds in Malaysia. That is down to decreased downforce levels at the start of the season: the hard tyre is not worked as much as it once was, so it slides more. Improvements in performance will make that gap smaller.”10. More cars out on track
Pirelli has supplied extra tyres for FP1 and Q3 – which has meant more cars out on track.Paul Hembery: “It’s worked so far. In the first half-hour of FP1, the teams have been doing 10 or 12 laps with the extra tyres but they could do a lot more. In qualifying our intention was to provide the top cars running in Q3 for the fans, without disadvantaging the others.”***
BAHRAIN: FRIDAY FREE PRACTICE
During FP1 and FP2 in Bahrain the gap between the medium and the soft tyre was bigger than expected, with more than a second between the two compounds. There was very low wear, and some thermal degradation on the soft tyre, which appears to be very stable and opens the door to some possible two-stop strategies for the race.
Paul Hembery: “Here in Bahrain we are currently seeing a performance gap of more than a second between the medium and soft compounds. However, we will have to wait untiltomorrow to have a clearer idea of what the final difference will be in the race.”
FP1: FP2: L Hamilton 1m37.502s Medium Used L Hamilton 1m34.325s Soft New N Rosberg 1m37.733s Medium Used N Rosberg 1m34.690s Soft New F Alonso 1m37.953s Medium New F Alonso 1m35.360s Soft New Tyre statistics of the day:
Soft Medium Intermediate Wet kms driven * 1,744 3,488 N/A N/A sets used overall ** 22 66 N/A N/A highest number of laps ** 25 26 N/A N/A * The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.eom/a Pirelli release/dvd
Wheel checks on Pirelli tyres at the US GP in Austin last year. A Pirelli file photo -
Chitra Subramanyam to report Indian GP
Chitra at Monza. A File photo by Chitra Chitra ‘the Gladiator’ Subramanyam, would be reporting for INDIA in F1 dot com during the Indian GP. Chitra is an enthusiastic chirpy young thing, who writes from her heart and her conviction comes from her passion for the sport.
Chitra spent 9 years working as a news reporter and helped launch a women’s magazine, before deciding to go back to her first love – Formula 1. For most of those years, she was with the `Big wild gang’ at the Indian Express. She moved to an international publishing house (where she now works as a deputy managing editor), and spent her time obsessing over motorsports. She was happy, until one rainy afternoon in August 2010 at the gloomy Cadwell Park. She watched superbikes fly over the ‘Mountain’ during the British Superbike championship, and it made her dream again.
Today, Chitra runs an award-winning blog called www.ridingfastandflyinglow.com, which focuses on Formula 1, MotoGP, and WSBK. She can be spotted on race weekends, wearing her team colours (depending on what race it is), screaming at the television and writing like a woman possessed. She loves the growl of F1 cars, the roar of superbikes and believes that Ayrton Senna was the biggest rockstar of them all.
Her proudest moment was in 2012, when she travelled to Valencia to receive the Eni – Energy for Success award for best article in the under-36 category. She has also won the 2012 Sportskeeda Blogger Awards for the Best Motorsports Blog and the 2012 Sportskeeda Writer Awards for the Motorsports Writer of the Year.
Follow Chitra @Galadriel255
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The FMSCI President, Vicky Chandhok speaks!
Vickey Chandhok (left), Karun Chandhok (2nd from left) and Vijay Mallya (right) at the British GP. File photo by Adrenna Communications. Letter from the President
Chennai, 18 October 2013:
We are in the midst of one of the busiest months in the year for motorsport in the country and it is great to see everything moving in the right direction. The entire motorsports industry is buzzing with excitement as we are less than a week away from India’s biggest sporting event. As I write this the team cargo is just arriving at the Buddh International Circuit. So let the games begin!!
FIA
Attending the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Dubrovnik provided a great insight in to all the great work that is being done by the FIA across the world. This might get repetitive but I never get tired of saying how proud the entire Federation is of the Indian representations on the world bodies. It is fantastic to see how far we have come in the world of motorsport with so much presence in the various commissions. Shivu Shivappa represents the FMSCI on the FIA Rally Commission, Farhan Vohra on the Circuits Commission, Prabha Shankar on the Volunteers & Officials commission, B Vijayakumar, Balakrishnan & Anand Jayachandran on the Single Seater commission, Manjeev Bhalla on the Cross Country rally commission, Karun Chandhok on the Drivers commission, J Balamurugan on the Drag Racing commission, Anand Sashidharan on the FIM Legal commission, Roop Kumar on the FIM tech commission, Shyam Kothari the FIM representative and of course Vijay Mallya on the world council.
With unconditional support from the FMSCI members and governing council the team is doing India proud! Personally, it’s a wonderful feeling. FIA also gives special focus to developing ASNs across the globe. It is structured around four key building blocks for the establishment and running of a successful ASN, highlighting the need for competent structure and event organization, solid licensing, training and sport development. The FMSCI will also work closely with the FIA in growing grassroots motorsports and making it more affordable for young driver.
We were fortunate to have an informal international observer at the AVT South India Rally earlier this year. Based on this, the Head of our Rallying Commission Ashwin Pandit, at the Rallycom meeting in Johor Bahru, discussed the possibility of having an official observer for one of our rallies this year. I am glad to say that due to the efforts of the Rallycom, the Chikmagalur Rally will be officially observed so that our Indian events will now have the opportunity to be part of the FIA Asia Cup next year.
The Technical commission led by K Krishnamurthy and Kamlesh Patel has been exceedingly busy in drafting and monitoring the technical regulations. Your FMSCI has now invested over Rs. 15 lakhs on the import and local purchase of equipment that will aid the technical delegates and scrutineers.
It is with great pleasure that I announce 17 year old Akhil Rabindra as the Indian driver being chosen as the candidate for the FIA Institute Academy. Drivers from 11 countries across the Asia-Pacific region are set to take part in their regional selection event for the 2013/14 Young Driver Excellence Academy. Each FIA National Sporting Authority (ASN) in the region was asked to put forward their nomination, which was then assessed by the FIA Institute. To qualify, drivers had to meet a set of minimum criteria, as well as having demonstrated strong performance in competition so far. On the final shortlist are some of the top young drivers in motor racing and rallying across the Asia-Pacific region, including competitors from Australian Formula Ford, the Sri Lankan Supercross Championship, JK Tyre Racing Championship and the V8 Challenge Cup Championship.
Rallying
The K-1000 rally had to be postponed due to operational reasons but am glad to see everything is shaping up well for one of India’s oldest rallies. At the Rallycom meeting earlier this month we announced changes to the 2014 championship. There will be only 3 categories next year and most importantly we encourage the participation of foreign entrants. We hope to expand the grid and manufacturer list in the upcoming years. The 15th Raid de Himalaya was a success yet again and congratulations to Suresh Rana for emerging victorious for a record 9th time along with his co-driver Ashwin Naik. It is one of the most popular rallies in India and people have nothing but great things to say about the unique event. We were glad to finally kick off the 2013 Indian National TSD Rally Championship with the first round being held in Nashik. TSD rallying is picking up and next year looks good for the championship with ten rounds already being confirmed.
4W Racing
The BIC has been bustling with activity over the last month as the Indian GP approaches. The turnout for the 17th MMSC-FMSCI National Racing Championship & JK Tyre Racing Championship I must admit surprised me and is a clear sign that Indian motorsport is doing just fine. Both championships witnessed record numbers with over 20000 fans, which featured the top talent from the country.
This year there will only be one support race for the Indian GP with the MRF Formula 2000 kicking off its championship at the BIC. All these cars have been made in India by an Indian team and is probably one of the fastest in the region. The grid will include top drivers from all across the globe.
This weekend will also witness the final round of the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Karting Championship in New Delhi with titles on the line in the Micro Max, Junior Max and Senior Max categories. This year we have had more than 10 young drivers moving up from Karting to Single-Seaters action and more importantly they have all made the transition with ease. This definitely means that our karting program is on the right track.
2W Racing
Round 3 of the FMSCI-MMSC took place at the BIC and created history of sorts as it was the first time that motorcycles had raced around the grand prix circuit. It was good to see full manufacturer support in the form of TVS, Honda and Yamaha blasting around the BIC.
FMSCI team India rider K.Jagan was invited to particpate in the Asia Cup and did the country proud with a 3rd placed podium finish in Round 1. I am also personally thankful to Nasser at the QMMF for agreeing so spontaneously to a request to upgrade Rajni from the 600cc to a 1000cc bike at Losail for the weekend of the 5th October.
International Drivers
Gaurav Gill’s brilliant win in the Rally of Japan in his MRF Skoda Fabia means he is the favourite to win the APRC title with one more round to go. It was a fantastic effort in the Rally of Hokkaido by Gaurav Gill to take a comfortable win. Behind him Sanjay Takale won the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Production Cup title.
Narain Karthikeyan continued his great form in the final round of Auto GP Championship to take his fifth win of the season. Karun Chandhok and Armaan Ebrahim did not have the best outing at the FIA GT Series with both drivers having to retire their cars. Another great achievement for Narain and Karun is that they have both been invited to represent India at the season ending Race of Champions. This is an invite only event for top drivers including Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Ogier, Sebastian Vettel, Jamie Whincup etc and it is a proud moment for Indian talent to be recognized with these great names.
Aditya Patel had yet another top ten finish in the Audi R8 in the ADAC GT Masters. Young Indian racer Parth Ghorpade continues to be a top 10 finisher in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship with a 6th place finish in Imola. Lastly and quite importantly a big congratulations to Jehan Daruvala as he became the first ever Indian to win the British Karting Championship albeit on a MSA licence. The young Indian driver, backed by Sahara Force India, had two podium finishes in the final round to seal the title.
Motorsport has always been an unforgiving sport and I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest sympathies to the families of Maria De Villota and Sean Edwards, who both passed away over the last week. Maria was doing a lot of work for women in motorsport with the FIA and will be sorely missed. Sean was close to wrapping up the Porsche Supercup Championship and is a great loss to the motorsport world.
All members of the FMSCI have been working on overtime in order to try to better the sport in India and I would like to thank them all for making my task easier. Hope everyone has a great time at the Indian GP!
Yours sincerely,
Vicky Chandhok
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“Absurd” FIA rules may stop contested election, warns David Ward
Bangalore, 2 Oct 2013: David Ward has arrived as a whiff of fresh air on the suffocating FIA scene. Thanks to the lack of transparency, Formula One and FIA, the international Fedearation which controls Motorsports and F1 around the world, are closed to public scrutiny as far as financial arrangements are concerned.
The arrival of Jean Todt as President was hoped would benefit the sport and bring more monies to FIA, and consequently to the member ASNs around the world to develop and promote grassroots motorsports. But despite making efforts Jean Todt was not very successful, many experts feel. He made a lot of improvements, especially on road safety side but no one is sure how much the new Concorde Agreement will benefit the FIA.
Under these circumstance, the arrival of David Ward, as a presidential candidate to contest Jean Todt (trying for a second term) came as good news. But the absurd FIA rules may prevent his entry, even before the election process begins.
A press release from Ward:
David Ward, a candidate in the FIA 2013 Presidential election, has written to FIA Clubs warning that the FIA’s election rules could prevent any candidate from being eligible to challenge the incumbent Jean Todt. The letter reveals that in the North American region 11 out of 12 clubs (ACNs and ASNs) have already signed a support agreement for Jean Todt at an FIA meeting in Montevideo more than six months before the election began. This leaves just one club available to nominate a Vice President Sport to another candidate’s list – which is a requirement to be eligible in the Presidential election.In the letter to the club Presidents, David Ward writes:
“The absurd situation in which just one club in North America may determine whether or not there can be a challenger to Jean Todt risks turning the FIA election into a farce. It shows clearly the detrimental effect that the Montevideo support agreement is having on the 2013 election. If any of the signatories decide to provide a Vice President to a rival candidate they have no alternative but to face the embarrassment of breaking a commitment of support for Jean Todt that they made in his presence at the Montevideo meeting – an agreement which was then subject to a photo-call and a press announcement. This is why I am asking for the support letters to be recognised as a clear breach of the FIA’s rules and revoked in my complaint to the Ethics Committee”.
Download a copy of David Ward’s letter to the FIA clubs
For further information, please visit www.wardandteam2013.com
ends
File photo of David Ward by Ward and Team 2013.
Bengaluru, 19 Jan 2017: The book, Success Mantra in Sports, written by sports psychologist MN Viswanath, was released by Arjuna Awardee Ashwini Nachappa at the Hockey Stadium here on Wednesday.
