INDIA in F1

Category: India In F1

  • BWT joins the fight against Breast Cancer in Austin

    BWT joins the fight against Breast Cancer in Austin

    BWT joins Sahara Force India for Cancer cause at Austin on Saturday. A Force India photo

    Austin: The Formula One paddock recognised the generosity of Best Water Technology (BWT) today as Europe’s leading water technology company donated $150,000 to breast cancer charities in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

    BWT’s Chief Marketing Officer, Lutz Hübner, was joined on the podium of the Circuit of The Americas by Sahara Force India’s Chief Operating Officer, Otmar Szafnauer, and the team’s drivers, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, to make the donation. The funds will be used to support breast cancer charities, including the team’s charity partner, Breast Cancer Care.

    Lutz Hübner, Chief Marketing Officer of BWT: “Everybody at BWT applauds the work done by Formula One to raise awareness of breast cancer on a global stage. When we heard about the idea to ‘turn Austin pink’ we felt it was important to get behind the cause and pledge our support to all the people around the world who are affected by breast cancer.”

    Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer of Sahara Force India: “It’s been fantastic to see Austin turned pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month. It’s a cause that we have been supporting this season through our partnership with Breast Cancer Care and we are hugely grateful to BWT for making such a generous donation.”

    About BWT 
    The Best Water Technology Group (BWT) is Europe‘s leading water technology company. BWT’s 3,300 employees aim to supply private, industrial, business, hotel and public sector customers with innovative, economical and ecological technologies that guarantee maximum safety, hygiene and health in the daily use of water – the precious elixir of life. BWT provides state-of-the-art water treatment technologies and services for drinking water, pharmaceutical water, process water, heating water, boiler water, cooling water, water for air-conditioning systems and water for swimming pools. Our Research & Development teams use the latest methods developed to work on new processes and materials to create products that are both ecological and economical. A key development issue is a reduction in the products’ consumption of operating resources and energy to minimise CO2 emissions.

    eom/SFI inputs

  • Force India’s Bob Fernley at FIA Friday press conference: Austin US GP

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Robert FERNLEY (Force India), Gene HAAS (Haas), Zak BROWN (McLaren)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Zak, you’ve confirmed Fernando Alonso for next year. Some suggestion that it’s a multi-year agreement. Can you give us any insights into the scope of this agreement and his ongoing status with McLaren?

    Zak BROWN: Yeah, we’re very happy to have Fernando on board. It was actually done months ago and we just decided to announce it yesterday. Actually that’s not true, we just got it done. But obviously we’ve been speaking with him all season about it. We’ve structured an agreement that allows us to race together for the foreseeable future but everything moves very quickly in Formula One so right now we’re just focused on 2018.

    Now, we asked the same question yesterday to him: the Renault engine has won twice this year and had 10 other podiums, so are those the kind of results you are going to be expecting/demanding from your engineering department for next year?

    ZB: Yeah, we’re here to win races; that’s what McLaren has always achieved. Obviously the last few years have been very difficult. We have the drivers that we want, we have the support from our owners, financially, that we need, and we now have a power unit that has been winning races consistently, and championships, over the last decade, so I think we are well suited to get back on the podium next year.

    Thanks for that. Robert, coming to you, obviously another fantastic season for Force India, consistent points scoring and a clear position in the championship now. But if you stand still in Formula One you go backwards, so as management, what steps are you putting in place for the future development of this team, and how much does it depend on the package that Formula One presents you in the coming weeks?

    Robert FERNLEY: I think there are two elements to it really. One is that our goal, from our point of view, is to obviously maintain fourth and that’s not because we don’t want to move forward but it’s probably going to be very difficult. I think we almost have two leagues of Formula One at the moment, the sort of premier league with the top three teams and then the first division. And those are separated primarily with a significant payment coming in from FOM and until that’s bridged I don’t think you are going to see any difference.

    You had another team orders moment in Japan where Sergio was requesting to be allowed through. He didn’t mind the refusal that came because he said afterwards that it wouldn’t have changed the team result but can you give us a view on that decision-making process and how that team harmony is being managed now?

    RF: Well, it wasn’t really an order as such. Checo was pushing the boundaries a little bit. It was a very easy thing for us to say “just hold position” and Checo was very comfortable with that. It was already organised before we even started the race, if that’s where we were going to be, that would be the positions we were going to hold and as Checo rightly says it wouldn’t have made any difference to the team’s position in the end result.

    Gene, great result last time out in Japan, what does Haas do then for 2018. Robert has said he would like to maintain position and that would be a success in itself, but in what areas can you and your team move further up the grid?

    Gene HAAS: Well, obviously there’s a lot of dancing around in the garage in terms of engines and teams and packages changing, so I think that probably makes me more nervous than anything. Obviously if McLaren gets on the podium that’s probably going to push us down one position. You have Sauber going with a current-spec engine and Toro Rosso going with the Honda engine, which looks string again, so it could be a real challenge next year to even maintain where we’re at now, so I think that’s really what we’re looking for in 2018. Obviously we have to get better. We’ve got to race better, we’ve got to understand the car better and if we can improve that maybe we can maintain our position where we’re at now.

    The idea of setting up the Haas Formula One team was to broaden the reach of your business beyond the domestic market, so has Formula One so far worked for you in that sense?

    GH: It’s actually worked quite well. We had a machine tool show over in Hanover, Germany about a month ago and we had a Formula One car there and I probably spent about half my time explaining to customers what we’re doing in Formula One and I think it has put a little bit of intrigue into our business. People want to know who we are and what we are doing and I think it just leaves an imprint in people’s minds of well, “I know what these guys are going, and maybe I’m going to watch them”. It all works in terms of branding, marketing, even in a small niche business like machine tools.

    OK, thanks for that. Toto, it’s been a pretty impressive campaign from Lewis Hamilton, especially since the summer break – things like that pole position in Malaysia with a car that was clearly very difficult that weekend. Do you feel he’s gone up another level this season and what do you think has brought that about?

    Toto WOLFF: Yes I feel he has gone up a level. It’s the fifth year that we work together and in the car and outside the car he’s just made a big step forward and it’s very pleasing to see that. I think it comes down to the dynamic we have in the team. He gets on with Valtteri and that means there is no controversy at all trackside. We have a really good spirit between the engineering and the drivers, a good collaboration, and it’s lifted the whole team up.

    We’ve seen today that Max Verstappen has committed to Red Bull Racing until 2020. Helmut Marko said the other week that Daniel Ricciardo is on the market, would you rule out Mercedes taking an interest in him for 2019 and beyond?

    TW: We’ve renewed the contract with Valtteri. That means that our whole focus is on Valtteri and Lewis for next year, first of all to finish this year as good as possible, and then next year on the two and we haven’t thought beyond 2018.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) The FIA is going to announce the new engine rules soon. What do you expect to see and what would like to see as far as engine rules for the future are concerned?

    ZB: Very much looking forward to seeing what the new engine rules are going to be. We’ve all heard snippets of what that might look like. I think everyone is in agreement. We need less expensive engines in general. We need less expensive racing budgets and certainly power units are an element of that. I think manufacturers in the sport are critically important, always have been, but at the same time it would be great to have an independent engine or two, that if you weren’t in a situation where you had a manufacturer or you had other options, would be healthy for the sport, as it has historically been. So hopefully rules will be put in place that will allow both manufacturers to continue to enjoy the success and benefit of Formula One, while allowing some independents to come in and provide some maybe more economical but yet competitive situations for engines for teams to choose engine partners from.

    TW: I think we are in a pretty good position at the moment because we have multiple manufacturers engaged in the sport, committed to the sport, contrary to many racing leagues where manufacturers have exited so we mustn’t forget that this is a solid pillar of Formula One. But I agree with Zak. We’re pretty easy with whatever rules come in. We believe that what the studies have said that technology is important as part of the USP of Formula One, so we shouldn’t make it low-tech, but equally making it possible for an independent manufacturer to come in, such as Aston Martin for example, would be good for the sport. The more brands we can attract, the more interesting it will be. The way we tackle the situation is we are very interested to hear what the FIA and FOM’s position is going to be and then go with whatever they suggest.

    GH: We’ve heard a lot of different technical variations on what the engine will be, so it’s hard to speculate. I think it’s certainly going to be simpler, they’ll probably drop the heat generating unit and I think that’s good but I kind of agree with the other voices here that we need to have a specification that allows a major manufacturer to come in an design an engine – and not only the engine but also the transmission – as just having the engine without the transmission really does limit your choices. So it would be nice to have a specification even for the transmission, so that you could get the entire package from the one vendor. These days the engine and transmission really are integral to one another and it’s difficult to separate them and make them work smoothly.

    RF: I think everything has been said. I would agree with all three.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) A continuation of this topic. I believe that one of the discussion points had actually been all-wheel drive, driving the front axle through some motor-generator KERS situation. Toto, I believe that Mercedes is certainly not anti that. What about the other three? Are you in favour of an all-wheel drive Formula One? Or does that go against, to use a hackneyed phrase, the DNA of Formula One?

    Do you want to start Toto and confirm the situation?

    TW: I think what I said before, technology is important. If there is an emphasis on maybe not having the -H any more, the heat recovery any more, how do we compensate for 60 per cent of electric energy that is being lost. There are various possibilities and front motors is one possibility. It’s not that we are absolutely stuck on implementing front motors but we have to discuss all possible technologies that can compensate for the lack of power.

    Robert, your thoughts on this.

    RF: I think that all technologies are welcome – but I think it’s also the key element of what we’re looking at from the engine point of view is to keep the cost down. So, if going to four-wheel drive or whatever combination we have of that is going to increase cost, then it defeats the object of where we’re going.

    Gene?

    GH: Well, four-wheel drive is entirely doable but like anything else, the details are the math involved. We’re talking to Ferrari a little bit about that and they basically came back and said, well, if we get rid of the heat generator and exchanged that for a front-wheel drive regenerative motor, then there simply wasn’t enough energy to be recovered. So, you know, you have to be careful. It’s the same trap Formula One got itself into when it selected this engine. It seemed like a simple idea but when you started doing the engineering it became very, very complex. Caveat to Mercedes, they got it right. The other teams struggled for a long time. So, I think we have to be very careful before we say “let’s just throw a four-wheel drive car out there,” because it could be another one of those ones where one team will probably hit a home-run and the rest of us will be struggling with trying to catch up with that. I think simple’s better.

    Zak?

    ZB: I don’t think we yet have a strong technical view. I think we’re more focussed on the criteria that we discussed earlier, as far as budget and competitiveness. I think that needs to be addressed. And then what technologies you use within those parameters, I think is to be discussed at a later date but we’re certainly not opposed to four-wheel drive.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) We keep hearing references to Liberty or the F1 Group presenting their vision of the engine formula going forwards next week – but I thought the FIA made the rules, and I know the engine manufacturers have been discussing the future engine formula for some months now – so can you explain that apparent paradox and exactly what’s happening please.

    TW: There is certainly an interesting fact-finding mission between FOM and FIA. We haven’t been involved and we haven’t heard anything. So we are keen to understand what the views are. There are two meetings scheduled in for the coming weeks to hear the opinions. So, I can’t really tell you more.

    Robert?

    RF: We have no involvement in it whatsoever, so we’re as blind as you are.

    Gene?

    GH: I guess there’s a technical delegation that gets together and discusses these things which we’re not part of. It’s up to them to come together. I think it’s usually the owner-builders that come to agreement on what they want to do and then the FIA rules on it. At least that’s somewhat my understanding. That’s probably where the confusion comes from: owners have their agenda, what they want to accomplish, and then the FIA obviously has what it wants – but it’s not really all that technically knowledgeable sometimes. Then the result is that we wind up with a product that doesn’t make anybody happy. I think this, and I didn’t address it earlier, I think the cost is incredibly important and trying to make a package that all the teams – or at least the lower teams – can afford is fundamental to even our survival.

    Zak, if it’s not clear what’s coming down the track, what would you like to have coming down the track? Maybe that’s another way of phrasing the question.

    ZB: I think you have to assume Formula One and the FIA are collaborating and communicating, so while one party may deliver ‘here’s what the plan is’, one has to assume both have been working very closely together, so I doubt it’s been authored exclusively by one party. Yeah, I think it’s been well-spoken about. The challenges and issues in the sport. Let’s hope there’s greater collaboration moving forwards, so when rules are introduced, technologies are introduced, they’ve been well thought through and from what I’ve seen, from being in Strategy Group meetings, being the new kid on the block, is not everything is always looked through, through as many lenses at is should be: technical; how is it for the fans; what commercial ramifications does it have? Things like the engine fin, that now blocks the branding on the rear wing – and I don’t think anyone has thought about that – but when you’re out talking to your partners, the rear wing used to be a very attractive sales position, less so now because of that engine fin. The conversations that I’ve been in, no-one has that conversation, so hopefully by everyone working more together, everyone will ask the right questions and we’ll end up with the right outcome.

    Q: (Olav Mol – Ziggo Sport) Question for Toto. Double question. All your customer teams, you have the best power engine on the grid. All the customer teams are trying but hardly get podiums, let alone wins. You said you’d never give an engine to a competitor who could beat you. Is that likely to change in the final two years of the current engine formula. The other one, because of that, you want to win but if you don’t win, would you prefer to lose to Ferrari or a customer team?

    TW: Tricky question. We are here in order to extract the best possible result and we have to consider obviously who to supply with an engine and one of the considerations is to not end up in a situation where it would further escalate the costs of our chassis division and end up in a spending war between the bigger teams because the engine factor is neutralised. So, that is one of the considerations we had in the past. Number two, who would I like to beat us. I don’t know, it’s very difficult. I think you have to, as a sportsman, honour whoever does a good job. A good enough job to beat you deserves to be there. This is why we all love the sport. It’s brutally honest. The stopwatch never lies. I can cope with whoever does a better job because it’s deserved.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Toto, taking what you’ve just said. Mercedes is in Formula One for three reasons aligning: sporting; commercial and technical. Under which circumstances then would Mercedes leave Formula One? If what didn’t happen?

    TW: When we re-entered Formula One as a team in 2010 it was a not a light-hearted decision. On the contrary, it was well thought through that we wanted to come back with a works team. So, there is no discussion at that stage about leaving the sport. On the contrary, it’s our core business: we build road cars and we build race cars.

    Q: (John Massengale – Speed City) Being an American F1 fan, it’s been exciting to watch what Liberty Media might do, everything from the small changes like adding miles per hour to the world television feed to things, like now, serious radio being announced and now the new over the top television changes. I want to ask, particularly Gene and Zak, about what you guys think about what Liberty Media’s done and anything we can expect?

    GH: It’s all good. I think they’ve taken a very very positive approach of being pro-active to changing things. I think they’ve opened the sport to more fans. I love the weekends. I think the weekends make it more of a family event. It’s interesting what they’re doing. And obviously they’ve done quite a bit. I think they’ve done more in this last year than we’ve seen in the few years I’ve been in Formula One. It’s all good and I know they want to add more races, there’s a lot of things on their agenda. It will be interesting to see when they actually put something down in writing for the teams and how they will respond to it but I think it’s all been very very positive.

    ZB: Yeah, I agree with Gene. We’ve seen a lot of activity this year. They’re trying new things, really engaging with the fans. You can tell there’s a real focus on the fan and I think if we get that right and we have hundreds of millions fans around the world, create new fans, then that creates a healthy eco-system for more sponsors, healthier teams, everyone can sell more products so we would have a great fan base and they are really focused on expanding that and I think it’s very early days, looking forward to the off-season, they’re not 12 months into the job yet, so they’re drinking from the fire hose and I think onwards and upwards and we’re going to have a very healthy sport moving forward.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Toto, you were talking about two upcoming meetings. One I imagine that you referred to as the engine presentation on the 31st but there’s also a strategy group meeting. Given the fact that the four of you represent teams that have got totally different business models, what would each of you like to see come out of that strategy group on November 7th?

    TW: Well, I can only speak for ourselves. The most important thing is that there is clarity on what the vision is from Liberty going forward, on chassis regulations, on engine regulations. We are pretty open to hear their opinion, as long as we have enough time to adapt and adjust and make our opinion be heard. That will be the priority from my point of view.

    ZB: I agree with Toto. My only build would be a timeline in which to implement… we’re never going to get all the teams totally aligned so I think it’s a case of you’ve got to kind of get 80 percent of the way there and then as owners of the sport make some decisions and then we get aligned so I’d like to just see it happen in a fairly quick manner so we can get on with it. And 2021 is around the corner. It would be nice to maybe see some of the things implemented before then. So I think just making sure it doesn’t drag out, which historically has happened in this sport when there’s been regulation changes and that becomes disruptive.

    GH: Well, they definitely need to finalise their ideas on paper because I think it’s going to take the whole of next year to sort those out and then you’re into ’18 and then there’s only a couple of years before ’19, ’20 comes around, so it’s very important for them to put things in writing so the teams can argue about them and back and forth with Formula One and FIA and teams and we can start some kind of a basis of opinion of what we want to do. We’re very interested in cost caps and engine specs and technology limits but it’s almost congress and trying to pass a tax reform or budget or something, it sounds like it could go on forever.

    RF: Probably very similar to everyone else. I think what you’re looking for is to get an in principal agreement on the strategy group which clearly determines the headline items of what we want to achieve and within that, the timing of when it’s got to be achieved by. I think those are the key elements to come out of the strategy group on the seventh. If we don’t achieve that, then it just keeps pushing it out.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) On this strategy group meeting, the presentation of so-called ideas, how much of a fait accompli are these ideas? Is it a take-it or leave-it or is it, as Gene says, a starting point for more discussions?

    RF: I’m hoping there’s been enough discussions over the last six months or more with all the various teams so I’m hoping that they’ve got a good feel for where they want to go and that we’re actually going to be voting on the principles of where we want to go. The headline items and as I say, getting the timescale in place for those to be adopted, so I would hope it would be a little more. I don’t think it’s a fait accompli by any means but it’s certain that we should have a very clear direction.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) From all of you, just to get a maybe more specific idea or what your expectations would be at this strategy group meeting coming up in a few weeks? Anything in the top three things that you would like to talk about, like to hammer out, and as Gene pointed out, that this could be like trying to pass a Senate bill. Are you willing to go long hours into the night to hammer out something, to get something done and not leave it for the next meeting?

    TW: Well, most recently, I don’t think congress has come up with lots of decisions. We need to do a better job there. I think we need to respect, like you said before, all of us have different set-ups and this is what makes Formula One and actually you cannot be stubborn on your own position.

    What was the question? I think it needs a good discussion, on the lining of the vision we have going forward and then find the right compromise.

    ZB: Yeah, I would agree with Toto. I think we’re all very keen to get on with it. I think we’re all very vested in the sport and will stay and always work as many hours as we need to. I think I’ve got a commercial flight booked back so if it goes late I’m going to have to hop a ride with Toto. But no, I think there’s lots to discuss. I think it would be difficult to narrow it down to a top three.

    GH: I don’t think we really have that much of a voice in the strategy meeting. I talked to Guenther quite a bit about it but I think it goes back to what we said earlier, we need to get all these ideas down on paper and from then, I think that will be a tablet or something that you can go forward with. Right now, everything is just up in the air and it’s speculation so until someone actually commits to paper what the ideas are, you really can’t talk about them that much so if they could just come up with a one page summary of what they want to do I think that would be what I would like to see.

    RF: I would like a bit further than that. I would like to see a very clear proposal with ‘this is what we want to do, yes or no’ and we vote on it, maybe only in principle at the beginning with the clear objective of getting there within the timelines but I don’t think it should be a discussion programme. I think we’ve had enough time, over the last six or eight months to discuss it.

    Eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

  • Sahara Force India at the US Grand Prix: Formula One practice report

    Sahara Force India at the US Grand Prix: Formula One practice report

    Esteban Ocon (FRA), left, with teammate Sergio Perez (MEX) at CoTA on Friday. A Sahara Force India F1 Team photo.

    SERGIO PEREZ – VJM10-02

    FP1 1:37.861 P9 20 laps
    FP2 1:36.481 P9 28 laps

    Sergio: “We can be quite happy about today’s work. We gathered a lot of data and we’re in a good place for the rest of the weekend, even if I wasn’t overly convinced about the development tyres we tried this morning. It’s going to be tight to be best of the rest, but I am confident we can do that: the car has been feeling good, especially in hotter conditions, so we have a good base to build on.”

    ESTEBAN OCON – VJM10-04

    FP1 1:37.808 P8 25 laps
    FP2 1:36.490 P10 34 laps

    Esteban: “It was a positive day overall, testing different things on the car and working towards the ideal set-up. Finding the balance hasn’t been as immediate and easy as it was in Malaysia and Suzuka, so we still have a little bit of work to do, but we are getting closer to where I want it to be. I have no doubt it will be much better tomorrow. We still need to find something in the slow-speed corners and that’s where we will concentrate this evening.”

    ROBERT FERNLEY, DEPUTY TEAM PRINCIPAL

    “Despite a damp morning session, we worked our way through the job list and collected information on all three tyre compounds. Track temperatures were quite cool in the morning, but rose in the afternoon to levels that are more representative of what we expect for the rest of the weekend. This is a challenging track on which to strike the right balance between the high and low-speed sections, and that is where we will continue to focus our attention tonight. By the time we were doing long runs at the end of FP2, both drivers were happier, even though there’s still work to do ahead of qualifying. Overall, it was a pretty standard Friday which sets us up well for the rest of the weekend.”

  • Sahara Force India looks to consolidate fourth place: Austin GP

    Sahara Force India gets ready for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin.

    Vijay Mallya: “The last few races have seen us take some significant steps forward with the performance of the VJM10. In Malaysia and Japan, we were the fourth fastest team and I’m confident we can remain there for the upcoming races. In Japan, for example, we finished over 20 seconds clear of the eighth-placed car, which is a big statement on such a technical track. It’s thanks to all the hard work in the wind tunnel, the factory, and trackside that we are sitting in a very strong fourth place in the championship with 81 points advantage to fifth place. The next race in Austin will be another opportunity to score well and consolidate our position.”

    Sergio Perez: “The race in Austin is one of my favourite weekends of the year. There are so many Mexican fans in the grandstands and the support I feel is just amazing. My family and friends always come to spend time with me at the circuit, which is an added bonus.

    “It’s an interesting circuit with some very exciting corners. I think the esses in sector one will feel amazing with this year’s cars. I also enjoy turn one: it’s very hard to get your braking just right and you can easily miss the blind apex. You can’t really see where you are going until you are at the top of the hill and it’s easy to turn in late and run wide.

    “I’m feeling happy with how things have gone during the last few races. I’m proud of the job we have done and the results we have achieved. It’s great that we are still bringing new parts to the car and making progress. The car is working well and Austin should be another chance to score good points.”

    Esteban Ocon: “I was really pleased with our performance in Suzuka. It was definitely one of my best races this year and it’s always enjoyable when you come away on the Sunday night feeling that you achieved the maximum that was possible. The car was quick from the very start of practice and the same was true in Malaysia. It feels as though we’ve taken a big step forward recently and I believe we will be strong in all of the remaining races.

    “I think everybody enjoys visiting Austin. It’s a fun city and I enjoyed myself there last year. Even though we have to focus on the racing, you stay in the city and you get to soak up the atmosphere. There’s a lot of live music going on during the race week and some great restaurants in the city.

    “Austin is a satisfying track to drive because there are so many different types of corner. The high-speed section is similar to Silverstone; there are long straights like Monza, and there is the tight and twisty section at the end of the lap. The unusual turn one is also a special feature of the lap. Because it’s uphill, you can brake really late and there are a few different lines you can take through the corner. It’s not easy to overtake, but turn one can give you a decent opportunity.”

    Sahara Force India’s Chief Race Engineer, Tom McCullough, looks ahead to the race at the Circuit of the Americas.

    “The Circuit of the Americas is one of the few anti-clockwise circuits and is a real test for the car: with its mix of low, medium and high-speed corners, finding the perfect set-up is a challenge. There is a significant gradient in several parts of the circuit and especially in the steep uphill run-up to the braking zone in turn one. The first sector winds through multiple changes of direction at high speed, in a way that is reminiscent of Suzuka’s first sector: it’s a part of the track the drivers love and it will be particularly interesting to see this year’s cars on it. With each passing year, the track has become more of a challenge when it comes to ride, so it will be interesting to see how bumpy the track surface is going to be this year.”

    Make a difference with Sahara Force India this Breast Cancer Awareness Month
    This October, Sahara Force India is shining a light on the vital need to raise more money to support the 612,000 people currently living with breast cancer in the UK, by printing the names of two inspiring women, Emma Thompson and Elaine Fuller, on our VJM10 cars.  Both women have had a breast cancer diagnosis and we want to share their stories as a mark of strength, hope and unity for all those affected by breast cancer this Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

    Together with Memento Exclusives, Sahara Force India will also be running an online auction from 16th – 25th October to help raise vital funds for Breast Cancer Care, featuring unique experiences and items designed to inspire any Formula One fan.

    Take a look at the fantastic auction lots here or show your support this Breast Cancer Awareness Month by donating here.

    eom/Sahara Force India press release

  • It is a real surprise, says Hamilton about his pole: Malaysian GP

    It is a real surprise, says Hamilton about his pole: Malaysian GP

    Hamilton after taking the pole in the Malaysian GP on Saturday. An FIA image

    DRIVERS: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari); 3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS (conducted by Johnny Herbert)

    Lewis, what a great result for you. You must be very happy. That looked like a pretty decent lap?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, look at this crowd. I know it’s our last grand prix here but this is the best crowd I’ve ever seen. Thank you so much for all the support. We had no idea how it was going to go today. I’m sorry for whatever happened to Sebastian, because obviously he was very, very quick through practice. But somehow we turned it round. The engineers did such a great job yesterday, the car felt great, for both Valtteri and I, and so it’s a real surprise to be up here with these guys, so I’m very, very grateful.

    Kimi come and join us. What a try that was! Happy with that? I’m sure you wanted just a little bit more. I would have thought you would have done one of the old karting moves – jumping up and down in the seat, leaning forward. Maybe you should do that next time. 

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, it’s OK, but obviously when you get that close it’s disappointing. I made the most out of it. Yes, there are always places you can improve, but you are never going to get it 100% perfect anywhere. You always find some things you can improve, but I must say the car has been behaving nicely all weekend and it’s been a pleasure so far. We’ll try to get further than 100 metres tomorrow, and let’s see what we can do.

    Tomorrow is going to be important, obviously you have been on the front row before but this is going to be an interesting little drive towards Turn One. Are you ready for this? This crowd is looking forward to a big race tomorrow, yeah?

    KR: Yeah, obviously it’s a long way, so if you make a good start you will benefit quite a bit from it. It’s a pretty tight first two corners and a lot usually happens. We’ll try to make sure the first two corners go well and go from there. I think we’re going to have a very good race car, so let’s see.

    Well here’s a man we’re going to get on – the birthday boy, that you got on very closely with in the last race. Hopefully that’s not going to be the case. Max, happy with that result? You seemed to get the best from the car. 

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I think it’s good for us in qualifying to be in this position. I mean it’s always good to drive on this track, especially in qualifying – Turns 5 and 6 are flat out, so it’s a lot of fun. And also the crowd – it’s amazing how passionate they are. So on my birthday to be third here is perfect.

    LH: I thought you were 19?

    MV: Twenty now.

    LH: Twenty now! Does he look much younger than me?

    I’m sorry to say, yes. Lewis, tomorrow, the race is going to be so important. We know what happened the last time out, but this is a long run up to Turn 1, but you must be looking forward to it, because this is the perfect situation for you.

    LH: It is. Obviously we are going to have a tough battle with these guys. Particularly the Red Bulls had really great long-run pace yesterday, and today I think. I’m hoping our car has moved in the right direction for the race run but we’ll see tomorrow. But there is a long, long run down to Turn 1, so lots can happen. But exciting to see all these guys coming out tomorrow and hopefully [it will be] the biggest crowd we’ve ever had.

    You’re going to be after the perfect start, Kimi, Max, tomorrow you’re going to want to get in front of this guy, who is the man who is going to do that.

    MV: I don’t want to be sandwiched – that’s the only thing.

    Kimi?

    KR: I don’t want to be hit.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, fifth Malaysian pole position, four years in a row here, and becomes the first man in Formula One history to get into the 70s of pole positions. What a turnaround from yesterday, and even from this morning. Seven tenths of a second ahead of your team-mate suggest that was a moment of inspiration. Tell us about it.

    LH: We had such a difficult day yesterday; it was difficult to know where we stood. I didn’t sleep very well, just like all my engineers as well, because we didn’t know whether we would fix the issue or not. But today we arrived and the car was much better but still I think it looked like the Ferraris were a little bit ahead. We had some big calls to make going into qualifying and then those laps were, particularly the last one, the first Q3 lap, was very well put together, a very nice lap. I don’t really know where it came from, to be honest, so I’m a little bit surprised at myself. As I said, it’s a surprise to be up here. I’m very grateful. These guys have been driving exceptionally well all weekend. It’s always a special thing to be able to extract a little bit more out of the car than it’s particularly willing to go. That’s what I’ve always enjoyed, since my dad would say… my first go-kart was fifth-hand or something like that, and he’d say it was like a four-poster bed. Not that my car was a four-poster bed today but I was hoping I could extract a little bit more out of it.

    You acknowledged in Singapore that you had a slice of luck with what happened at the start, and a slice of luck with your main title rival Vettel starting from the back of the grid. You’ve got to capitalise on it, so will Valtteri have a part to play in it as Vettel comes through the field?

    LH: I haven’t really thought… I don’t know what happened to Sebastian. I mean, he would have been up there with us, he’d been driving well all weekend, very, very quick, between him and Kimi. Very unfortunate for him, but of course we just have to continue to focus on our job and try to maximise on every opportunity that we get collectively. Hopefully we are in a good position for tomorrow. Obviously we have put ourselves in the best position for tomorrow but we still have a tough race ahead of us, so we’ll just try and keep our heads down and hopefully those behind me and it will just unfold the way it unfolds.

    Q: Kimi, it equals your best qualifying performance here in Sepang: 0.045 of a second off pole position. A lot of weight on your shoulders obviously in qualifying from the Ferrari team with Vettel in trouble. You were on target, it seemed, until the final corner – tell us about it.

    KR: Well, I don’t know. Obviously, I only know how it was and I think overall, the whole weekend, it’s been pretty straightforward. The car’s been handling well. I think we were quite happy all day, also in qualifying but, y’know, you can always improve here and there. I don’t think you ever going to make an absolutely perfect lap and it’s a bit more painful when you get that close, for sure. There’s places that you improve a little bit and it’s just enough – but it wasn’t today. Obviously was a shame for the team, with Seb’s issue, whatever, not having him in the qualifying – but that’s how it goes sometimes. I think the car’s [inaudible] very well but to try to fix it and then obviously had some problem. It’s a shame for him. Sure he will be good tomorrow. I’m happy but I’d rather have qualified in first place but I think tomorrow is a long race, it’s going to be tough for tyres and I think we should have a very good car tomorrow. I have a good feeling about it.

    Q: Max, happy 20th birthday. Going well so far…

    MV: Thank you very much!

    …strong weekend thus far. I think it’s the 11th time now this season you’ve out-qualified Daniel, so once again very strong qualifying performance. Four-tenths off today in qualifying but do you feel with what you saw yesterday in the long runs, quite low degradation, the car looked quick, obviously, the faint possibility of rain as well, that there’s room for optimism in the race tomorrow.

    MV: Well, for sure, if it rains, then then I think we always have a good opportunity. I think in the dry today, I’m actually very happy that I’m here in third because this morning – afternoon, the last session – I was struggling a lot with the balance of the car. Actually, the whole weekend has been up and down in terms of happiness with the car but we managed to do a good qualifying again. Really happy with that, of course. The car, except maybe the final run in Q3, before that was really well balanced, so I can’t complain. I think we could have been a bit closer, definitely we couldn’t have beaten them today but for us, to be third here, on this track, is perfect. Also, in the long runs, it was all looking good. If it’s good enough, I don’t know. We’ll see tomorrow. From my side, I want to have a good Sunday finally. Because every time on Saturday it’s always going well, but on Sunday I haven’t scored a lot of points.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, in the long runs yesterday you didn’t show good performance and today you have very good performance in one lap. Do you have an indication with this new setup for the race?

    LH: Yeah, in the P3 we did a long-ish short run, only five laps. I think the car was in a much better position but I think we were something like four- or five-tenths off the other guys. So we shall see tomorrow whether that is still the case – but I think we made some changes going into qualifying that should suit the car better for tomorrow, so I’m hopefully that we will be there or thereabouts.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Max, as you turn 20, you’re no longer a teen sensation so to speak. What is the highlights of your career. If you had to choose, for example, between Interlagos, coming through the rain and that victory on your debut, which would you choose?

    MV: It’s difficult. To be honest, I think my best memory is still from go-karting, when I won the World Championship, because you always dream of it, to achieve something like that, and especially… I worked really hard with my Dad, to achieve something like that, because he was my engine tuner, he was my mechanic. We have travelled the world together since I was four years old. I think I was 15 at the time. You win the World Championship in the highest category in go-karting. That was very emotional. Then the victory in Spain was also very emotional at the time – but I want to win a race on merit and not with luck. So that hasn’t happened yet, so I think still that victory in go-karting is more satisfying.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, in Monaco you won the pole with the same margin as you did lose it today. How big is the difference in your feeling compared to that Monaco?

    KR: It makes no difference to compare what happened in Monaco with here. I don’t really care what’s the time difference, or position today. It’s what happened. We came second, I’m pretty happy because things have been running pretty smoothly all weekend and I think we’re going to have a good car tomorrow, at least so far that’s how it’s been. You always look for more and for sure there’s always things to improve, to go a bit faster and that little bit would have been enough today.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Lewis, once again Beast-mode. You find a way to really turn it up when your back is against the wall like this, again we’re seeing this level that you can’t figure out where it’s coming from. What is it, the many fans out there that, the Union Jacks, all the Lewis Hamilton fans, team LH is out there, coming thousands of miles to watch you race at this last Malaysian Grand Prix?

    LH: Well one thing for sure, the support is… I mean, we’ve been coming here for ten years and it’s known not to have a very attendance here but the crowd already from Thursday was pretty awesome and today, every time you leave the garage, every time you come in, I can see all these flags opposite my garage. It’s the most… in all the ten years put together, today was more than all of those. Incredibly grateful for that. Of course, I get a lot of energy from that, and from special people I met, I met this young kid, Brandon, the other day who just was the highlight of the week, and then I guess always digging deep. I’m very, very grateful that the laps have come at the right time, throughout qualifying, because you know you approach it and you hope that you’re able to execute at the right time – but it’s not always… you’re never always on point but so far this weekend and particularly, obviously, just now, that lap, the one that really counts was the one I need and the one that I got. So it’s a combination of a lot of things, but my team worked so hard last night to really try to… I think they were here until 2am, trying to understand the car and make sure we made the right steps with real good analysis, so I’m grateful for all that hard work.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, you took the old aero package today, your teammate the new one, was it your decision, was it a joint decision and why did you take the decision to go back to the old one?

    LH: How do you know that? Hmm? Did Niki tell you that? We came with an upgrade that was supposed to be better but we were unsure yesterday because we were so far off. We went back to one car trying one, the other car trying the other. Before qualifying I was thinking of going back to the new package because Valtteri’s and my times were very similar and Valtteri seemed really happy with it and so I didn’t want to carry a penalty going into qualifying. You want every little millisecond you can get but there wasn’t really enough time so we ended up staying with it and also it was kind of a risk, changing the car again for qualifying and maybe getting something wrong and so we just… that was really why we ended up staying with it but fortunately I’d done P3 with it so I was quite comfortable with where I was and it provided a stepping stone in terms of making the set-up change. Ultimately it was down, it is down in performance but fortunately it didn’t make a difference.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Lewis, did that experience of having a home Finnish sauna help you to beat this other Finnish guy because you seem to be sweating less than him?

    LH: Did you say the home Finnish sauna? I haven’t been in it for a long time. I used the sauna here but it’s not as good as a Finnish sauna. I used the one in KL. Kimi, do you still use a sauna? You do? It doesn’t strike me as a usual Finnish guy, Kimi, but for me, coming from England, this is a sauna here. It’s bloody roasting.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – De Volksrant) Max, touching upon the extension of contracts for China and Singapore and the possibility of new races being added in the near future, how do you feel about a calendar with 24 races? I believe Fernando Alonso isn’t a fan of expanding the calendar and Lewis isn’t that fond of it as well, I heard.

    MV: I think 21 is more than enough. I think it’s already quite a lot.

    LH: Shit. Is it really 24? They’re talking about 24?

    MV: Yeah. Yeah, I think it’s quite a lot. So I may…

    LH: He’s young, he’s got…

    MV: Several family and friends. Racing is one part but you also have your private life, away from racing, but you don’t really see them a lot, so I think if you’re going to do 24, 25, it’s not only for the drivers but also the mechanics. I think it’s better to get a divorce straight away.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Lewis, I guess we have got three top teams again after the start of the season where it was mainly Mercedes and Ferrari. Are you happy with more battles? Does it make it better?

    LH: Absolutely, absolutely. I think we need even more than that. Red Bull have really stepped it up, stepped up their game in the last… through the last race and coming here and it’s great to see them performing so well. We obviously want them to be even closer so it really mixes things up. I was hopeful they were going to be even quicker today but I don’t know what happened, whether they lost a little bit of pace or not. But yesterday they were looking fantastic but again, their long run pace in the race here is often very very good so without doubt tomorrow they will be on our tails, I would imagine. In the past they’ve always been great here and looking after their tyres and keeping the temperatures low. I think it’s great, I think it’s more exciting for the fans. Wouldn’t it be great if we had Williams back there and McLaren back there and then there would be a real race.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Kimi, your teammate is in the back, he’s fighting for the championship. You on the first row, do you think you can believe also the team can ask you to change the strategy in order to take maximum possible points from Lewis, keeping that in mind?

    KR: What do you  mean exactly, because as a team, we want to get maximum points out of any race with two cars and obviously for Seb we hope he’s going to make a good recovery but it’s not going to change my  race. We’re always going to try and make the fastest race and I don’t really know what else…

    eom/FIA transcript of the press conference

  • Sai Rahil wins championship on debut; Jagan takes the fight to the last race: 2w Nationals

    Sai Rahil wins championship on debut; Jagan takes the fight to the last race: 2w Nationals

    Amarnath Menon. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai: Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing), who celebrated his 29th birthday a few days back, gifted himself with a victory to take a six-point lead on the Super Sport Indian (165cc) leaderboard in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT track, here on Saturday.

    Meanwhile, 21-year old from Kozhikode Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) clinched the title in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class with a race in hand while 19-year old Commerce student from Hyderabad, Sai Rahil Pillarishetty, racing in his first season, bagged the championship in the Novice (Stock, 165cc) class.

    Going into today’s race, Jagan trailed Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) by one point and the victory took the TVS Racing star’s tally to 147. Sethu, who had led briefly when Jagan ran wide in the third lap, finished second to concede lead in the championship standings. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) came in third.

    “I am happy to win today. The bike felt good. I made a small mistake in the back ‘D’ when I ran wide and Sethu moved past me. But I overtook Sethu soon after and in the last two laps, opened up a good lead,” said Jagan who is seeking his third straight title.

    For 18-year old Sethu, also from Chennai, it was so near yet so far. He did well to get to the front and even clocked the fastest lap of the race (01min, 57.964secs), bettering his qualifying time (01:58.987), but missed a gear at Turn-9 when on the attack in the penultimate lap and it allowed Jagan to open up a winning lead.

    “Obviously, I am very disappointed. I had better pace today than in qualifying, but one mistake when I was on a charge, cost me. Tomorrow, I hope to do better. The pressure will be on Jagan since he is in the lead,” said Sethu.

    Earlier, Amarnath Menon rode a relaxed race and collected just enough points to seal the championship with a fourth-place finish behind winner Deepak Ravi Kumar (Moto-Rev), Vivek Pillai (Rockers Racing) and Shreyas Sannake from Miraj.

    Menon, who had started the season with five victories in six races, collected 12 points today, to take his aggregate to 167 while Ravi Kumar, his third win in a row, moved up to 141. Thus, second race tomorrow, with a maximum offering of 25 points, will be of only academic interest.

    For Sai Pillarishetty, it turned out to be a glorious debut season. He finished third in the concluding race of the Novice (Stock, 165cc) class, behind Anup Kumar (RACR) and his Sparks Racing team-mate Peddu Sriharsha, also from Hyderabad. The podium and 15 points took Pillarishetty’s tally to 76, eight clear of Sriharsha.

    In the Pro-Stock category, seven points separate leader Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) and Aravind Ganesh (Moto-Rev) after they finished sixth and fourth, respectively, with one more race to be run on Sunday. S Sivanesan (Team Alisha Abdullah),

    Naresh Babu J (RACR) and Kannan Karnan (Rockers Racing) took the podium spots in that order.

    The results (Provisional):

    Super Sport Indian (165cc) – Race 1 (6 laps): 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (11mins, 53.965secs); 2. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (11:57.114); 3. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (12:06.530).

    Pro-Stock (165cc) – Race 1 (6 laps): 1. S Sivanesan (Team Alisha Abdullah) (12:47.252); 2. Naresh Babu J (RACR) (12:47.740); 3. Kannan Karnan (Rockers Racing) (12:57.695).

    Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) – Race 1 (6 laps): 1. Deepak Ravi Kumar (Moto-Rev) (11:47.513); 2. Vivek Pillai (Team Rockers Racing) (11:54.266); 3. Shreyas Sannake (Miraj) (12:02.177).

    Novice (Stock, 165cc) (6 Laps): 1. Anup Kumar M (RACR) (13:04.723); 2. Peddu Sri Harsha (Sparks Racing) (13:06.988); 3. Sai Rahil Pillarishetty (Sparks Racing) (13:14.288).

    MMSC One-Make Championship (Novice) – Honda CBR 150 (Race 1, 5 laps): 1. Amala Jerald (Chennai) (11:04.351); 2. Vysakh Sobhan (Kerala) (11:04.414); 3. Satyanarayana Raju (Hyderabad) (11:05.354).

    TVS Apache RTR 200 (Race 1, 6 laps): 1. Anup Kumar (Chennai) (13:19.668); G Balaji (Chennai) (13:19.991); 3. Shankar Guru A (Chennai) (13:20.282).

    Yamaha R15 Novice (Race 1, 6 laps): 1. Sai Rahil Pillarishetty (Hyderabad) (13:48.089); 2. Nithish Kumar M (Coimbatore) (13:48.512); 3. Aswin Kumar (Chennai) (13:57.651).

    eom/AP Media Comm. press release

  • Our target for next year too is to stay 4th: Otmar Szafnauer of Force India

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Force India).

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Christian, let’s begin with you and the announcement of the Aston Martin deal. Tell us the scope of that, the ambition and whether there is an engine dimension to it going forward?

    Christian HORNER: Well, it’s great news for our team. We have been working with Aston over the last 18 months now on a project, starting with the Valkyrie road car, and out of the upturn there has been within the Aston business over the last couple of years, they have decided that Formula 1 is the right platform to invest in and have taken up the title sponsorship of our team for the next three years. That collaboration will not only see an on-track, with the team being named Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, it also sees behind the scenes a collaboration on future products that Aston are working on and then producing some of those cars in Milton Keynes, producing more jobs in Milton Keynes – over 100 new positions are going to be created in the future – to hopefully produce some great looking cars.

    And the engine dimension?

    CH: There is no engine dimension at this point in time but what we await with interest is what will the regulations be, what are Liberty’s plans regarding engines and chassis from 2021 onwards. So in an ideal world it would allow an independent manufacturer such as an Ilmor or a Cosworth to be able to compete with the big guns. But until we can see what the scope of those regulations are, it’s difficult to make any assumptions.

    And on the subject of engines, your sister team Toro Rosso has the Honda engines next season and you collaborate technically with that team, so how closely will you be monitoring the progress of Honda?

    CH: I think it’s a really exciting development for Toro Rosso. It’s an opportunity for them to move forward. It keeps Honda in Formula One, which I think is also a positive and we’ll certainly be keeping an interested eye on how things are developing in Italy.

    Otmar, you’ve kept the same two drivers for next season – a very exciting pairing – how are things working out between them since you had a talking to them in Spa and do you feel you have got on top of their issues without blunting their competitiveness?

    Otmar SZAFNAUER: Yeah, they’ve always gotten on. They have their on-track incidents, like you mentioned in Spa. That event kind of focused both their minds and now they have a good understanding that if they come together you never know who the winner or loser is, but for certain the team loses. We all work for a team, we all pull together, we’re all team members. They understand that and they’ll be working for the team going forward.

    You’re a clear fourth in the Constructors’ Championship now, and likely to stay there. Obviously next year with Renault likely to move forward, with McLaren pairing up with Renault and all the other moves going on, will it be an achievement to just stand still in fourth next year, or are you pushing the team to get third?

    OS: Well, it will be difficult next year. Like you say, Renault have shown great steps forward this year from where they started to where they are now. I think it’s no secret that McLaren have a lot of resources and are also capable. It will be difficult for us to remain fourth, but we always set our sights on achievable goals and we will push hard next year to at least stay fourth and someone makes a mistake ahead of us, you never know what can happen.

    Frédéric, you ran Charles Leclerc in FP1. How did he do? And how do you rate him, given that you’ve had so many great young drivers pass through your hands – the Hamiltons, the Hulkenbergs, the Rosbergs – how do you rate Charles against them?

    Frédéric VASSEUR: I won’t rate Charles, only on the FP1 this morning, and it was a tricky session. He did very well this morning. He had not so many laps to do but he was at a good pace from the start and he did a very good session, even on the technical feedback everything went well. If you look on the global picture, he did very well in the junior series, he is doing very well in Formula 2. So far I think he had to be focused on the last part of the championship, to win the title and then you will see for next year.

    It looks like Sauber could be more closely linked to Ferrari next season. You’re obviously an expert in bringing young drivers on, as we’ve just discussed. Is that the best direction, you believe, for Sauber to take?

    FV: For sure there is a huge gap today between Sauber and the top teams and we need to find a way of collaborating with a top team fi we want to improve and if we want to improve quickly. Because the most important thing is to bring the team back into the field and then to be able to compete. OK, with the Ferrari deal we will improve and we will improve a lot and then we have to build up our own project to be able to fight with the guy in front of us.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all three of you: there has been a resignation this week from a senior member of the FIA’s technical team. He has three months’ ‘gardening leave’, which would then allow him to go to another team in a technical capacity. Does it concern you that he could be taking some secrets from teams with him?

    CH: Well, we take major issue with that if he does end up with another team. Obviously in these individuals you place an enormous amount of trust. In the role that Marcin has been responsible for he has been in an extremely privileged position and extremely recently he has been in people’s wind tunnels and looking at intimate details of knowledge of next year’s cars and I think three months’ notice period for him to then turn up in a competitor team in Formula One is entirely inappropriate. I certainly hope that isn’t the case and I’m sure it will get discussed quite seriously at the next strategy group meeting. It’s an important and vital role and it’s vital that the teams have trust and faith in the governing body that they can discuss their technical know-how, their technical secrets in many respects, which cost millions and millions of pounds, in confidence that that information doesn’t have the ability to end up in a rival team.

    FV: First, we need to know where Marcin will go but I agree with Christian, it is a big issue, because the FIA is fully aware of all the teams’ project and at the end of the day if we can’t be open with the FIA it’s a tricky situation. But first we need to know where Marcin will go.

    OS: I do agree and it would have been nice to know the notice period. Three months I don’t think is long enough and had we known it was three months earlier, perhaps we would have hired him. But I think three months is nowhere near long enough.

    What is?

    OS: I think a year. I mean, it has to be long enough such that the technology that he is aware of becomes, if not obsolete, then not leading edge. There are some sporting regulations as well that prohibit us from selling current-year cars for exactly the same reason. The cars have to be at least one year before we can dispose of them and it’s for that reason and I think notice periods should follow along the same lines.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) For the other two gentlemen: what do you think would be an appropriate time, one year or more?

    FV: For sure, one year would fit with the spirit of the regulations but three months is really too short.

    CH: I think industry standard for the type of role that Marcin has been performing would be anywhere between 12 and 18 months. We would look to place senior personnel within our team on at least 12 months.

    Q: (Jake Michaels – ESPN) To all three of you: How can concerning was what we saw at the end of the session, with Romain Grosjean going off?

    FV: For sure it was a huge crash. I am not an expert on the drain cover but I think we have to find a solution for tomorrow because it will be very, very risky, but I think that the FIA is focused on this point and I hope that we will be able to find a solution for tomorrow morning.

    Christian you have experienced this before.

    CH: Yeah, we had an incident quite a while back similar to that. The good thing is that nobody was hurt. Obviously the session was stopped and I’m sure all the covers here will be inspected rigorously before tomorrow’s running. I’m pretty confident and hopefully we won’t see a repeat issue.

    Otmar?

    OS: I think it just teaches that in future we should do it before it happens, have good inspection before something like this happens.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) This question’s for Christian, since your announcement with Aston Martin for 2018, social media has been very creative coming up with some liveries for next year – would you be considering taking some of those ideas from social media, maybe getting the fans involved – because Red Bull’s very good at fan engagement.

    CH: We enjoy the work we do on social media, we have great interaction with the fans and followers of the teams. The livery is pretty much decided for next year but it’s great to see people’s interpretations and ideas and they should keep putting them out there.

    Have you seen anything that’s on the right track?

    CH: No!

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Christian, your team has recently published its financial results – or rather submitted them, filed them with Companies House. When I look at them, first of all, there’s about a £40million contribution from the parent company, but apart from that your budget’s about two and a half times the size of Otmar’s. Do you actually get 250 per cent the value compared to theirs or is this not really proof that there should be some form of budget cap in place?

    CH: Well, I think what you have to look at is what are the cost-drivers in Formula One, and they are absolutely the sporting and technical regulations. We see costs spiralling out of control. We’re not by any means the biggest spender in Formula One as you’re well aware. And I think what’s going to be fascinating to see, hopefully over the next month or so, is what are Liberty’s and FIA’s plans regarding the future – because a budget cap becomes far less emotive if it goes hand-in-hand with sporting and technical regulations that absolutely deal with the costs, because they are the cost drivers. So I think, if the sporting and technical side are dealt with, some form of cap will be easier to bring in but if you put all of the pressure on the cap, then it becomes an accounting world championship and I think that some of the issues we have today with disparity of performance, with the amount of spend that’s going on, with the situation that’s regarding… Red Bull Racing is the only British registered team to be registering a profit, albeit a moderate one, and that shouldn’t be right in this level of sport.

    Otmar?

    OS: We welcome a budget cap or some cost controls within the sport. I mean, even with a cap I don’t think we’ll have the resources to spend up to it but I think it will help reduce some of the disparity in performance and that can only be good for the fans.

    Fred?

    FV: Yeah, we spoke about this in Monza, as I told you, I think the cap won’t be an issue for me.

    CH: Just coming back on Dieter’s point, I think one of the key things within Red Bull’s cost is how much goes into promotion, and promotion of the sport as well, that are contained within that budget. I think Red Bull does more than any other team on the grid with its running show car activities around the world, with the way that we try to promote not just the team and the brand but obviously the sport in general as well.

    PART TWO: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Mario ISOLA (Pirelli), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Guenther STEINER (Haas).

    Q: Mario, let’s start with you. We’re three-quarters of the way through the 2017 season on these new, wider tyres. We can all see what the lap time improvements have been but can you give us an idea of the increase in things like the cornering speeds and any other things you’ve noticed – apart from ‘don’t’ run over drain covers’.

    Mario ISOLA: Yeah, we have seen on the corners that are grip-limited, we had an increasing speed that is 30km/h – 40km/h. We made an analysis on the quickest and most famous turn in Barcelona, in Spa, at Silverstone and it was impressive to see that Copse is now 290km/h and it is 30km/h quicker than last year, or we have Pouhon in Spa that is 40km/h quicker, so it is, in terms of performance, I believe we reached the target. Lap times, as you said, are visible for everybody. We are also analysing the data because this additional grip is generated not only by the wider tyres but also by the increase in downforce and, as an average, we have 100kg of downforce more on each tyre, as an average obviously, it depends on the circuit and layout, type of configuration and setup – but it’s quite a lot.

    Q: What can you share with us about the plans for 2018? What are you going to do with the range? Are you going to go a bit softer? What’s the plan?

    MI: We have defined the construction and we released the data to the teams on the First of September. We have a new construction front and rear, we will give some additional information soon. Obviously we are now working on our compounds – because the target is still to go one step softer compared to this year. We know that this year we have been quite conservative – but last year it was not easy to develop the new sizes with the mule cars so we decided to be on the conservative side. So the current Soft will be the new Medium next year, and we also intend to increase the number of compounds. It is still not defined but we have probably next year more compounds to give us more freedom in the selection during one event, because there are no modifications in the sporting regulations, so it still three compounds per event and the target is to have more flexibility.

    Q: And just a comment from you on the Grosjean incident. We all saw what happened but from your point of view.

    MI: Well, the tyres are not made to resist such a big impact so I cannot add anything else other than what we have seen on the television.

    Q: Guenther, coming to you, talking about Romain’s accident, we all saw what happened, what can you tell us from his point of view, and also the state of the car.

    GS: I think from his point of view, he is OK. Thank God he didn’t get hurt or anything. The car is damaged, in my opinion, things like this in 2017 shouldn’t happen on a permanent circuit, they shouldn’t happen on any circuit. This is, in my opinion, not acceptable. This is not up to the standards. So, I haven’t spoken with anybody. The next thing we need to make sure is how we can prove that it doesn’t happen in the race? Because in the race this would have been a little bit of a bigger disaster. If a few cars go over it, then the cover comes up. I’m still not through… to think completely through what happened to end up in this situation. In a few hours hopefully we know more. The damage is very big on the car. I don’t know exactly what it is because the car just came back five minutes before I had to get here, so they hadn’t taken the parts off to see if the chassis is damaged as well – but once we know that we see what we can do for tomorrow. We need to be sure that all the drain covers stay in place tomorrow.

    Q: You dropped down to eighth in the Constructors’ after the race in Singapore – big result for Renault there, of course, but it’s so tight in the midfield, it’s still possible for you to finish fifth in the Constructors’ this year – even though you’re pulling a face – are you throwing development resource at finishing 2017 as strongly as you possibly can, given the battle you find yourself in?

    GS: No. I think fifth is a little bit ambitious from your side. I think we can not finish fifth but we try to finish seventh. I think at this moment in time we would be happen with that. We stopped developing the ’17 car quite a while ago to concentrate on next year’s car. We have limited resources. We need to focus that we stay stable year-to-year, not just one year up and down because then you create a wave-effect and you never get a grip of what you’re doing. We try to do our best. We will bring a few more developments but they are small. The last one comes in Austin. We hopefully can score some points. I hope also that our worst circuits are behind us, like the slow speed, high downforce ones. Our car doesn’t like them. It’s tough, as you said, in the midfield. We just need to try to do always a perfect job – and not hit drain covers.

    Q: And a final thought. We asked Fred Vasseur in part one about the idea of a closer collaboration with Ferrari on his side, particularly on the driver aspect. Would that have any bearing on your team? How does your Ferrari collaboration develop from here?

    GS: I think our one is stable. We are doing it since now, it’s our third year since we started, and we do what we do. I have no influence what they do with somebody else and I don’t want to have one. We are happy with our contracts and our collaboration. So, if Sauber wants to work with them, I have no opinion and I’m OK with it. I can’t do anything about it any way – so why worry? We get what we want, and we are happy and we continue this.

    Q: Toto, you’re defending a 28 point lead rather than chasing down a deficit but today things looked a little bit difficult for your cars. Is that truly representative of where you were and is there that much work to do?

    Toto WOLFF: The lap time is reality, the stopwatch always tells the truth. The lap time today showed that we are not quick enough. The car seems to be unbalanced and that triggers an awful lot of consequences and it was certainly one of the worst Fridays I can remember.

    Q: Now you renewed Valtteri Bottas’s contract but only for one year rather than longer term; what does he have to do next season to stay on, or is it more about what happens with other teams’ drivers and whether they look to move?

    TW: It’s all in his hands, he just needs to drive fast and score good results. The dynamics between the drivers and the drivers and the engineer team is great so that is positive and it’s about competing on track and being fast.

    Q: It’s the final Malaysian Grand Prix, obviously, but F1 has announced the contract with China has been extended for another three years. Your thoughts on both?

    TW: It’s sad that we’re leaving Malaysia because of our partnership with Petronas it has become like a second home Grand Prix. We spend five or six or seven times a year in Kuala Lumpur and therefore I will be missing the race. On China, China is an important market for us with huge potential and insofar as extending their race there is good, good for Formula One.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To all of you, certainly the two team principals: a senior member of the FIA’s technical department has recently resigned. He’s got three months’ gardening leave, he’s obviously worked pretty closely with the teams during his tenure. How do you feel about the fact that he could possibly be joining an opposition team within the next… certainly by the start of next year?

    TW: Do you want an undiplomatic answer or the diplomatic answer?

    GS: They were sandbagging today just to promote comment but anyway… I was not involved in the strategy group meeting this morning but I know that a senior member has left or is leaving the FIA but I’m not sure where he’s going in the end, so I cannot accuse him of something, that he’s going somewhere if I don’t know. I guess somebody’s taking him so it’s as much as who is taking him’s fault as the guy who is going. I think a little bit in between. But first of all, we need to know if he’s going to a team and then where he’s going but I don’t know that yet, Dieter.

    TW: I don’t think it’s correct because he’s had access to a lot of information, especially from Mercedes so he will tell everybody else, so I think for sure they are not happy. It’s like Guenther said, we don’t know where Martin is going. It’s just a rumour. We’ve received an e-mail from Charlie saying that he will be leaving the FIA and he will be on gardening leave for three months. I personally get on well with Martin and we wish him success for his career, that is clear, but we need to look at the timings, we need to be transparent with the FIA and give them access and therefore, in order to have the full trust of the teams, it’s important to have a certain stability and understanding how quick somebody can leave the FIA and join another competitive team.

    MI: I don’t think I’m involved in that. For me, I was working very very well with Martin, we were co-operating on a number of things on tyres, future regulations and so on so it’s a pity that he’s leaving the FIA. I agree with Guenther on the fact that Martin obviously has a lot of knowledge and going to another team creates an issue for them but we don’t know where he is going so…

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Toto, if we put aside the fact that your son was obviously a member of one of the F1 in Schools winning teams on Wednesday night, you were there, very enthusiastic about it. Could you tell us from a pure Formula One team principal perspective what you think of the project, the initiative and how you think it can help Formula One overall?

    TW: I didn’t know anything about Formula in Schools before I was actually surprised to hear that my son was joining it two years ago and it was his own initiative. I find it a really nice competition because young teenagers are creating a mini Formula One team. They have to raise sponsorship, they have to make a garage, create a marketing proposition, develop a little car. They are using tools such as CFD and mini-wind tunnels and then they put it on track and it’s very competitive and the best 52 teams made it to the world final last Wednesday and out of every corner of the world. And seeing them, how capable they are, and how enthusiastic they are for the sport, it’s really nice to see, so I will be cheering for Formula One in Schools, independently of whether my son is involved or not.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Toto, it would be fair to say that it would be one of the worst Fridays in your career. I would like to know if it’s just a question of lacking of grip, it’s just a question of heat or there is some other reason? And Ferrari put a lot of effort with new aerodynamic parts here. It seems that Mercedes is not at the same level at this event. Is that because you are thinking of bringing something more in Japan or in America?

    TW: As I said before, it feels like one of the worst Fridays. We have brought some new parts to the cars as well and now we need to chase back why it didn’t go today, independent whether it was in the wet or in the dry, on the long runs or on a single lap, we just lacked pace today and we have twelve hours to understand and then hopefully have a car tomorrow that is more stable.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) There will be a triple header next year; Formula One has this tendency that if they get away with it once, they will do it again, so how keen are you to see triple headers and know that if it happens, everything works out once, it will happen again?

    GS: OK, I think it is… if you plan it well, I think the crew for sure are the most stressed out but the triple header is in Europe so at least we have got that advantage. We don’t have to fly from continent to continent. I think let’s see how it is but again, we need to get organised for this stuff and if it doesn’t work or if it is too stressful or if you can change something – you have to learn from it and change something for the year after because… I’m with you there, if we do it once, we will do it again. If we get spectators in front of the TV or some factor out of this, it will happen again. It’s just one of those things that you need to do and then come out and analyse and see if it is worthwhile to do again and how to deal best with it.

    TW: I think Guenther summarised it pretty well. There will be other factors such as important events in other sports or outside of sport that need to be considered and I think making a calendar is not easy so we need to wait and see how we can cope with the three races and then learn the lesson.

    MI: Yeah, we are like a small team so we have the same problems so we are organising our people and we need additional people of course to cover all this because also if it is in Europe, we have trucks moving with the new tyres or bringing back the used tyres. For overseas it will be more complicated and if it happens, we need to make a proper plan in advance. Everything is possible if it is an advantage for the sport obviously we will be ready to do that but it will have an increase in logistics and people we are obliged to use.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Toto, today we saw an Instagram movie – if I can say – something about Trump that was posted by Lewis. Are you worried that there can be some effect coming to the USA Grand Prix for him?

    TW: This is a very controversial and polarising story. I wouldn’t want to get involved in politics. We all have our opinion. Lewis’s feelings about human rights are very strong and I think he wanted to show that and probably Instagram as the communication channel is something that he needs to rethink but I can relate to his feelings.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Are you worried for the United States Grand Prix?

    TW: No, I think one of the most important things in the US is that you have the right to express your opinion and I would want to leave it there and not comment any more. I think we are here as sport teams and sports should unite and I’m not sure it is happening everywhere in the world so I would rather lead by example and not comment on politics.

    End

  • Tangirala Soumya among 8 to join Randstad Williams Engineering Academy: F1 in schools

    Tangirala Soumya among 8 to join Randstad Williams Engineering Academy: F1 in schools

    Soumya Tangirala, image courtesy Evening Express

    Tangirala Soumya, one of the F1 in Schools finalists, is among the eight students to join the Williams programme that prepares youngsters for engineering positions in Formula One.

    Soumya, an Aberdeen Grammar school student and an Indian origin 16-year old girl, took part in the STEM challenge world finals at KL along with teammates Arran Brunning, 17, Cameron Roe, 16, and Faraj Monnapillai, 15, according to a news item in the eveningexpress.co.uk . They represented Scotland, as the best team and country representative. The team name is Volcan.
    But only Soumya and Brunning got selected for the Academy, an extra-curricular e-learning and vocational skills programme.
    This is a staged programme that sees Williams support the students until the completion of their university studies. The curriculum includes motorsport engineering themed learning via an e-learning portal. It also includes a variety of work placements and mentoring opportunities with senior Williams engineers, adds a release from Williams.
    Williams has announced the students selected to join the Randstad Williams Engineering Academy, the third intake of students to join this innovative education initiative that sees Williams and Randstad mentor students from around the world as they bid to secure a career as a Formula One engineer.
    Eight students were selected from a pool of 25 candidates competing in the 2017 F1 in Schools World Finals held in Malaysia, from 25-27th September. F1 in Schools is a global not-for-profit STEM competition that sees students design, build and race miniature racing cars.
    Following a series of practical and written challenges set by Williams engineers, a joint Williams and Randstad assessment panel chose the students that will join the Randstad Williams Engineering Academy from 2017. The students chosen demonstrated the passion, commitment and raw skills needed to join this exclusive programme.
    The students were announced during the F1 in School’s World Finals Gala Dinner in Malaysia, by Williams’ Head of Performance Engineering, Rob Smedley, and Randstad Malaysia’s Country Director, Ryan Carroll. The Class of 2017 are:
    Michael Farrell, United Kingdom
    Richard Grimes, Ireland
    Yaren Chakmak, United Kingdom
    Soumya Tangirala, United Kingdom
    Aaron Morris, United Kingdom
    Kyle Winker, Australia
    Christopher McKelvain, USA
    Arran Brunning, United Kingdom
    In Year One of the Randstad Williams Engineering Academy, students complete a series of motorsport themed e-learning modules that have been developed by Williams. Each student is assigned to an experienced Williams engineer acting as a mentor for the students, guiding them through the e-learning activities and providing advice on a career in motorsport. This is complemented by a number of practical experiences for the students. Randstad uses its extensive experience of global education systems and vocational skills training to help Williams in the ongoing assessment of the students, and also provides practical careers advice and work experience opportunities to the students in their respective home countries.
    Launched in 2015, the Randstad Williams Engineering Academy was designed to identify the best and brightest minds from around the world and embed them into our organisation from an early age. The students still attend school and university; our programme supports and goes a step beyond their traditional education. Students involved in F1 in Schools can apply to the Randstad Williams Engineering Academy to be in with a chance of being selected for this exceptional training opportunity. This is a competitive scheme, with each cohort of students gradually whittled down in numbers based on performance criteria and the ultimate goal is for successful graduates of the Academy to join Williams upon completion of their university studies.
    Speaking about this year’s selection process Jakob Andreasen, Chief Operations and Performance Engineer at Williams, said: “I have been really impressed and inspired by all of the students that have taken part in the Randstad Williams Engineering Academy assessment centre. Every day, we as a team have to overcome a number of challenges by working together and communicating well to solve the problems in front of us. And that’s exactly what the students have demonstrated this week.”
    Ryan Carroll, Randstad Malaysia’s Country Director, added: “The undersupply of STEM talents is a worldwide issue. We are glad that Randstad can be a part of this meaningful partnership at such an early stage of the students’ academic careers illustrating our commitment to engineering training and recruitment. Hopefully with this, we can address the skills gap and move people and businesses forward. We have all been truly inspired by the young people that have taken part in this week’s Randstad Williams Engineering Academy.”
    eom/Williams Press Release
  • With new updates, Force India looking forward to stabilise its 4th place: Malaysian GP

    With new updates, Force India looking forward to stabilise its 4th place: Malaysian GP

    Malaysian GP preview File photo from Sahara Force India

    Sepang, 26 Sept. 2017: Sahara Force India looks forward to the Formula One Malaysian GP at the Sepang F1 International Circuit which will be hosting its 19th and final F1 race this year. The Indian outfit has been punching about its weight and despite meagre financial resources has come fourth in the standings last year and the reward money for the slot in the top-four of the Constructors’ standings helped the team to continue its good running this year too.

    Currently, the team is doing much better than last year and is firmly placed 4th at this stage in the team points with both the drivers confirmed for 2018. Force India has 124 points, 65 points ahead of fifth-placed Williams Mercedes with six races to go.

    The Sepang circuit may not suit the Silverstone-based team, but with new upgrades coming up, the team management and drivers feel that they can get some more valuable points at the resurfaced circuit which is known not only for its hot and humid conditions but also abrupt and sudden bouts of rain which can change any equation on the track.

    Speaking from England, Team Principal Vijay Mallya said in a release: “Leaving Singapore with 11 points to help consolidate our fourth place in the championship was a very satisfactory outcome from a tricky weekend. It reminds us that even after a tough qualifying session, there is always plenty to fight for on Sunday. We also took a lot of positives from the pace of the VJM10 during the race and it’s clear that we have the potential for some more strong performances in the final six events.

    “This weekend is the last visit to Sepang for the foreseeable future and hopefully we can sign-off with some points. It probably won’t be our strongest circuit of the year, but we should be competitive, especially with the updates we continue to bring to the car. The drivers enjoy the quick corners and it’s always been a good track for overtaking and competitive racing. It’s sad to say goodbye to a circuit, but Malaysia can be proud of the events it has staged during the last 19 years and Formula One has always been given an extremely warm welcome by the fans.

    Confirming the drivers early in the season has its advantages and the Indian liquor baron, who is facing charges and stuck with a travel ban, felt that: “We head to Sepang having recently confirmed Sergio will remain with the team alongside Esteban in 2018. I’m extremely happy with the job both drivers are doing and delighted that we have stability with our line-up. Getting this all finalised relatively early in the year is always helpful. We can simply focus on maximising the final six races and plan effectively for next year.”

    The drivers too are confident that they can pull out one more successful round with a double points score. Recently, the two have clashed on the track which triggered a media trial and the management too has dropped its policy of allowing the drivers to race and warned them to be careful on track so that there will not be any such DNFs in the future. The team orders had their effect and both the drivers buried their hatchet and have promised to be more `professional’. Sergio Perez, who had his first podium here with a 2nd place in 2012, has good memories and is raring to go. He currently has 68 points and is in 7th place while Esteban Ocon is just behind with 56 points in 8th.

    Sergio Perez: “Malaysia is a place that means a lot to me. It’s where I got my first ever podium in Formula One, in 2012. After Singapore, it’s another very hot race. I think last year’s was the hottest race I’ve ever experienced during my whole career, so I expect to sweat a lot on Sunday!

    “The weather is so unpredictable, you can have a big storm all of a sudden and then it can dry up again in five minutes, because it’s so warm and humid.

    “Every year, Malaysia has been a special race because of the heat and the characteristics of the track. I’ll be really sad to see Sepang disappear from the calendar. I hope to see all the Malaysian fans at some other race and I hope they keep following us online.”

    Esteban Ocon: “Sepang is such a beautiful track. I really love it. I enjoy chicanes and there are quite a few in Malaysia, with some nice combinations of fast and medium-speed corners. When you have a good car in qualifying, you can just feel the grip; it’s very enjoyable. On the other hand, it’s a very tough race because of the heat and humidity. The rain can play a big part – at least I am told! Last year everyone kept telling me that, but it was just mega sunny and warm all weekend. It’s sad we will be racing here for the last time because it’s such a cool track. I am going to miss it.”

    Sahara Force India’s Chief Race Engineer, Tom McCullough, looks ahead the challenge of Sepang: “Malaysia is another race where the weather will be very hot: last year, we had track temperatures up to 60C. The conditions can be very unpredictable and there’s always a chance of rain showers, in particular during the early evening qualifying session at 5pm. In this regard, the conditions are very similar to what we saw in Singapore, with extreme heat and humidity; the main difference being the start time of the race, with the lights going off in the heat of the day at 3pm. The Sepang track features a good mix of low, medium and very high-speed corners, so the set-up needs to accommodate a large speed range. The track was resurfaced prior to the race last year, which improved ride response and reduced tyre degradation. It will be interesting to see how the track surface has evolved since.”

    eom/with inputs from SFI press release

  • Top two-wheeler talent on view as Asian Road Racing Championship returns to Chennai

    Chennai, 21 Sept. 2017: Shankar Sarath Kumar  and Rajiv Sethu of team RAMA Honda by NTS T.Pro Ten10 are India’s sole full-season riders in the  Super Sports 600cc and Asia Production 250cc classes respectively as Asian Road Racing Championship returns to the Madras Motorsports Race Track here on Friday.

    The three-day event will witness World-class and heart-stopping action after a four-year interval as the premier Road Racing Championship in Asia boasts of the cream of the region’s two-wheeler racing talent competing across the three categories of Super Sports 600cc, Unberbone 150cc and Asia Production 250cc.

    Riders from Australia, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Chinese-Taipei, besides the two Chennai-based Indians are in the fray for the fifth round of the championship.

    The ARRC field includes a clutch of riders with exposure at the World championship level and contesting in the SuperSports 600cc, Asia Production 250cc and the Underbone 150cc classes. Also on the weekend card are double-header support races in the Honda CBR 250 (Open) and TVS Apache 200 (Open) categories.

    MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “We once again welcome the Asia Road Racing Championship fraternity to Chennai, the spiritual home of Indian motorsport. We last hosted the ARRC at the MMRT four years ago and it is our privilege to yet again present the cream of Asia’s two-wheeler racing talent some of which have excelled at the World level.

    “It has always been MMSC’s philosophy and tradition to organize and promote the sport at all levels. This year, we introduced a separate category for Girls in the two-wheeler National championship and we are happy that it evoked good response. So, hosting the ARRC has been a natural progression for us at the MMSC.

    “We at the MMSC have also striven to attract two-wheeler manufacturers and our efforts have resulted in India’s top brands such as Honda, Suzuki, TVS, Yamaha, KTM, Bajaj and Royal Enfield, participating in our events in one form or other.”

    Reflecting on his chances, 24-year old Sarath Kumar said:

    “Obviously, I am very excited to be racing on my home track and in front of our fans. The expectations will be high and that adds to the pressure, but quite inspiring.

    “More importantly, thanks to all the hard work that MMSC officials have put in, we as riders can be proud of an international class paddock. The track conditions too are superb and I am hoping for a dry weekend without rains, but that is something nobody can control.

    “As for my realistic target, it is to get my lap time under 1:46 (one minute, 46 seconds) which will get me closer to the front bunch of riders. The 600cc field is very strong and has plenty of experienced riders with World Championship exposure. So, you can expect a very high level of competition.

    “Compared to last season when I was recovering from a knee injury, I am in better physical condition this year and am able to push more. My pace has improved, but the big problem is that I do not get any track time on the 600cc bike between races or pre-season.

    “Here in the National championship, I ride the 250cc bike and so, when I get to the ARRC, I have to adapt to the bigger machine. It takes time and lot of effort. The progress can be a bit slow. However, this weekend, I will do my very best to deliver a good result.”

    Rajiv Sethu, 18, said: “It has been a learning process for me in the ARRC this season. I have been improving with every outing and this weekend, I want to do better than my previous best finish of 16.

    “The competition in the 250cc class is extremely tough with many riders capable of winning. The conditions here at the MMRT are excellent, and we can expect high quality racing.

    “My goal is to stay with the leading bunch, and racing on my home track, I do not want to disappoint the fans. I have been in good form in the ongoing National championship and I hope to carry that form into this weekend.”

    eom