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Category: Indians Abroad
News about Indians racing in different motorsports events abroad
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Jehan Daruvala finishes 7th in Feature race: F2
Silverstone, 3 July 2022: Indian racer Jehan Daruvala endured a character-building weekend at the Silverstone round of the Formula 2 championship as he finished outside the top-three for only the second time in seven rounds but still came away with a double points finish.
The 23-year-old finished 8th in the Sprint and 7th in the Feature race respectively, taking home a total of seven points on a weekend of damage limitation for the lead Red Bull-backed racer in the standings.
Jehan started Saturday’s Sprint race from pole on a wet track and established a comfortable early lead. But the car, set up for mixed conditions, did not allow the wet weather tyres to be used to their optimum which led to them overheating and Jehan struggling for grip. Prema team mate Dennis Hauger, who finished 15th, suffered similarly.
Fired up to make amends in Sunday’s Feature race, Jehan, starting on the harder prime tyre, decided to play the long game. He looked after his tyres during the early stages of the race and, while briefly in the lead, unleashed his speed as his pitstop approached.
He continued lighting up the timing screens on the grippier option tyre as he fought his way back up the order.
Jehan showed strong pace all weekend. But getting a strong result in Sunday’s Feature race was always going to be an uphill task, with Jehan starting 10th after the qualifying strategy of setting one flying lap per tyre set did not work as most of his rivals found more pace on their second ‘push’ laps
Jehan said, “This wasn’t our weekend but that’s motor-racing sometimes. While I’m naturally disappointed, there are still positives that we can take away. The next race at the Red Bull Ring is only a week away. It’s a home race for us Red Bull juniors. We’ve shown both pace and consistency over the course of this season and I’m confident we can bounce back next weekend in Austria.”
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Mumbai Falcons extends support to Kush Maini’s F3 campaign
Silverstone, 1 July, 2022: The Mumbai Falcons announced their support to Indian racing star and formula driver Kush Maini as a title sponsor for the remainder of the six rounds 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship, that runs alongside Formula1. extending their long-standing partnership.
Mumbai Falcons extended their partnership with Maini, who was first drafted into the X1 Racing League in 2019, when Falcons was founded. The younger of the two Maini brothers, Kush’s good performance in the series prompted the Falcons to back him for the 2021 FIA Asian F3 Championship and their relationship has now expanded to the FIA F3 campaign in 2022.
Racing for the MP Motorsport team, Maini’s car will now carry the Mumbai Falcons livery which will also feature prominently on his suit and the helmet to signal a deeper partnership into the Future.
“I’m overjoyed to have extended my partnership with the Mumbai Falcons,” Maini said of the deal.
“My relationship with Mumbai Falcons goes back to 2019 and I am excited to continue it for the F3 season and it is a big step for me. The organisation has done an outstanding job of promoting motorsport in India, as well as overseas and I hope to play an important role in the sport’s development in the country through my results in F3 and beyond,” add Kush Maini.
“The FIA Formula 3 Championship is extremely competitive, with some of the world’s best drivers vying to impress the Formula 1 grid. But I intend to maximize the opportunities extended to me for the rest of the year.”
Mumbai Falcons owner Ameet Gadhoke also commented on the partnership, citing Maini’s raw speed, talent, and personality as the primary reasons for the extension. “We are delighted to see Indian talent budding in motorsport and see Kush as a contender presently to bring this sport into the mainstream in our nation. We wish him the best during his remaining season and anticipate he would move up the ranks quickly.”
The Mumbai Falcons, a subsidiary of the Gadhoke Group, were established in 2019 with the goal of promoting Indian motorsport talent. The group also intends to construct a world-class racing facility that will eventually provide aspiring drivers with the infrastructure they need to compete on a global scale.
The FIA Formula 3 Championship, which consists of 30 cars, is extremely competitive, with drivers from all over the world attempting to advance to Formula 1. The championship serves as a support race for nine different F1 Grand Prix weekends, and drivers such as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell have used the series as a stepping stone on their journey to F1.
The fourth round of the FIA F3 Championship will be held at the historic Silverstone race circuit on the weekend of July 1-3 and will be ‘Live’ for Indian audience on Star Sports Select 2, HD channels.
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Racing Promotions takes India to GoodWood festival of Speed
Mumbai, 22 June 2022: Racing Promotions (RPPL), organisers of the revolutionary India Racing Festival announced recently will be present at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the world’s greatest celebration of motorsport and car culture at West Sussex, UK from June 23.
With the Indian motorsports scene coming into the limelight, RPPL has taken the baton to bring India on the global playing field through various racing events this year.
The Festival at the stunning parkland around Goodwood House, West Sussex, starting tomorrow is motorsport’s ultimate summer garden party, an exhilarating celebration of the world’s most spectacular sport. It brings forth an assembly of auto experts, racers and veterans from the industry experts from all around the world.
Akhilesh Reddy, Director MEIL and Chairman, RPPL (Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd) said, “Goodwood Festival is a huge opportunity for us to represent the Indian Racing Festival on a global scale. It will help in attracting more spotlight and exposure for the Indian racing scene, and will play an important role in spreading awareness amongst motorsports enthusiasts for the races happening this winter.”
Indian Racing Festival will set up stall to represent at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, showcasing the legendary Wolf Racing’s GB08 Thunder, a roaring racing machine, at its tent.
Giovanni Bellarosa, General Manager, Wolf Racing Car said, “It is really a great satisfaction to see our Wolf GB08 Thunder at the start in the Indian Racing League, we strongly believe in the organizational skills of our Indian partners, and we were immediately very impressed by the work. made by the top management of IRL, we are convinced the Championship will have great visibility and will bring many spectators to the racetracks for the 5 events and we also expect to see some very young drivers succeed in making a name for themselves in Motorsport thanks to this series. Presenting the program and the car at Goodwood is something truly perfect and in line with the ambitions of the project.”
RPPL recently announced the dates for its biggest formula racing event in India – ‘Indian Racing league’featuring FIA-certified ‘Formula 4 and Formula Regional Indian Championship in Nov-Dec 2022’, and looks forward towards exhibitions and interactions on an international level, garnering the global attention to the possibilities of how India can become a leading motorsports destination in the world.
About RPPL
Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd (RPPL) is owned by two multi-billion-dollar businesses MEIL and Gadhoke Group. In 2021, Indian racers Aditya and Armaan, along with their partners at RPPL- with Akhil Reddy as the Chairman, launched the Formula Regional Indian Championship as well as the F4 Indian Championship that will run along with the all new Indian Festival League in 2022 across 4 cities over 5 weekends.
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McLaren Formula 1 Test for Jehan Daruvala at Silverstone
Mumbai, 20 June 2022: Mumbai Falcons is proud to announce that Indian racer Jehan Daruvala will take part in a test with world championship-winning team McLaren this week in their 2021 Formula 1 car. Jehan will drive the MCL35M car at the Silverstone circuit in England.
“For a dream that has been over 13 years in the making, this is a huge milestone. Jehan, as with all recent F1 recruits, will be testing a previous year’s car as part of the process of getting to Formula 1. He will test last year’s McLaren to begin with, at the Silverstone circuit. Jehan will however continue to remain part of the Red Bull Academy,” said an excited Rayomond Banajee, who is credited with spotting and nurturing Jehan in his early days leading to the karting lad’s selection to the Kingfisher one-in-a-billion dream that kick-started the Mumbai talent’s road to to the top.
The test will give Jehan, who is currently third in the Formula 2 standings, his first taste of driving a Formula 1 car. It marks an important step in his aim to become only the third Indian to race in Formula 1.
Jehan continues to remain a part of the Red Bull Junior Team which he became part of in 2020.
Mumbai Falcons, who are the driving force behind making the motorsport ecosystem in the country more accessible to young Indians and are also supporting Jehan in Formula 2. “Jehan has been the leading figure in Indian motorsport for the past 10 years and is just one step away from every Indian’s dream of having a competitive Indian driver in Formula 1. Our mission at Mumbai Falcons is to showcase the best of Indian motorsport talent to the world. We are proud supporters of Jehan’s 2022 Formula 2 title bid and are just as excited about the testing opportunity being given to him by McLaren. This is a huge moment for Indian motorsport fans and of course for Jehan himself as working with a prestigious team like McLaren will help him take the next step in his development towards becoming only the 3rd Indian to compete in Formula 1,” said a Mumbai Falcons representative through a Press Release.
Jehan said, “I’m incredibly grateful to be getting this opportunity. Testing in Formula 1 is extremely limited and opportunities like these are not easy to come by, especially with a championship-winning team like McLaren. It will be my first experience in a Formula 1 car, which I’m sure will be special. The support that I have received from the Red Bull Junior Team, my family and sponsors like Mumbai Falcons, coupled with this opportunity that McLaren have given me will enable me to prepare myself better to achieve my childhood dream of competing in Formula 1.”
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Gaurav Gill gets WRC2 outing for 2022 Safari Rally
India’s decorated rally driver and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill on Wednesday announced his return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) 2022 after a two-year hiatus.
The three-time APRC (Asia Pacific Rally Championship) champion and a seven-time INRC (Indian National Rally Championship) champion will take part in the WRC Safari Rally in Kenya scheduled from June 23 to 26.
The 40-year-old will be driving the Skoda Fabia R5 in WRC 2, a car he is familiar with, with Brazilian co-driver Gabriel Morales. Touted as one of the most challenging rallies on the WRC calendar, the Safari features 19 special stages covering almost 365km of competition crossing challenging closed dirt roads, rocky and rutted tracks and unpredictable weather which can transform dry and dusty trails into muddy bogs.
Gill’s last outing in WRC 2 was pre-pandemic in 2019 in Rally of Turkey where despite missing out on completing his tryst with victory, he won a lot of praise for his commendable drive by the fraternity. His outing in Rally of Australia came to a halt as the event was cancelled last minute due to the raging fire in the forest stages around the city of Coffs Coast, New South Wales.
“I am excited to return to WRC after a hiatus of over two years. I have utilized these two years of pandemic to reflect on my previous participations and have worked on improving my fitness and performance holistically while engaging in various top end activities besides National Rally championship. I am thankful to JK Tyre Motorsports for their support and I am optimistic of claiming good results for the country and the team,” Gill said.
JK Tyre also announced a scholarship program of 300,000 Euros which will be utilized to promote upcoming talent who have proved their mettle on the domestic circuit. “Up to five young talented athletes including a girl athlete from across verticals of motorsport will be identified to avail the scholarship,” said the company in a statement.
The first one to be part of it is India’s rising racing star, 17-year-old Amir Sayed from Kottyam, who proved his mettle and became the JK Tyre Novice Cup Champion in 2020 by winning all the 12 races of the season in his category. Amir is in the French F4 Championship this year.
Sanjay Sharma, Head of Motorsports, JK Tyre said: “With an aim to give the young talent the much-needed push, we have announced this scholarship program which will select kids from across categories and provide them a chance to bring in laurels by representing the nation at international platforms.
[Note: The above is from PTI]
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Jehan Daruvala takes a creditable 2nd, misses win by a whisker
BAKU, 11 June 2022: Indian racer Jehan Daruvala came within half a second of his first Formula 2 win of the season in the Azerbaijan round’s Sprint race on Saturday.
The Red Bull-backed Prema driver crossed the line just 0.380 seconds behind ART’s Frederik Vesti at the end of a safety car-disrupted race.
The 23-year-old started third and, having vaulted into the lead with a masterful display of race craft at the start was on course for a dominant win around the unforgiving streets of Baku.
He had even kept the lead through the first of three safety car periods, which wiped out his 4-second advantage. But a slight lock up on cold brakes at the second safety car restart allowed Vesti to slip past just three laps from the finish.
Jehan said, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed but I’m still happy with the race I did. I had a great start, had everything under control and felt I deserved the win. It’s a shame to miss out by such a narrow margin but we’ll take the positives from this and now focus on Sunday’s feature race.”
Saturday’s second-place finish was Jehan’s fifth from six rounds this season and 12th overall in Formula 2. It is also the fourth time this season that he has finished in the runner-up spot and keeps him third in the overall drivers’ standings.
Jehan, a three-time Formula 2 winner, will get another shot at scoring a strong result on Sunday when he lines up for the longer Feature race ahead of the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix.
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Rabindra/Canning secure double Top 10 result in GT4’s Paul Ricard round
Akhil Rabindra continued his GT4 European Series campaign with Round 2 at Paul Ricard alongside Tom Canning for Racing Spirit of Leman in the #19 Aston Martin Vantage in the Silver class.
They started the weekend finishing fourth and 29th overall in the two practice sessions, where they were first and 12th in the Silver class. The second session saw them set a lap very early in the session.
The Qualifying 1 for Race 1 saw Canning end up fifth overall and second in Silver class, missing that class pole by 0.023s. At the same time, Qualifying 2 saw Rabindra end up seventh overall and fifth in Silver class.
It was a fighting Race 1 with Canning and Rabindra completing good stints for the team to end up fifth in both overall and class results, while defending hard from #87 Mercedes GT4 machine.
The Race 2 saw the pair finish eighth overall and was seventh in Silver class. The results in two races has them in third in drivers’ standings with 46 points, while the team is leading the standings with 81 points.
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Arjun Maini and HRT suffer DNF in GTWE’s Paul Ricard round
Arjun Maini continued his 2022 GT World Challenge Europe series’ Endurance Cup campaign for Haupt Racing Team alongside teammates Hubert Haupt and Florian Scholze. The second round took place at Paul Ricard last weekend, with the Indian racing in the Gold Cup class where the trio drove the #5 Mercedes-AMG GT3 machine.
The practice session saw them finish 27th overall and third in Gold Cup, while the Pre-Qualifying session saw them finish sixth overall and first in class. Moving on to Qualifying, as known, each of the three drivers had 15 minutes time in Q1, Q2 and Q3.
The final race start position is then calculated on the basis of the average of their best times. The Q1 saw them finish 18th overall and first in Gold Cup, while in Q2, they were 27th overall and third in class and in Q3, they finished 44th overall and ninth in category.
The combined time saw them start 31st overall, but their race was short-lived as a Lap 1 incident had their steering wheel bent which forced them to retire from the 1000KM race at Paul Ricard straight up.
“For sure, it is quite disappointing,” said Maini. “I think we had a really strong position in the championship entering the race but to be honest it is part of racing. And it looked like quite an unlucky situation why we had the contact and damage.
“In the end, we couldn’t have done a lot to avoid it, and this is racing sometimes. There’s still a lot of points on offer in Spa and we can still recover this but of course this is going to have a dent on our championship charge,” summed up Maini.
With the second round in the books, the next Endurance Cup event will be held at Spa-Francorchamps on July 28-31 weekend, but before that Maini will be in action in DTM with HRT on July 2-3 weekend.
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Mahindra Racing profile in ABB FIA Formula E
Bengaluru, 1 Jan 2022: Mahindra Racing has competed in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship since Season 1, representing the Indian car giant on a global sporting scale in single-seater motor racing.
Indian Car Giant
Formula E is Indian car giant Mahindra’s first foray into international single-seater racing, and it has been committed to the series since its inaugural campaign. The company is a manufacturer of electric cars, and utilises its competition in the championship as a fast-paced test-bed to develop and refine its groundbreaking electric vehicle technology through its ‘Race to Road’ programme.
Breakthrough win
The team scored its breakthrough win in the 2016/17 campaign and in 2017/18, went on to score two further victories thanks to Swedish driver Felix Rosenqvist, who raced alongside German driver Nick Heidfeld.
In the 2017/18 season, the team got off to a strong start before technical issues reduced Felix Rosenqvist’s title hopes to nothing more than a distant dream. The team finished fourth overall, one place behind where it finished at the end of 2016/17.
In Season 5, the team was fronted by long-standing Formula E, and former Dragon driver Jerome d’Ambrosio as well as rookie driver Pascal Wehrlein. Another victory followed as d’Ambrosio scooped a win in Marrakesh, and was denied a second of the season by in heartbreaking fashion in Mexico City as Wehrlein saw the winner’s Moet & Chandon champagne stolen from his grasp at the last by Lucas di Grassi just meters from the finish line.
New M6Electro
After a strong season Season 5, Mahindra headed into the 2019/20 campaign with the new M6Electro. Jerome D’Ambrosio closed out a two-year stint with the team with 16th in the standings and four top ten finishes over the season, seeing him edge former team-mate Pascal Wehrlein’s Berlin replacement Alex Lynn by just a point. Lynn’s exploits at Tempelhof were impressive. Three Super Pole appearances were backed up with good points in the final three rounds on the way to 17th in the Drivers’ table.
Stunning home win for Lynn
Such was the intensely competitive nature of Season 7 that Mahindra found itself down in ninth spot in the Teams’ table. A stunning maiden win on home soil for Alex Lynn – as well as an expert suplex by Team Principal Dilbagh Gill in celebration in the pit-lane – crowned a glorious weekend for the team in London. A string of five retirements in 11 races stunted Alexander Sims’ progress after an encouraging podium in Rome. He wound up ninth with Lynn finishing the season 12th in the Drivers’ running thanks to podiums in New York and Valencia, on top of that victory in the UK capital.
All British line-up for 2021-22
It’s an all-British line-up again for the team in Season 8, with Oliver Rowland joining Alexander Sims for 2021/22.
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TVS RR 310 clocks 201.2 km per hour, becomes fastest Indian motorcycle
Sepang, 3 June 2022: TVS Racing, the factory racing team of TVS Motor Company, achieves a historic landmark by becoming the first Indian race bike to cross the 200 km/h mark. India’s first factory racing team’s Asia RR 310 OMC Race bike clocked a staggering top speed of 201.2 km/hr at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The achievement is a testament to TVS Racing’s constant efforts to enhance its technological prowess and maintain its leadership in the two-wheeler motorsports scene. Participants in the TVS Asia One Make Championship 2022 are riding sixteen extensively modified Race-Spec TVS Asia One Make Apache RR 310 motorcycles, imbibed with TVS Motor’s racing DNA.
Commenting on the achievement, Mr Vimal Sumbly, Head – Premium Business, TVS Motor Company, said, “We are constantly exciting this segment by democratizing racing through initiatives like the TVS One-Make Championship and Apache Racing Experience. These initiatives give enthusiastic riders a platform to hone their skills and prove their mettle. It is also a means for us to push the technological and engineering limits of the TVS Apache series through our “Track to Road” philosophy, thus increasing the performance and fun quotient. The results of these initiatives are visible as TVS Apache has become the fastest growing brand in its segment.”
The TVS Apache RR 310 Asia OMC race bike designed and engineered from the ground up has received substantial technology for an uncompromised racetrack performance
- 312cc DOHC four-valve liquid-cooled engine
- 38 percent higher power output than the road-legal TVS Apache RR 310
- Forged pistons, Titanium valves and HLHD Cams
- RAM Air Intake system that boosts the top speed.
- Lightweight carbon fibre parts, including all bodywork, wheels and subframe
- Ohlins adjustable and custom-built suspension
- Dunlop soft compound radial racing tyres
Highlights of the first round of TVS Asia OMC, the first-ever road racing championship by an Indian manufacturer on a global level
- 16 riders from 8 countries, including three Indian riders, namely KY Ahamed, Deepak Ravikumar and 10-time INMRC winner – Jagan Kumar, battled it out on the track
- Race 1 witnessed Vorapong Malahuan riding to glory, followed by Decky Tiamo Aldy, who recorded the fastest lap time of 2:28:477.
- Race 2 saw Muhammad Fitri Ashraf set a staggering lap time of 2:27:433 and make an impressive climb to the top from the number five spot in Race 1
- It was a mixed weekend for the Indian riders as KY Ahamed, and Jagan Kumar finished in the top 10 in both races.
- Deepak Ravikumar met with a crash during Race 2 and hopes to make a strong comeback in the next round.
Race Results –
Race 1
1st – Vorapong Malahuan (Thailand)
2nd – Decky Tiamo Aldy (Indonesia)
3rd – Varis Felix Fleming (Australia)
Race 2
1st – Muhammad Fitri Ashraf (Malaysia)
2nd – Decky Tiamo Aldy (Indonesia)
3rd – Vorapong Malahuan (Thailand)
The second round of the TVS Asia One Make Championship is scheduled from August 12-14, 2022, at Sugo International Circuit in Japan. This will be followed by the final two rounds, for which venues are to be confirmed tentatively in October and November, respectively.
About TVS Racing:
TVS Racing, a pioneer in building Motorsports in India since 1982, has been integral in growing the racing performance culture and has been pivotal in engineering the TVS Apache series through the company’s “Track to Road” strategy. The brand has redefined the sports segment by focusing on race performance, making it a highly desirable product for sports enthusiasts. This has resulted in TVS Apache and TVS NTORQ 125 becoming the fastest growing brands in their respective segments. TVS Racing is also the pioneer of the One Make Championship in the country, the first Indian manufacturer to introduce the series in India in 1994.
