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Category: Indians Abroad
News about Indians racing in different motorsports events abroad
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A fighting Advait Deodhar misses overall 3rd narrowly in the 2019 Euro Nascar Championship
Advait Deodhar fights in the rain in the last round at Zoldar and finishes 4th overall in the Euro NASCAR series. Photo for INDIAinF1 Zoldar, 8 Oct 2019: The London-based Indian racing driver Advait Deodhar started the weekend in contention for overall third place in the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Euro Championship Elite 2 class but missed out narrowly and had to settle for the overall fourth after a thrilling final race here in Belgium on Sunday, the 6th of October.
In Race 1, after some stellar performance, sitting in 3rd and fighting for a win, Advait lost out on the very last lap, 2 corners before the finish line. The last 300 meters of Race 1 impacted the outcome of P3 in the Championship as Advait was also given a 60-second time penalty.
Race 2 started under extremely wet conditions. After a good start and on the pace, the rain stopped and the extreme wet setup the team opted for, started working against the changing track conditions. With the car being a handful to drive, Advait brought home his Chevrolet SS in a lonely 6th place clocking 37:51.569.
Advait Deodhar poses with Gian Luca Guiglia, his CAAL Racing team manager. After the successful end of a long season where Advait had to struggle for every race looking for sponsors, he managed admirably to complete the season fighting for a top-three place despite missing a round. Looking back at the season, the racer who works as a Yacht broker to fund his racing activity, said: “It’s been a surreal journey and racing this year has happened against all odds. I have not been able to raise sponsorship but managed to race this year with no sponsorship by working extremely hard on my day job and risked it all to fund it through my earnings, and using up all credit and savings. I drove for three teams due to budget constraints, missed one round, lived in uncertainty and confirmed each round only a few days before each race weekend.”
Fans of Advait before the race. Advait drove against a very competitive grid and managed to somehow make it all work and the fact that he was fighting for overall third till the last corner is a great achievement when compared to the support and resources enjoyed by the other drivers. “A top-3 should have been possible under different circumstances but I’m very proud of the achievement this year,” he quipped.
“I think it’s about time I secure a sponsor and get some support from Indian companies as I race on the international stage,” said Advait even as he looks at 2020. “I want to come back to the Championship in 2020 with a full budget and race seat confirmed. I will fight for the title and accept nothing less,” he concluded with conviction. It is time Indian corporates and many sports-loving promoters look at this rare talent and support him in his journey. Last year Advait Deodhar won the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in October.
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Advait Deodhar all set for the final week-end with an outside chance for the title
File photo of European Nascar series in progress. INDIAinF1 Zolder (Belgium), 4 Oct 2019: Advait Deodhar is currently 4th overall, and just 2 points behind third-placed Vittorio Ghirelli the final round of the 2019 European NASCAR Championship begins in Zolder, Belgium. The first race is scheduled for 8.30 pm (IST) on Saturday.
The fight for P3 in the Championship is going to be intense, with five drivers from P3 to P7, separated by less than 30 points.
File photo of Advait Deodhar (left) Advait also has an outside chance to fight for the overall Championship as a maximum of 160 points are still on offer in the two races, but it is probably a difficult task for the Indian.
However, he is looking for a good performance in the final round and is raring to go to get the best out of the week-end for a top-3 finish.
In the earlier round in Hockenheim on Sept 23, Advait’s week-end did not go a planned. In Race 1, Advait bent his steering arm after an unavoidable crash in front of him as too was forced to collide with another two cars and ended up 10th. In Race 2, he bagan 10th but could onoy manage a P7.
Saturday
Qualifying : 9.30 am GMT
14.00 India time.
Race 1 : 16.00 GMT
20.30 India time.
Sunday
Race 2 : 9.50 am GMT
14.20 India time. -
Achintya Mehrotra hogs limelight for India at AAGC Korea
Bengaluru, 24 Sept 2019: Ace Indian driver Achintya Mehrotra brought laurels to the country winning a podium place in the second round of the Asia Auto Gymkhana Championship hosted at the InjeSpeedium Circuit in South Korea that concluded on the first Sunday of September.
Achintya file photo at India AAGC 2018 The Delhi-based driver won the bronze in the Solo Knockout competition after qualifying third and also helped Team India to finish fourth in the team events which saw 9 teams take part including the two teams fielded by the host. Team India was represented by Achintya Mehrotra, Sahil Khanna and woman driver Khyati Mody. The other top teams included Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines and all the teams used the official car Kia K3 GT, a 1.6 Turbo GDI, pumping 204 HP with a 275 NM torque and a 7-Speed DCT.
On August 30, the first day of the event started off with the scrutiny and usual administration checks and issuing the driver ID cards while the Driver Briefing was on Aug 31 at the InjeSpeedium Classic Car Museum auditorium. The competitors also got the start order and the competition track patterns.
There were a total of 4 track patterns:
- Pattern A – Solo Qualifying
- Pattern B – Solo Knockout
- Pattern C – Double Qualifying & Knockouts
- Pattern D – Team Knockouts
The event used twin tracks. Solo qualifying had the drivers drive on both lanes (A & B). The best of both times decided the qualifying order.
This year saw the most competitive battle with the top 5 drivers within 0.1s. Achintya Mehrotra from Team India qualified in 3rd place with Sahil Khanna in 14th place &KhyatiMody in 22nd place out of 27 drivers from all the 9 teams. The cumulative of qualifying times of the 3 drivers served as the overall qualifying time for teams. Thus Team India qualified overall 2nd out of 8 countries.
Achintya Mehrotra in action in Korea 2019 The next session was the Double qualifying wherein two drivers go behind each other. The time starts when the first driver cuts the beam at the start while the time stops when the driver behind cuts the beam at finish. The drivers change positions at the last corner just before the finish. Team India qualified in last position owing to a wrong penalty being given by the marshal. In the double knockouts, India went head to head against Philippines to which they lost.
The final day of the event – 1st September started off with the Solo Knockouts. Sahil Khanna was lined up against Taiwan’s driver to whom he lost owing to course deviation &so did KhyatiMody who was lined up against the Singapore driver Jeremy Low.
Meanwhile, Achintya Mehrotra beat the Philippines driver to advance into the next round of knockouts. The next round of solo knockouts had Achintya lined up against Korea’s lady driver whom he won against as the Korean driver got a 2 min course deviation penalty.
The next knockout was up against driver of Team Thailand who was unlucky against Team India driver Achintya.
Finally, Achintya was lined up against Team Taiwan driver who proved to be faster than him. Eventually, Achintya came 3rd for Team India in the solo knockouts.
Solo podium for Achintya Mehrotra in Individual events. India won 4th place in team event. The final session was the Team event wherein driver 1, driver 2; driver 3 of Team A goes head to head with driver 1, driver 2 ; driver 3 of Team B. On every win, each team is awarded with 2 points. The first team to get 4 points advances to the next round of knockouts.
India was lined up against Singapore whom they beat in all the 3 rounds and advanced into the top 4 shootout. The next team was Team Thailand who beat us by 4 points to 2 points.
Our final race of the day was against Team Taiwan for the 3rd place position in the Team round. However, that also didn’t as planned & Team India had to settle for 4th Place.
Final results : –
Solo Qualifying – Achintya Mehrotra (P3)
Solo Knockouts – Achintya Mehrotra (P3)
Team Result – Team India (P4)
Indian team gets overall fourth and a podium as the first four get on to the podium in Asian Gymkhana events. -
Advait Deodhar still in contention for top-3 finish after Hockenheim round
Advait Deodhar, right, at Hockenheim ring on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 image Hockenheim, 23 Sept. 2019: Indian racing driver Advait Deodhar is still in contention for top-3 finish in the 2019 Euro Nascar Championship despite his race-weekend ending on unexpected lines here at the Hockenheim ring for the penultimate round on Sunday.
In Race 1, Advait bent his steering arm after an unavoidable crash in front of him as too was forced to collide with another two cars and ended up 10th. In Race 2, he bagan 10th but could onoy manage a P7.
In Race 1, after a fantastic start, Advait was caught in an accident at the exit of the first corner; with no way to avoid the crash that took place in front of him. Then, he collided with Vittorio Ghirelli’s and Andre Castro’s cars. It was a bit of bad luck, but then he was lucky enough to have been able to continue albeit with a bent steering arm. After dropping down to 22nd, the Indian managed to fight his way back up and finished a commendable 10th despite the bent steering arm.
Earlier, with a quick lap in the early bit of qualifying he made it into Superpole (top 12 shootout, similar to Q3 in F1) but beyond that he only managed to qualify 7th. After looking at the data, he is quite convinced that he could have put in a lap that was much better and possibly qualified in the top 4, but alas that did not happen.
In Race 2, starting 10th, Advait was focussed to finish in the top 5. “The car felt good in the warm up that morning and we definitely had the pace. However, 2 safety cars and an intense battle with Championship contender Nicholas Risitano kept me at a steady P7,” he quipped.
“It could have definitely been a better weekend, but I’m glad to have been able to limit the damage to my Championship standing and still be in contention for P3 in the season, with an outside chance for P1 or P2,” he concluded.
The final round in Zolder is October 6 and Advait is making all efforts to finish the 2019 European Nascar Championship in top-3.
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Gaurav Gill ends Turkey campaign in WRC2, wins accolades
Gaurav Gill takes a huge jump on the final day of Rally Turkey. An MSport image New Delhi, 15 Sept 2019: India’s top rally driver Gaurav Gill won commendations of his co-competitors in the World Rally Championship, overcoming mechanical failures and a series of punctures in the grueling Rally of Turkey before it all ended in heartbreak for him and the country late on Sunday.
Gaurav Gill said:
“This has been one of the toughest rallies of my life. Right from the start it was difficult to get into a good rhythm because the stages were so slow and twisty with so many rocks and boulders.
“Without much experience of this car and set-up I wanted to take my time and I think that worked out well for us. But luck was not on our side and we were marred by quite a few issues.
“We failed to finish the rally this weekend, but we set some good times which is a big positive and I’ll look to build on that at the next event.”
Going into the final day with a top-five finish firmly in sight, the JK Racing ace underlined his mettle by finishing second in the first stage of the day. He continued in the same vein, taking the third place in the next stage too, demonstrating phenomenal speed and control to post spectacular timings to inch up the leader-board.These two added up to a top-3 finish in five out of the 9 stages that he had conquered without a hitch, not counting the shakedown in which he proved to be the fastest among the lot.In the penultimate stage with a strong finish beckoning him, disaster struck: the transmission of the car seized and ground him to a halt. The car locked up completely and could not even be pushed into neutral, killing all chances of recouping and making up in the final stretch of the WRC.“It was one of the toughest weekends, rather toughest rallies of my life. Right from the beginning, it was difficult to get into a good rhythm because the rally was so slow and twisty, with so many huge rocks and boulders around,” Gaurav said.“I of course didn’t have much previous experience with the car and the setup, making it that much more difficult. The plan was to take one step at a time and it almost paid off. But we were marred by so many issues, including mechanical problems in the car. The good thing is we got some great timings and should keep us in a positive frame for the next round,” he added.“Almost all the top drivers congratulated me for the way I drove and handled the situations,” Gaurav revealed.The Rally of Turkey lived up to its reputation of being the toughest in the world, pushing as many as 11 drivers to the brink and a DNF. Spread over four days, Gaurav had to cover a total distance of 988.50 kms, with 310.10 kms earmarked for special stages. More tellingly, every stage was a test for the driver as well as the car, traversing past picturesque locales that could transform into death-traps at the tiniest of errors.The 3-time APRC champion and Arjuna Awardee began his campaign on the world stage on a high note.He faced major mechanical issues in 4 stages, starting with front suspension collapse to tear damper seizure to transmission failure. He even did a couple of stages with punctures.He left a lasting impression on the grid which’ll help boost his confidence for future international outings. -
Terrific Tsunoda soars to first F3 win in Monza: F3
Jenzer driver tops Race 2 podium ahead of Lawson and HughesFrom left: 2nd placed Liam, winner Yuki and 3rd-placed Jake. An FIA F3 image Monza, 8 Sept 2019: Yuki Tsunoda completed his remarkable upturn of form in Monza, with his, and his team’s first ever win in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. The Jenzer Motorsport driver romped to a third podium in as many races, after a lengthy battle with Jake Hughes, which ended in him finishing ahead of Liam Lawson in second and the HWA RACELAB driver in third.
The Japanese driver’s victory marked a successful weekend for Honda Dream drivers, matching his F2 counterpart Nobuharu Matsushita, who won in yesterday’s Feature Race. The feat earns him his seventh points’ finish in a row, having scored just two of them in the first seven of the campaign.The track was damp from overnight showers and the cars started against a shower of spray, but this didn’t stop Jake Hughes from bolting off the line, as the HWA RACELAB man lunged down the left of polesitter Fabio Scherer and into the lead. Behind him, Tsunoda had started his march from sixth and leapt to third at the first turn.The Japenese driver pulled off a similar move for second on the next tour of the track. He had Hughes in his sights, but the duo both went wide at Turn 4 as they battled with the greasy track surface. They then collided at the following corner, as Tsunoda’s front wing scraped the back of Hughes’ rear tyre, but luckily they avoided any damage.Former leader Scherer was struggling to keep Lawson at bay behind him, as the Kiwi eyed his second podium of the season. Less than a second separated the Swiss driver in third, with Leonardo Pulcini in sixth. Space opened up down the side of Scherer and the Red Bull F1 junior took a tow and slipstreamed down the right of him.Hughes and Tsunoda had begun to pull away from those behind them, collecting a 3s gap, but the battle between the two remained on-going. The Jenzer driver got close enough to gain the advantage of DRS and flashed past the Brit for the lead.Hughes fought back and went side-by-side with Tsunoda around the outside of Parabolica, but the Japanese driver out-braked him and retained P1. Their drawn out fight for first handed Lawson a shot at P2 and the MP Motorsport man began to attack the back of Hughes. The duo went side-by-side down the pit straight, and with the aid of DRS, and the inside line, the Kiwi completed the move and made it stick at Turn 1.Tsunoda ran home cleanly at the chequered flag and was followed by Lawson and Hughes in the top three, as Richard Verschoor and Pedro Piquet completed the front five. The final points’ positions went to Pulcini, Scherer and Robert Shwartzman.The Russian’s P8 finish hands him an extra point in the Championship and marginally stretches his lead to 33 points, ahead of Jehan Daruvala on 147 points. Jüri Vips remains third on 122 and Marcus Armstrong on 119. In the Teams’ standings, Champions PREMA Racing lead with 446, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 188, ART Grand Prix on 174, Trident on 105 and HWA RACELAB on 84.Shwartzman holds the cards heading into the season finale, at his home race in Sochi, Russia, at the end of September.2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship Round 7 – Race 2 provisional classificationDRIVERTEAM1Yuki TsunodaJenzer Motorsport2Liam LawsonMP Motorsport3Jake HughesHWA RACELAB4Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport5Pedro PiquetTrident6Leonardo PulciniHitech Grand Prix7Fabio SchererSauber Junior Team by Charouz8Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing9Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix10Logan SargeantCarlin Buzz Racing11Juri VipsHitech Grand Prix12Felipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz Racing13Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing14Marcus ArmstrongPREMA Racing15Niko KariTrident16Devlin DefrancescoTrident17Raoul HymanSauber Junior Team by Charouz18Lirim ZendeliSauber Junior Team by Charouz19Ye YifeiHitech Grand Prix20Simo LaaksonenMP Motorsport21Max FewtrellART Grand Prix22Keyvan AndresHWA RACELAB23Giorgio CarraraJenzer Motorsport24Andreas EstnerJenzer Motorsport25Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing26Sebastian FernandezCampos Racing27Bent ViscaalHWA RACELAB28David BeckmannART Grand Prix29Teppei NatoriCarlin Buzz RacingOVERALL FASTEST LAPJuri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix) – 1:48.890 on Lap 20FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTSRichard Verschoor (MP Motorsport) – 1:49.580 on Lap 22 -
It was very frustrating without DRS, because the car was good: Jehan Daruvala
Thoughts from Shwartzman, Armstrong and Daruvala
Robert Shwartzman, winner, flanked by Marcus Armstrong,, left and Jehan
Daruvala 3rd, All three are from PREMA Racing. An F3 imageFIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to today’s FIA Formula 3 press conference following the opening race here at Monza. We are joined by the top three finishers from Race 1. Your race winner Robert Shwartzman from PREMA Racing, in second place Marcus Armstrong from PREMA Racing and in third place Jehan Daruvala from PREMA Racing. Robert, you promised some attacking manoeuvres coming up through the field yesterday, you certainly delivered. How was your charge through the field?
Robert Shwartzman: It’s been really fun. I enjoyed it a lot. All three of us did really nice manoeuvres when overtaking. At the beginning I was behind Marcus, and actually Marcus was getting past the field and I was trying to stay with him and pass who he had passed. There was some nice manoeuvres, some tricky ones, especially at Lesmo 2 when I made the move on Max [Fewtrell]. It was quite tight but everything was fair and nice. Basically then Marcus was leading and I was second. We had good pace so I knew that we could get a gap, and then the safety car came out for the first time. After the restart my target was just not to make any stupid mistakes in Turn 1, just to continue, and Marcus had a good restart and a gap so I didn’t have any chance to attack. I just stayed behind and after two laps, when the DRS was enabled, he let me pass in order to work together to build a bigger gap. I got by and my target was simply not to make any mistakes and continue pushing. For three or four laps I was in front and then the second safety car came out. I heard that the driver was fine, which is obviously really important. It looks really big. The first lap that I passed I didn’t even realise where the car was, it was just debris on the track and nothing else. Only after some time did I realise the car was actually on the fence. I got told it was quite big so I’m happy that the driver is okay.
FIA Formula 3: A first win for you since Paul Ricard, a big boost for your title hopes going into the final few races of the season. How much of a breakthrough does this feel?
Robert: It felt like quite a long time, definitely. We were quite close, like P2 or P3, but yeah something was missing but today I felt that the car was really good. We had the pace to win and all three of us were just doing our jobs to get the win. Everything was fair and nice, so that’s the thing. I’m really happy that I won today. It was really tight. I had a lot of pressure from my teammates, it was hard, but today I’m happy that finally I got the win.
FIA Formula 3: Congratulations. Marcus moving on to you now. Could you talk us through your race and the battle you had with Robert for the lead?
Marcus Armstrong: It was an exciting race. The first lap I don’t know where I finished, maybe third, so that was pretty exciting and everything sort of went to plan. For whatever reason Christian [Lundgaard] wasn’t leading the race so that was a bit of a surprise because he was very quick yesterday. I don’t actually remember how I overtook them, there was so much action in that race I can’t quite remember it. The pace was pretty good because we got to the lead and pulled out quite a reasonable gap over [Richard] Verschoor. Then there was the safety car and Robert was behind me. It wasn’t easy because I obviously know that Robert is switched on and I had to surprise him a little bit, which I think I did. I managed to lead again for the first two laps after that before the DRS was activated. I felt as though I was destroying my tyres out in front, having to push so hard to break Robert, so I decided to let him go and just follow in his slipstream, use DRS and try and attack in the last few laps. People didn’t get to see what should have been a good last lap battle, but obviously we’re thankful that [Alex] Peroni is okay.
FIA Formula 3: It was a very significant result for PREMA as well, to get a one, two, three finish at a home race. Does this result just prove how good this team has been this season?
Marcus: Absolutely, especially here at Monza in front of all the team. A lot of people have come over from Grisignano to watch the race this morning. It was cool to see everyone under the podium, and also to have Guillaume [Capietto] on the podium with us was special. As I said on the radio, I’m very grateful to be a part of such a fantastic, well-organised team, and I think us finishing in the top three is almost our way of giving back [laughs].
FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Jehan moving on to you now. P3, but obviously the safety car at the end did end any hopes of a tight scrap between the three of you. How did you approach your race and how did you feel it went?
Jehan Daruvala: I think it was similar to the other guys. My start was really good and I got into a decent position behind Rob. My main problem in the race was that I didn’t have DRS the whole time, so it was very frustrating for me because the car was good and I felt I had the pace to also fight with the guys for the win. It was frustrating. I was fighting cars with DRS around me and I didn’t have it. I was using a lot of my tyres in the middle sector to try and break the DRS of the cars behind. At the end, when they were fighting, I got really close but on the straights I just couldn’t keep up. That was a bit disappointing for me, but again, to come third at Monza with no DRS is a really good result.
FIA Formula 3: Slipstream here is so important, and the DRS is so powerful, does it feel like damage limitation, in a way, to still get a podium finish?
Jehan: Like I said, I’m not really concerned with the result, I’m just upset that I didn’t have the chance to fight with the guys for the lead. I was just sat there hoping for something to happen, but I’d rather have been in the scrap for the lead.
FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Robert, moving back to you now. You started P8 today and fought through for the victory, I imagine you’ll want to repeat that tomorrow?
Robert: Sure. Tomorrow is also going to be an interesting race. I’m not sure about the weather because before it was said that there may be rain, but from the free practice I’m quite confident with the car we have and how everything is going, even in the rain. Whatever happens we’re going to fight, as today, and surely try just to collect some more points for the weekend.
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Monza podium for Jehan: F3
Jehan Daruvala with the trophy for third place in Race 1 on Saturday. Photo by James Gasperotti Monza, Italy: Jehan Daruvala was left frustrated inspite of a podium in race 1 of the seventh round of the FIA F3 Championship, but at the same time won the hearts of thousands around the circuit and around the world. Racing at the 5.793km, historic high speed circuit of Monza, also known as the ‘Temple of Speed’, the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix support event, saw Jehan climb from tenth to second, only to suffer issues denying the Indian a potential race win. Electronics issues disabled Jehan’s DRS, in turn preventing him from gaining top speed on the two vital long straights.
A bizarre qualifying session saw 17 racers, including all three racers in Jehan’s Prema Racing Team, receiving penalties. With only 5 minutes for the session to end and Jehan had set his fastest laptime in Sector 1 and the quickest sector 2 of any racer on the grid. It looked certain that Jehan would have claimed provisional pole, but over ten cars had slowed down in the last sector. Jehan had to abort his lap for the second time, due to numerous cars moving slowly on the racing line. Race control found the situation too dangerous and stopped the session prematurely.
Jehan Daruvala in action during Race 1 at Monza. Photo by James Gasperotti Christian Lundgaard topped the session, while Jehan was in fourth. Officials reviewed the session till late into the night and handed a 10-place penalty to all three racers in Jehan’s team, for being too slow on their out lap. It was unfortunate for them, because they did not impede other racers but infact had suffered themselves. However, with a total 17 racers receiving penalties, Jehan would start the race from tenth.
As the lights went out, Jehan made a good start and overtook Brazilian racer, Piquet. Two cars tangled in front and Jehan moved upto seventh. He soon overtook British Racer Max Fewtrell to climb to sixth. Up ahead the leaders tangled and German racer Zandeli fell down the order. Jehan quickly went passed Lundgaard into fourth and then, the safety car was deployed. It was during the safety car period that Jehan’s radio messages were broadcast, about Jehan being furious that his DRS (Drag Reduction System) was not working. The DRS is crucial in Monza due to the long straights and the inability to use DRS is a severe handicap while fighting a bunch of cars. The failure was not linked to the team in any way and Jehan would just have to work with the disadvantage.
Jehan drove brilliantly once the safety car pulled into the pits. Third place Richard Verschoor was also driving well, but the Indian pulled off a phenomenal move around the outside of the Dutchman, going around the first corner. Jehan managed to make the move stick and then began to pull away, in third.
Jehan had excellent pace, but unfortunately without DRS, he was clearly disadvantaged and unable to challenge the leaders for the race win. He tried to close in as much as possible, but the safety car was deployed a second time due to another crash. The race ended behind the safety car but Marcus Armstrong in second received a penalty, promoting Jehan to second while Russian, Robert Shwartzman won the race.
“The race was a lot of fun, starting P10 and finishing P2 with such a good result for the team. It was very frustrating for me, not having DRS so I couldn’t really battle for the lead, and I really wanted to, I know we had the pace. Second is good but I’m a little upset for not having the opportunity to fight for the win.”
Shwartzman’s victory and Jehan’s second place inpsite of his issues, mean the Russian was able to pull further away from Jehan in the Championship. Jehan remains in second after earning his seventh podium of the season. Jehan will start seventh for Race 2 tomorrow, due to the reverse grid regulations.
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Shwartzman quickest in wet Free Practice; Jehan Daruvala 4th fastest: F3
Russian finishes ahead of Round 6 winners Armstrong and Piquet
Monza, 6 Sept 2019: Robert Shwartzman topped a rain-hampered session in Monza, leading Free Practice for the first time in 2019. The PREMA racer set the quickest time early on – before the field all switched to wets – and finished ahead of in-form duo Marcus Armstrong, of PREMA Racing, and Pedro Piquet, of Trident.The session begun under light rain down the pit straight as teams initially set out on slick tyres. Spa-Francorchamps Race 2 winner Armstrong was first to notch a quick time, dipping under 1m 45s, followed by teammate Shwartzman.
On his second full lap of the course, Armstrong knocked two seconds off his time, but his Russian teammate was able to shave a further two tenths to take P1 as rain began to fall harder. Jüri Vips spun off track but was able to get going again, and teams began to feed back into the pits for wet tyres.
Estner remained out and a wobble ended with the side of his Jenzer machine stuck in the wall. The German climbed out of his car unscathed, but his team now face a race against time to get his car ready for Qualifying later today.
Fabio Scherer was the first to get back out onto the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit and test the new tyres. The rest of the field returned shortly after and focus was centred on getting to grips with the wets.
This saw the order remained unchanged, before the session ended under a yellow flag. Giorgio Carrara sailed off track and was beached on the sausage curb. This left Shwartzman and Armstrong to run home first and second, with Piquet in third. Jehan Daruvala and Teppei Natori completed the top five, with Niko Kari, Alex Peroni, Richard Verschoor, Felipe Drugovich and Liam Lawson all in the top 10.
Action will intensify this afternoon as Shwartzman aims to carry across his positive early form and become the first driver to earn a second pole position of the season, when qualifying begins at 5.50pm local time.
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Gill set for WRC2 Rally of Turkey
New Delhi, 6 Sept. 2019: India’s first and only Arjuna Awardee in motorsports, Gaurav Singh Gill, is all set to take part in FIA World Rally Championship 2, in the Rally of Turkey from September 12 to 15.The three-time APRC and six-time INRC champion will be driving a 1.6 Turbo R5 that has been developed by M-Sport. Supported by JK Tyre Motorsport, the rally ace will fancy his chances as most of the stages in the Rally of Turkey will be run on gravel, something that he relishes.
“We will carefully pick and choose the rallies that I will participate in this year, keeping in mind the car, the terrain and my strengths,” Gill revealed at a press interaction here on Friday. “I am excited about my first stint with a renowned team and a new support system in formidable JK Tyre Motorsport,” he added.
Gaurav Gill in his new JK Racing attire. Photos: JK Racing The recently decorated Arjuna Awardee has already had a satisfying exploration in the WRC-2 2018, having taken part in four rallies, one each in Italy, Finland, Wales and Australia as an unregistered driver. He won 11 stages despite facing challenges, underlining his prowess and skill at the top level.
Gaurav Gill was felicitated by JK Tyre Motorsport for his Arjuna Award recognition at the press interaction. The company’s Marketing Director Vikram Malhotra congratulated the champion, declaring the award as a watershed moment for Indian motorsport.
“JK Tyre is the pioneer in promoting motorsport in India. 90% of the kids racing abroad have come from JK’s programmes. Our association with Gaurav Gill has also started yielding results in developing our tyres, with the last two domestic rallies leading to the development of 3 variants of rally tyres. With top performances in international events, our victories with Gaurav will only add to our excitement and result in strengthening our programmed that will benefit Gen Next,” Mr. Vikram Malhotra, Marketing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd, said.
Gill will be competing as a registered driver for the first time and will be picking up championship points, making it a huge landmark for Indian motorsport.“I have worked with Gaurav briefly last year and it’s great to be able to continue that collaboration with him again this year. As a three-time Asia Pacific Champion, Gaurav is a talented driver with a lot of potential and we’re all looking forward to seeing how he progresses in the FIA World Rally Championship’s WRC 2 series,” Team Principal, Richard Millener, said.
“He’ll be taking to the wheel of our latest rally car – the all-new EcoBoost-powered R5 MkII which made its competitive debut earlier this summer. A lot of work and technology has gone into the design and development of this new car, and we’re all excited to see what some of the world’s best drivers can do behind the wheel – Gaurav included,” he added.
“This will change the way all stakeholders will look at Indian motorsport. Youngsters can hope for brighter prospects in the sport as schools and colleges will acknowledge Gaurav’s recognition and will treat it at par with any other sport. Sponsors will see more value in associating with the sport too, beyond using it as a testing ground. I wish Gaurav all the luck ahead of this important sojourn and hope that he will be able to live up to the expectations of the entire country,” Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre, said.
The 2019 Rally of Turkey will see the drivers cover a total distance of over 988.50 kms with 310.10 kms earmarked for 17 special stages. Most of the stages will be gravel with few of the stages running on concrete tiles and tarmac. The WRC will be broadcast live over 40 countries, featuring registered drivers and also could be seen online by registering on WRC+.
