Category: Non-F1

New Delhi, 28 Oct 2012:  “It’s a great feeling being on the podium here in front of my home crowd and to do it again today feels just brilliant”, said India’s youngest racing sensation and JK Tyre prodigy Aditya Patel as he stole the limelight yet again by finishing a fantastic second in Round 12 of the JK Racing Asia Series today.

Fellow Indian Akhil Khushlani impressed with his driving skills and finished seventh while Raj Bharath and Vishnu Prasad ended ninth and tenth respectively. Taken as a whole, it turned out to be a proud and outstanding weekend for India at the JK Racing Asia Series Round 12.

Continuing to drive like a dream and in the lead for a major portion of the race, the young US Formula Project driver Aditya bettered yesterday’s third place end by finishing second after starting fourth on the grid. “It’s such a hard race because on the first lap I fought with Nabil and Afiq. I managed to get past Afiq on turn 5, something I did not do yesterday. I realised last night what my mistake was and tried correcting it and it worked today and I got past Afiq there”, he said.

Championship leader Nabil Jeffri started on pole while yesterday’s race winner Afiq Ikhwan began in second position followed by South African Rookie Aston Hare.

Aditya continued saying, “Afiq and Aston caught up with me in the slipstream and the race became a little bit tight. Fighting right through the race I ruined my tyres a bit early and I think after six laps I was sliding all over the place so it was really hard for me to keep Aston behind. Because we are teammates and the last thing teammates want to do is take each other off or something. It was the best I could do, I tried defending for a while but Aston was definitely quicker so no point really doing anything stupid so second is pretty good”.

Aditya’s battle-filled Round 11 and 12 performances and twin podium finishes after being away from racing for one year prove that he is a talent to watch out for in the coming season. He is one who has what it takes to be one of the best junior drivers in the world. It may be recalled that the Chennai based youngster recently created history by becoming the first Indian driver to win the gruelling 24 hours of Nurburgring.

Aston Hare cemented his Rookie Championship in style when he crossed the finish line first, ahead of Patel and Hidzir. Meritus.GP driver Afiq Ikhwan finished fourth after fighting hard despite losing power midway through the race while Nabil Jeffri, who led at the start of the race was given a drive through penalty for a false start infringement. He set the fastest time of the race with 1:59.479.

“After the first lap I actually didn’t get a good start again, it’s just something that I need to work on. I dropped down to fifth and after that I had to work past Earl Bamber and Afiq at the time, it really wasn’t that easy to be honest, I really had to fight throughout the race. And when the race came to an end, I didn’t even know I was first, I thought I was second. So when Antonio told me I was first I was just so happy, you wouldn’t understand. Especially straight after coming off an injury, something I didn’t expect”, said Hare.

“Before the race I had a long chat with my coach, Wesleigh Orr, and he told me, at the end of the long straight and into turn 3 just get the slipstream behind the other guy, can’t actually break much there, so push him a little to the inside and that actually played well into my hands.“I can’t wait to come back, definitely learning about the different cultures that’s here, it’s been quite an interesting experience” ended Hare.

16-year old Danial Hidzir is known to be able to push the more experienced drivers whilst staying calm throughout. After he finished a respectable third, he said, “It was a good race, I really enjoyed it. My first podium at an F1 event, it is an amazing feeling. I would like to thank my father, Century, Tan Wei Ron’s father for bringing me here and the trophy would make a nice gift for my mother who just got engaged yesterday. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for her”.

Though Hidzir did not have a great start, he stuck to his position during the race not wanting to be very adventurous. “I had an okay start, it wasn’t really good actually to be honest. I don’t know why, probably because yesterday my throttle cable got stuck and I was afraid that it would happen again. I just held on to my limiter a little ‘nicely’. Then at turn 3 I had a collision with Akhil, I managed to overtake him. After that, I was just fighting with Earl Bamber for three laps, it was a really long fight. He was good, he knows how to stay ahead but I managed to catch him at turn 5 and progressively push hard. Then I caught up to Afiq, and kept progressively pushing after and I almost finished P2 but there wasn’t enough laps”.

Thanks to JK Tyre’s efforts, seven of the country’s young and most promising racers – Aditya Patel, Akhil Khushlani, Vishnu Prasad, Raj Bharath, Akhil Rabindra, Chetan Korada and Karminder Singh – got the opportunity to race in their home country in front of their home crowd. The series continues to cement its status as one of the world’s finest Junior driver development programs.

All of the five circuits that the series visited in 2012 are Formula 1 circuits which are crucial to driver development in preparing them for higher levels of racing. The JK Racing Asia Series is recognised by the World Governing Body for Motorsport, the Federation Intenationale De L’Automobile (FIA), as having special status that allows for young inexperienced drivers to participate on a National License. The reason for this is that the Series provides them with an Education and Coaching programme that teaches them all aspects of what it takes to build a career in motorsport.

The JK Racing Asia Series will return to India for Rounds 13 & 14 scheduled to be held from 30th November to 2^nd December 2012.

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New Delhi, 27 Oct 2012: India’s youngest racing sensation and JK Tyre prodigy Aditya Patel created history by finishing the Round 11 race of the JK Racing Asia Series with a fantastic podium finish at the Buddh International Circuit on Saturday. By finishing third, Patel has become the first Indian in the circuit’s two-year history to finish on the podium. Compatriot Akhil Khushlani put in a stellar performance to finish in fourth place according to a Zzebra press release.

Afiq Ikhwan of Malaysia won the third straight title. The final race is on Sunday at 12 noon as a support race for the 2012 Formula One Airtel Indian GP.

Armed with the glory of becoming the first Indian driver to win the gruelling 24 hours of Nurburgring in May, Patel has further cemented his position as one of the best junior drivers in the world through his results today. Having returned to single-seater racing after a gap of four years, the victory marks a phenomenal return for the young racing driver. Racing for US Formula Project, the driver put in a commendable performance in Round 2 of the Series at Paul Ricard, France and in Round 3 at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium to finish in the top ten, but missed out in Round 4 at Silverstone due to a rejected visa.

Recounting the end of his race, Patel had a big smile at the clean battle where he got both Ikhwan and Jeffri at the hairpin on the last lap. Ikhwan then regained his lead at the next turn while Jeffri made a dive on the inside a few turns before the finish line. But being on the podium at his home race was wonderful for Patel “Obviously it’s a great feeling. I got into third place at the start and as the race went on, I gained a little and I lost a little. Then lap by lap I started chipping away at Nabil and Afiq. Then Nabil caught up to him with two laps to go and that’s when it got tight between the both of them.

“It was a really really tight race. I was fighting for the lead with Afiq on the last lap and Nabil was also there and I think we were all over the place. At the end of the day, to finish on the podium was good but to know I could have won the race it doesn’t feel as great.

“I know I have the pace to be with the leaders, it did take me a while at the straights to build up a rhythm and get faster and faster and faster, so I know what to do now and what not to do. It should be good” ended the US Formula Project driver.

Representing championship-leading team Eurointernational, Akhil Khushlani ended the race in style with a fourth place finish. Fresh after his scintillating performance in Round 4 at Silverstone where he finished second, the 22-year-old racing driver from Hyderabad moved up from his eighth place start in today’s race to finish fourth. Khushlani raced in the series in 2009 when it was known as the Formula BMW, and has an impressive record of accomplishment with two podium finishes and top 5 finishes in over 12 races. He was a guest driver in the series last year during the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix and so is well versed with the track, which worked in his favour.

There were great battles all the way down the grid. Akhil Khushlani who started the race in eighth had a few great battles to finish fourth. “The race was brilliant. I just kept my pace, drove sensibly and didn’t want to take risks. Eighth to fourth, I am quite happy with that and I hope tomorrow I can go for the podium”.

Khushlani had to make some good manoeuvres and had good battles with Calvin Wong and Earl Bamber before making his moves on both Aston Hare and Rookie driver Aidan Wright on his way up. Hare was not too impressed with his own results saying “Again I didn’t get off the line properly but otherwise we were quick.

It is worth a mention that both Patel and Khushlani have been a part of the JK Tyre motorsport program where they graduated from national karting and racing championships to Asian and European levels of racing.

It was a moving moment for Afiq Ikhwan when he heard the Malaysian national anthem playing in the background for him after claiming first place. Ikhwan is on a winning streak after claiming both races in Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit at the last outing, and after a tough battle at the end, the win was worth it. The 21 year old crossed the line just ahead of compatriot Nabil Jeffri of Eurointernational after the duo and Indian Aditya Patel changed positions a few times at the closing stages of the race right through to the chequered flag. Patel finished the race in third and set the fastest time of the day with 1:50.803.

Ikhwan made a quick announcement during the post race interview, saying “I’d like to dedicate this trophy to my mum for her 50th birthday”. He then continued to thank his team and sponsor Petronas for the race.

“In the beginning I had a really good pace but the conditions of the car deteriorated after five laps and I don’t know why, we have to find out the problem. After lap 5 I saw Nabil closing the gap, he was coming really fast from third but I just did my job and continue doing what I do and kept defending my line right to the end of the race”.

When asked what was his feeling hearing the Malaysian national anthem during a Formula 1 weekend, Ikhwan said “I’m really excited and really happy because its not easy to get a podium and we worked really hard for this weekend, so I really appreciate everything and would like to thank everyone in my team”.

For Jeffri, the race win was not as important as the Championship points and although he was slightly disappointed he is looking forward to making amends tomorrow.

“I started off a bit slow because I think I was a bit too relaxed at the start. I think I lost the race at the start because I didn’t push hard enough when compared to Afiq but then as the race progressed I pushed hard enough and managed to catch up to Afiq.

“I did a few mistakes but my pace was there and I caught up to him until Patel came into the scene and was right behind me”. The trio battled into the last lap and Jeffri lost his second place to Patel before managing to reclaim his position at the end.

“In the end it was a really good race, I had fun and most important are my points for the Championship and right now I am still leading, and I am very proud of that. I expected a win so for tomorrow I will come back stronger hopefully. I really want to win, I want to win in India and I want to win during Formula 1 to prove to the Formula 1 teams that I can win here too” ended Jeffri.

Aidan – Wright did not have the best of starts and was playing catch up for most of the race. “From the start it was mainly trying to get back to where I started so I was trying to get back to fifth from eighth and I got to sixth so that was pretty good. Its good to know that we have the pace against people like Afiq who has been doing this for years so to be a Rookie here is really good.

Round 12 of the JK Racing Asia Series will be held Sunday at 12 noon local time.

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