INDIA in F1

Category: Non-F1

  • Casio launches Edifice watch with Red Bull Racing

    Monza, 6 September 2012: Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, Casio hosted a quiz-based launch for the EQS-A500RB, the latest Limited Edition EDIFICE watch built in partnership with Red Bull Racing.
    Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing’s double F1™ World Champion, Team Principal Christian Horner, and former Formula One drivers Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert all participated in the ‘Speed and Intelligence’ quiz, designed to test the contestants’ knowledge of their sport. Hosted by comedian Tom Goodliffe, the quiz consisted of a multitude of challenges from an audio test to a cards round. All rounds were against the clock – with an oversized Casio EDIFICE EQS-A500RB used as the official time keeping device.
    The EQS-A500RB, which will be available to buy later this year, boasts a variety of features including Smart Access Technology, solar power and 10 bar water resistance.
    To convey Red Bull Racing’s image, the team’s trademark red and blue colouring has been incorporated into the dials, bezel and hands of the watch, whilst the Red Bull Racing logo is prominently displayed on the watch face.
    Casio has been a proud partner of Red Bull Racing since 2009 and will continue to be its watch sponsor for the rest of this season and next. Red Bull Racing has a youthful, energetic image, but also pursues an intelligent strategy that strives to leverage outstanding technological developments to make its race cars the fastest in the world. This goes hand in hand with EDIFICE’s brand concept of speed and intelligence, hence the theme of the quiz.
    Speaking at the launch, Toshiharu Okimuro, Casio Deputy Senior General Manager said: “Building upon the excellent working relationship that Casio EDIFICE and Red Bull Racing share, the EDIFICE EQS-A500RB emphasizes the traits that the two brands have in common: Speed and Intelligence together with accuracy – all without sacrificing style.”
    Sebastian Vettel commented: “The watch shares the same attributes that Red Bull Racing need for success – precision, speed and of course the highest level of technology in our racing cars. It’s also a great weight and not too heavy on my wrist!”
    Christian Horner added: “The watch strikes a nice balance between design and function – the Red Bull Racing visual identity is incorporated into the watch face, whilst its speed and precision embodies the team’s ethos.”
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    Vettel at the launch of Casio Edifice watch in partnership with Red Bull Racing. Casio EdificeF1 photo

  • JK Tyre’s Armaan to enter FIA GT1 Worlds

    New Delhi, 31 Aug 2012: JK Tyre brand ambassador and India’s youngest racing sensation Armaan Ebrahim is all set to make his entry into the FIA GT1 World Championship, widely regarded to represent the pinnacle of sports car racing in the world. Armaan Ebrahim is the lone Indian driver on the grid and this is going to be his first outing in the World GT1 Championship at a brand new world-class facility-Moscow Raceway which is located on the outskirts of the Russian Capital. The Chennai based racing driver will represent ‘Team India’ and will drive for SunRed Engineering, a leading motor racing team from Spain.

    GT1 features fiercely competitive racing between the world’s most desirable luxury sports car brands. The entry list reads like a who’s who of automotive exotica. Cars from the Aston Martin DBRS9, Audi R8, BMW Z4, Ferrari 458, and Ford GT, to the Lamborghini Gallardo, McLaren MP4-12C, Mercedes SLS and Porsche 997 GT3 R will vie for the honour of being crowned FIA World Champion at the end of the season.

    With two races per event, the GT1 championship gives the world’s best drivers an opportunity to battle it out in 10 events that are organised on the finest circuits in 10 countries around the world. Each GT1 race runs for 60 minutes and each car must perform a mid-race pit-stop to change tyres and drivers. The last round of the championship is scheduled to take place at India’s Buddh International Circuit on December 2, 2012.

    Armaan’s team – SunRed Engineering – is a professional race engineering company based in Spain with a very successful record of accomplishment in sports and touring car racing at the very highest international levels. The company has been granted the rights to compete within the FIA GT1 World Championship under the designation of ‘Team India’.

    Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre & Industries Limited said, “We hope that this move helps Armaan consolidate his next career move in the world of motor-racing. It will be a dream come true for a youngster to be finally racing in India in front of his family and supporters. We wish that this move will help him get closer to achieving his ultimate goals.”

    The FIA GT1 World Championship was launched in 2010 and is one of five FIA recognized world championships, alongside events such as Formula 1, World Rally and World Endurance Championship.

    Armaan Ebrahim said, “I would firstly like to thank my Principal Sponsors JK Tyre who have done a lot of work in putting this together, thus giving me the opportunity to drive for Team India in a World Championship and most importantly in my own country at the Buddh International Circuit subsequently. I will have to get used to the GT Cars as I have raced in Formula Cars all my life and to that extent, the test in Barcelona last month was a satisfying experience. I’m very happy that I’m going to be in the elite company of the best drivers in the world on a debut international race meet in Moscow.”

    The young driver views the FIA GT World Championship as a big moment in his life. “To compete in a World Championship was what I have been working towards since I was 12”, he added.

    “We are delighted to have finalised a contract with young Indian sensation Armaan Ebrahim to drive for our Team in the last 3 Rounds, which will hopefully lead to a full year’s contract in 2013. We have been following Armaan’s career and he is definitely one of the brightest prospects from India and it is our desire to work hard with Armaan in 2013 to deliver to the world, the 1st Indian World Champion”, commented Joan Orus, Team Principal of SunRed Racing.

     

    SunRed Racing has done very well in other championships and is the World Touring Car Championship title winning team. The team is working hard on getting the Ford GT 40 upto its paces, which Armaan will be driving.

    Qualifying round of the championship is scheduled to be held on Saturday, September 1, 2012 at 3.15pm (local time) with Race 1 on Sunday, September 2, at 11.15am and Race 2 at 3.15pm at the Moscow Raceway. The next race is scheduled to take place at Nurburgring in Germany on the 22nd and 23rd of September and the final round at the Buddh International Circuit in India on the 1st and 2nd of December 2012.

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  • Vettel stars in a Music Video with Fiona

    Hong Kong, 30 August 2012:  Double Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel has taken on a driving job with a difference – starring in a music video with Double Grammy-winning US R&B star and protégé of Jay-Z, Melanie Fiona.
    According to an Infiniti Press Release, The Red Bull Racing driver and Infiniti Global Ambassador plays a central part in the official global music video for Fiona’s track ‘Watch Me Work’, from her album‘The MF Life’ on Universal Records. The high-energy piece, set in downtown New York, sees Vettel play a modern day James Dean character searching to find an underground location for Fiona and her band to perform. Vettel emerges driving a red Infiniti G37 convertible to an enormous warehouse space, powering up the lights and the sound system, and taking control of the volume. Happy with his work, Vettel’s character departs the scene and is seen driving into the Manhattan sunrise.
    The video is the latest in the ‘Infiniti Inspired Performers’ series, which sees Red Bull Racing drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber collaborating with other top performers in different disciplines. It was shot on location in New Jersey in June when Vettel drove the proposed New Jersey F1 Circuit. The 25 year-old German driver also took the opportunity to take the R&B star on a high-speed lap of the circuit, where she got a taste of his high performance world.
    It’s the first time that Canadian-born Melanie Fiona has featured a sports star in one of her videos. She is no stranger to collaborations though, having worked with Jay-Z, co-written songs with Rihanna and toured with Kanye West amongst others. She is also no stranger to Inspired Performance – her family have owned Infiniti cars for years meaning Melanie has grown up with the brand.
    Commenting on the video, Sebastian Vettel said: “It was a great experience to shoot a music video, and certainly very different to what I’m used to. But music is without question an inspiration to many and I’m very proud to have been part of this. I think the lyrics are quite fitting to what we can all do if we put our mind to it”
    Melanie Fiona added: “It’s not often you get the chance to be driven by an F1 World Champion and when the opportunity came up to have Seb driving me in the video I was like, yes please! This is one of my favourite songs and one that I’ve been wanting to put out for a while so to have him involved was great.”
    The music video is available to view here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vh0yUHGfEA
    A behind the scenes video featurette can be found here:
    Vettel stars in a music video. Photo by Infiniti

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlIOlI2JSb8

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  • Fahad Kutty clinches golden double

    Chennai, 26 August 2012: Dark Don Racing driver Ashwin Sundar in the LGB Formula 4 category, made light work of slippery conditions with superb driving to give his team its first ever race victory in the second race of Round 3 of the 15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship.

    Arjun Balu (20:04.406 seconds) won the Indian Touring Cars race almost seven seconds ahead of second placed V.Rajvirdhan of Prime Racing (20:11.191 seconds). Veteran racer N.Leelakrishanan (20:15.347 seconds) of Big Foots Coimbatore came third. Balu dedicated his win to the memory of racing champion the Late. Karivaradhan, at the suburban MMST track near Sriperumbudur today.

    It was a creditable display by Ashwin Sundar, who had a difficult time with his car in the last two races, as he exhibited his skills to make sure he finished on the podium yesterday and today.

    Bangalore’s Sudarshan Rao, a Jet Airways Pilot, made sure a one-two finish for his team Rayo Racing. Sudarshan, lying in second spot, had to surrender his position to his team mate Varun Nathani of Mumbai, who kept the pressure on taking Rao to third spot.

    Ashwin Sundar needed 22:00.197 seconds to take the top honours, while Varun clocked 22:06.269 seconds and Sudarshan 22:07.393 seconds for third place. Sudarshan, who had a second place and first spot finishes, tallied 58 points to lead the overall table followed by Varun Nathani at 46 and Ashwin Sundar respectively for second and third places.

    In all counts, the Kozhikode born Fahad Kutty was the lone driver amongst his category of racers in the Indian Junior Touring Cars, who witnessed grabbing a deserving double. Fahad, aged 30 and owning an automobile based business in Mumbai city, has been in the circuit for three years. Today, the driver demonstrated that he is made of a different metal.

    Yesterday, he had to bring in all his resources on the track to pass the leader to take the top honours but today he had a rather easy time clinching the title, and a double at that! Diljith Shaji, also from Kerala, driving for Eram Group Sports Club and Kashit Kapadia, Team Game Over, came second and third respectively.

    In the JK Tyre-Volkswagen Polo R Cup, Mumbai’s Ameya Walavalkar won the first race, while Ajay Kini claimed the honours in the second race today.

    Results:

    LGB Formula 4: 1.Ashwin Sundar (Dark Don Racing) 22:00.192 secs, 2.Varun Nathwani (Rayo Racing) 22:06.269 secs, 3. Sudarshan Rao (Rayo Racing) 22:07.393 secs,

    Indian Touring Cars: 1. Arjun Balu (Tiger Sports) 20:04.406 secs, 2.V.Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing) 20:11.191 secs, 3. N.Leela Krishnan (Big Foots Racing) 20:15.347 secs,

    Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Fahad Kutty (Team Game Over) 22:39.788 secs, 2.Diljith Shaji (Eram Group Sports Club) 22:40.761 secs, 3. Kashit Kapadia (Team Game Over) 23:05.332 secs,

    JK Tyre-VW Polo R Cup: 1. Ameya Walavalkar (Mumbai) 20:30.378 secs, 2.Sailesh Bolisetti (Visag) 20:32.018 secs, 3.A.Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) 20:39.259 secs, 4. Avdumber Hede (Goa) 20:39.371.

    Note: Sailesh Bolisetti is a guest driver and thus Sandeep Kumar and Hede get promoted to second and third positions.

    Second Race: 1. Ajay Kini (Bangalore) 20:40.108 secs, 2. Mihir Dharkar (Mumbai) 20:40.432 secs, 3.Ameya Walavalkar (Mumbai) 20:40.434 secs.

    Overall points for top three-placing for three legs:

    LGB Formula 4 (For four races): 1. Sudarshan Rao (Rayo Racing)—58 pts, 2. Varun Nathwani (Rayo Racing) 46, 3.Ashwin Sundar (Dark Don Racing) 43,

    Indian Touring Cars: (For four races as 2nd and 4th races under investigation): 1. Arjun Balu (Tiger Sports)—68, Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing) 58, 3. Leela Krishnan (Big Foods) 30,

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (for six races) : 1. Fahad Kutty (Team GameOver)–125, 2.Diljith Shaji (Eram Group Sports Club)—82, 3. S.Feroz Khan—76,

    JK Tyre-VW Polo R Cup (for six races): 1.Ameya Walavalkar (Mumbai)—176, 2.Sandeep Kumar (Chennai)—155 and Mihir Dharkar (Mumbai) 155 (shared the spot).

    JK Tyre National Racing Championship

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  • Karun qualifies 7th for JRM

    Qualifying session: 20 Minutes – 7th position

    Fastest lap:   1:46.758  (Karun Chandhok) +3.095secs

    Silverstone, 26 August 2012: Indian racing star Karun Chandhok and his JRM Racing enjoyed a solid qualifying session in preparation for the fourth round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Silverston

    Karun Chandhok in form, JRM qualifies 7th on 26 Aug 2012. Adrenna pic.

    e.

    Karun Chandhok qualified in seventh position, just half a second from fourth and the fastest privateer car, marking the strength and depth of the competition in this year’s series, and just how far JRM Racing has come since entering the championship at the start of this year. This came in spite of a gearbox issue in the earlier practice, which cost the team almost all the running in the morning, a press release from Adrenna Communications said.

    Karun started on Michelin intermediate tyres following a heavy rainstorm between practice and qualifying, completing four laps with a best time of 1:53.957. He then moved to the slick tyre for his flying laps. He completed six further laps on the dry tyres, improving to a 1:46.758 to put the #22 HPD ARX 03a into seventh overall. An even quicker time was on the cards, but traffic put paid to a further improvement.

    Karun Chandhok, who has enjoyed success at Silverstone in every series through the years, added, “Today we were even closer to the front of the field and there was only a hair’s breadth between ourselves, Strakka and Rebellion. This is a big step forward over the previous races where we have been a lot further back. We could have gone even faster – I did a 1:46.4 yesterday and I was up on my first two sectors, but traffic in the last corner cost me some time. Although qualifying for a six hour race isn’t the be-all and end-all, it would have been nice to show our true form. All the same we can be relatively satisfied with today, particularly given we missed the earlier session. It’s pretty hopeful for tomorrow.”

    Nigel Stepney, team manager and chief engineer, said, “We lost the hour this morning with a gearbox issue, which is when we had planned to do all our qualifying work. We then went back to our set up from FP1, but conditions were very different then so it was hard to get the most out of the car. But even so we can be relatively happy – we are on a similar pace to our rivals, which we haven’t been in previous races. It bodes well for the race and for the rest of the season. The forecast is for occasional showers – we’ll just deal with everything as it comes.”

    Team Principal James Rumsey, commented, “A very solid qualifying by Karun. We’ve looked genuinely competitive from the start of the event and although we would have liked the qualifying position to reflect this, it’s a mark of how far we’ve come since we entered endurance racing at the start of the year.”

    Race Weekend Schedule

    2012, August 24th – 26th

    Warm-up – Sun 26th August – 1:25pm IST

    Race – Sun 26th August – 4:30pm IST

    You can watch live streaming of the at www.fiawec.com starting 4:30PM on Sunday

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  • Karun back in action for JRM Racing

    Silverstone, 23 Aug 2012: Ten weeks after finishing its inaugural Le Mans 24 Hours in a superb sixth place overall and second in the privateers’ classification, Indian racing star Karun Chandhok’s JRM Racing takes on its next challenge this weekend, the 6 Hours of Silverstone, the fourth round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship. JRM Racing is currently second in the World Endurance Championship LMP1 standings, only 24 points behind the current leaders, Rebellion Racing.

    It will be Karun’s first race in nearly two months after his historic 6th place in the legendary Le Mans 24hr race. Compared to the 24-hr race in Le Mans, this weekend’s race in Silverstone will be  a 6-hr race. Silverstone is not only home to the team JRM Racing, but is also Karun’s second home as he has done countless miles around the Northamptonshire circuit.

    Karun Chandhok, who became the first Indian to start and finish Le Mans this year, added, ‘I’m excited about this weekend. We had a good test in Aragon last week, made some good progress that we can put into practice at Silverstone. It’s our home race – as a team and all three drivers are based very close to the track – so we want to do well, and I think we have a good chance of succeeding. I have always enjoyed driving around the Silverstone circuit so feels good to be back here. We know that Audi and Toyota are in front but the competition around us is hard, so our goal is to be the best of the privateers. It’s not easy but the progress we’ve made since Le Mans gives us a lot of encouragement.’

    Team Principal James Rumsey, commented, ‘We are really excited about the event this weekend. While it is our home race and it would be amazing to do well here in front of our fans, families and friends, the event is our first race in the championship post Le Mans and the first race we go to fully prepared. ‘After winning the FIA GT1 Championship last year, we entered the WEC in the LMP1 category very late on and in just over a month, assembled a team and bought a Honda Performance Developments ARX-03a LMP1 car. Le Mans is where we started to hit our stride and the result showed how much ground we had covered. Now we’ve got that confidence we need to hit peak form at Silverstone. Clawing back the points from Rebellion and going to the overseas races of the championship closer to them has got to be the aim.’

    Team Manager and Chief Engineer Nigel Stepney, explained how the team will set out to achieve this objective, ‘Silverstone will be the first race we go to feeling confident in where we are, and able to consolidate form rather than lay foundations. The first part of the year was tough with the car assembled for the first time just hours before the start of Sebring and then a difficult race in Spa. Nobody gives you a book on how to do it – we had to learn how to work together on the LMP1 car and the drivers needed to gel. It all came together over Le Mans; the car had a new aero package, we understood the Michelin tyres a lot more and the drivers came together as a unit.

    ‘Last week we went to Aragon for a two day test, our first test since Le Mans and the first time we have had more than a day’s test with the car. This ironed out any remaining creases and got us back up to speed before this weekend. Of course the result in Le Mans was a boost to everyone’s confidence, but we feel equally confident in the progress we have made since then.’

    About JRM

    After winning the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship with Nissan, The British-based JRM Racing will partner with Honda Performance Developments to enter the brand new FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP1 class.  JRM Racing will enter a single LMP1 Honda Performance Development ARX-03a powered by a specially designed and tested 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine. The ARX-03a is currently hailed as the most competitive petrol Le Mans Prototype around.

    Race Weekend Schedule – ALL TIMES IN IST

    2012, August 24th – 26th

    Free practice 1 – Fri 24th August – 3:30pm IST

    Free practice 2 – Fri 24th August – 8:30pm IST

    Free practice 3 – Sat 25th August – 3:30pm IST

    Qualifying – Sat 25th August – 7:20pm IST

    Warm-up – Sun 26th August – 1:25pm IST

    Race – Sun 26th August – 4:30pm IST

     

    You can watch live streaming of the at www.fiawec.com starting 4:30PM on Sunday

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    Karun Chandhok who is on Endurance Racing for JRM Racing is in action this week. Photo Adrenna

     

  • Satish-Savera duo win; Chidu-Sujith clinch their class

    Bangalore, August 20 2012: The husband-wife duo of Satish Gopalkrishnan and Savera D’Souza from Bangalore took the overall and Pro-Expert class honours in the first round of the JK Tyre-FMSCI Indian National TSD Rally Championship 2012 – Rally of Bengaluru, promoted by Berunda Adventure Sports Club with JK Tyre as the title sponsor on Sunday.

    With a penalty time of just 52 seconds, Gopalkrishnan and D’Souza who were in a Maruti Grand Vitara, pipped KP Karthick Maruthi and Sankar Anand from Erode (Maruti Esteem) by 10 seconds. The Chandigarh pair of Jagmeet Gill and Yogesh Gupta – driving a Volkswagen Vento – came third, a further 15 seconds behind.

    Topping the Pro-Stock class was the Bangalore duo of Chidananda Murthy and BS Sujith Kumar in a brand new Tata Indica Vista with a penalty time of 3 minutes 15 seconds, followed by Ramprashath and C Sakthivel, also from Bangalore in a Honda City (3:32) with S Senthil Kumar and P Velusamy (Erode, Peugeot) finishing third in 4:45.

    The Novice class honours went to another Erode pair of B Manikandan and A Parthipan in a Mahindra Scorpio who were docked 6 minutes 29 seconds, as they finished ahead of their city-mates Baskaran G and P Ganesan (Maruti Esteem) while T Sujith and Shahid Salman from Bangalore in a Fiat Punto came in third.

    Kolkata’s Deepali Poddar and her navigator Ipsita Das seated in a Maruti Alto took the honours in the All-Ladies class with a penalty of 4 minutes 58 seconds.

    Gopalkrishnan, who along with Savera chalked up the fourth podium finish in five major TSD events this year, said, “Obviously, the two of us are very happy and our victory is due to a team effort as it involves understanding and co-ordination between driver and navigator. In addition, the competition was so close that anybody could win.”

    “It was quite challenging since promoters Berunda Adventure Sports Club had introduced some new concepts. It was a well-run event overall and we would like to thank the promoters and the FMSCI for organizing the championship,” the couple added.

    For the Murthy-Sujith combine, it was a victory to savour as they were armed with just a calculator and a note pad while dispensing with the popular trip meter. “It is good to win after a string of second place finishes. We trusted ourselves with a calculator and nothing else. That is why this win is so special,” said Sujith who is one of untry’s leading navigators with vast experience in two and four-wheeler rallying.

    The day-long event that began at the Golden Gate Properties in the morning covered 265km as the 54 vehicles traversed through picturesque areas in Magadi, Ramanagar, Bidadi, Kanakapura and Sarjapur regions before finishing at Love Shack, Inner Ring Road, Indiranagar, in the evening.

    Final classification

    Overall / Pro-Expert: Satish Gopalkrishnan / Savera D’Souza (Bangalore, Maruti Grand Vitara) 1 (0:00:52secs); KP Karthick Maruthi / Sankar Anand (Erode, Maruti Esteem) 2 (0:01min, 02secs); Jagmeet Gill / Yogesh Gupta (Chandigarh, VW Vento) 3 (0:01:17)

    Pro-Stock: Chidananda Murthy / BS Sujith Kumar 1 (Bangalore, TATA Indica Vista) 1 (0:03:15); Ramprashath / C Sakthivel (Bangalore, Honda City) 2 (0:03:32); S Senthil Kumar / P Velusamy (Erode, Peugeot) 2 (0:04:45) 3

    Novice: B Manikandan / A Parthipan (Erode, Mahindra Scorpio) 1 (0:06:29); Baskaran G / P Ganesan (Erode, Maruti Esteem) 2 (0:07:07); T Sujith / Shahid Salman (Bangalore, Fiat Punto) 3 (0:07:53)

    All Ladies: Deepali Poddar / Ipsita Das (Kolkata, Maruti Alto) 1 (0:04.58)

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    JK Tyre makes a comeback to Rallying.

  • Bangalore to host the first leg of National TSD Rally

    Bangalore, 14 Aug 2012: Bangalore is gearing up for the Indian National TSD (Time Speed Distance) Rally Championship, which makes its debut in the Indian motorsports calendar this year with the first leg beginning in the Garden City here this week-end. In this connection a Press Conference is being organised in Bangalore today.

    The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) announced in June the launch of the all new FMSCI National Time Speed Distance (TSD) Rally Championship. This championship will be run under TSD format of rallying, with the objective of maintaining precise times and average speeds on various segments of a predefined route. This championship, promoted by Berunda Adventure Sports Club (BASC), will be the first championship formulated not only for drivers but also for constructors/manufacturers.

    President Vicky Chandhok said that FMSCI is excited about TSD becoming an official championship for the first ever time. He said, “This is a first and a very exciting step for rallying fans in the country. This is the only form of racing where speed is not a priority but rather precision and is a great stepping stone for rally enthusiasts. This championship provides great opportunities for manufacturers to get involved as well. TSD rallies were very popular in the 1970s-80s and we are happy to bring it back as part of the National Championship. The great thing here is that we will have the constructors/manufacturers fighting for the title of FMSCI National TSD Rally Champion rather than only drivers/navigators.”

    The first ever TSD Championship with prizes worth Rs 1 crore will be held across India and will consist of 6 rounds. The organizers will create a pool of 30 teams in various categories with drivers and navigators being assigned through an open draw to the constructors. The cars need not be altered or modified as it is a TSD format. Each car will be fitted with Transponders, GPS, Trip Meter and digital cameras for backup times, verification, live update and reduce human error.  The TSD rallies will also have a special category for non-professionals/ motorsport lovers. This will give any rallying fan the opportunity to participate and enjoy the thrill of motorsport in their respective cities. They can bring in their own cars and participate in a special leg of the rally.

    K. Prasad, 3 time winner of Raid de Himalaya and Head of BASC commented, “As big rallying enthusiasts we are thrilled to bring you this exciting new championship. The concept here is completely different from the past and the focus will be on the constructors/manufacturers vying for the manufacturers Championship title. We invite all manufacturers in the country to participate in the TSD Rally Championship and play a vital role in promoting motorsport in the country. Navigation in a rally is of utmost importance and this will provide rally experience to upcoming stars. The beauty of this championship is that any car can participate and no modification is necessary. We are keen to create awareness of the sport through workshops and safety clinics and are confident that this will be received well.”

    The inaugural round of the Rs. 1 Crore 2012 TSD championship will be held in Bangalore on August 10. This will be followed by rallies in Ranchi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Coimbatore.

    The calendar for the 2012 TSD Championship will be as follows:

    Round 1    :       10 August 2012         :           Bangalore

    Round 2    :       14 September 2012  :           Ranchi

    Round 2    :       26 October 2012       :           Coimbatore

    Round 2    :       30 November 2012   :           Jaipur

    Round 3    :       28 December 2012    :          Chandigarh

    Round 1    :       25 January 2013         :          Hyderabad

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  • Hare exacted revenge with win in Round 8

    Spa Franchorchamps, 28 July 2012: South African Rookie driver, Aston Hare claimed another win for Eurointernational at a wet Spa Francorchamps Circuit today for Round 8 of the JK Racing Asia Series. Hare and his teammates, Nabil Jeffri and Tan Wei Ron completed another clean sweep of the podium for Eurointernational.

    The outing today was declared a wet race with Jeffri lining up on the grid on pole with Hare in second whilst Irfan Ilyas and Tan Wei Ron lined up on row two. Jeffri did not have a good start, spinning his wheel and allowing Hare and Tan to pass him.

    From there, Hare started to open up a gap but Jeffri started to make paces and took Tan on lap two before closing in on Hare towards the end of the race. It was some great driving from the duo in the last few laps of the race when they drove nose to tail with Jeffri trying from the inside and outside to find a way past. But in the end, Hare held on to his lead taking the chequered flag just 0.3seconds ahead of the Malaysian.

    “My starts this season hasn’t been really good and I finally got off the line cleanly and took the first position at the first corner. Got through the first corner in one piece and from there I pulled a little bit of a gap maybe would give me a little bit of a breather for the race. But obviously not as Nabil is a good fighter, he came back strong and throughout the race I just had to hold him off and I tell you it wasn’t easy, I had to really hold him off.

    “A few times I thought he got past but I was just able to hold him and I took the chequered flag. I am happy with the win.

    “It’s a very wide track, a few times he almost got a switchback on me. I was just able to hold him and I thought at the last corner he might have just got me. He came around the outside into the Bus Stop, I was just able to hold him. A few times I saw him run off the track maybe he lost a bit of time there but overall it was a good race” said Hare at the Post Race Press Conference.

    Speaking of the battle between him and his teammate for the Championship, Hare said “He is fast everywhere. Its not going to be easy, I’ve got a 12 points difference now, I brought it down by five. The rest of the tracks, he has been to so it will be harder for a Rookie. But I will definitely fight hard and hopefully I can pull it off at the end of the year” ended Hare.

    “It was a very enjoyable race, one of the best races for me this year. Even though my start was bad but I managed to catch up after a few laps. After getting past Ron, I just went straight for Aston and I was behind him for a few laps until the end of the race.

    “He was very good in defending his line and we had a few scary moments especially at the fast turns but it was a very good race at the end. I was thinking about my Championship points. To me it was important to leave Spa leading the Championship” said Jeffri.

    For Tan, the Caterham Driver Development driver from Malaysia and racing with Eurointernational, had the best view of the dogfight between the two leading drivers. “Towards the end, I thought I had the possibility while the two of them were fighting, but there weren’t enough laps and the pace that I was coming wasn’t fast enough so the best finish was third.

    “I didn’t really have a good start. I came in fifth at the start Aditya passed me but I took Irfan and Aditya after the first lap and I started to build the rhythm as it goes and after that it got better and better. From there I was slowly catching Aston and Nabil but the pace wasn’t fast enough” ended Tan.

    Despite being happy with the results of the weekend, with his drivers claiming all podium in Rounds 7 & 8, Antonio Ferrari, team owner of Eurointernational will still be having a little bit of a serious discussion with his drivers. “Its good, I am very happy, especially in Spa. Two weeks ago we won here with Formula 3, we own this place” he said with a smile.

    “All four has been on the podium just depends on the positions. The team by itself showed that we didn’t have any problems, we won in the wet and we won in the dry. We fought each other, I didn’t like that so I screamed a little bit on the radio but the rest was good and now we just look forward to the next one”.

    Aditya “I really don’t know what happened, I just couldn’t find any grip on the car but I had a really good start. First lap was really good, everybody was bunched up but after that no matter what I did I could not find any grip and I was all over the place. There is really not much I can do.

    Ilyas finished the race in fourth ahead of Aidan Wright who was right in the middle of a five way battle for fifth. In the end Wright claimed fifth ahead of his Meritus.GP teammate, Afiq Ikhwan, Eurasia Motorsport’s Danial Hidzir, Meritus.GP’s Ernie Van der Walt and US Formula Project’s Aditya Patel in ninth.

    Ikhwan had a good start and was right in the middle of the battle, despite being unhappy with the pace of his car, he had a lot of fun fighting for positions. “I had a good start but the car just did not suit the conditions so I struggled a lot with the setup. We will try and fix the problem and find out what was the main thing why the car is not suited for this condition”. Once he realised he was unable to catch the leaders, Ikhwan just tried to maintain his position to get the best points for the Championship.

    For Indian driver, Patel, he did not make any changes to the car setup yesterday as he was happy with its pace but as the rain came, it may not have been the best decision, saying “I don’t know, with my driving I tried pretty much everything but I just couldn’t turn the car into any corner. I tried braking early, braking late, turning early, turning late, turning fast, turning slow, every combination possible but I just was losing time every time, we will just see the data and find out.

    Patel said the best battle he had was with Ernie Van der Walt of Meritus.GP and said “He passed me and I passed him back and we were wheel to wheel a few times, it was the closest and longest fight I had on this track. I had good fun this weekend, at Spa its always fun” ended the Indian driver.

    Josh Raneri stayed mostly out of trouble from the battling five to finish in the top ten whilst Guest Driver Alexis van de Poele of Belgium and Toby Earle were the last of the finishers in the wet race.

    All of the five circuits that the series visits 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 uses the 140bhp FB02, which has an unrivalled track record for training future Champions and developing them for a success with graduates at the highest level of the sport such as Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastien Buemi in Formula 1, Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto in GP2, Jazeman Jaafar, Sebastian Saveedra and Carlos Sainz Jr in British F3, and many more. This coupled with the highest safety standards, makes the FB02 the most suitable machine for up and coming drivers to learn on.

    JK Tyre & Industries, the leading tyre manufacturer in India, is the title partner for the JK Racing Asia Series.

    The JK Racing Asia Series is supported by Cody Maxx, SPA Design and official logistics agent, JAS Worldwide.

    Action at Round 8 of the JK Racing Asia Series at Spa on 28 July 2012. Photo JK Tyre.

  • FIA president meet Euro Commission president

    On Tuesday 24 July, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, received a delegation from the FIA which included Jean Todt, President of the FIA, Carlos Barbosa, Vice-President of the FIA and President of the Automovel Club de Portugal (ACP), and the Director General of the FIA bureau in Brussels, Jacob Bangsgaard.

    On the occasion of this cordial meeting, Jean Todt set out to the President of the European Commission the FIA’s objectives with regard to both sport and mobility, mentioning in particular issues relating to road safety, environmental protection, the defence of motorists and the drawing up of a European sports policy.

    José-Manuel Barroso noted the convergence of views on the question of road safety and was pleased to see the FIA so committed on this subject, notably through its ‘Action for Road Safety’ campaign. This initiative complements the European Commission’s undertaking set out in its 2011 communication: “Towards a European road safety area: policy orientations on road safety 2011-2020”.

    It was established that there is a mutual desire to strengthen the links between the European Commission and the FIA. This could come about through the FIA’s taking part in working groups; for example the FIA could be granted the status of observer within the group of experts on European policy in matters relating to sport.

    Lastly, in the medical field, Jean Todt reminded the President of the European Commission that the FIA, through its foundation, supports medical research centres such as the Brain and Spine Institute [Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM)] which works on treating among other things degenerative diseases of the brain – a field in which the European Commission also has an active role.

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