Sakhir, 2 March 2014: The last day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit here, brought to an end the three Testing sessions before the new season begins in Melbourne, with the first of the 19 races scheduled for March 16.
The talk of the town is the lack of speed for champions Red Bull, but as the teams try to finalise different issues, the ten days before the season opener become crucial. Sebastian Vettel finally was able to complete 77 laps for Red Bull, the highest on a day, thus far.
Many feel that the time sheets may not reveal the true pace right now, but one important factor may be the “homologation” . Teams will not have much leeway once the engines are homologated and the last date ended on Feb 28. So Renault-powered Red Bull may not be as dominant as they were for the last three years. However, the team is still capable of pulling back as the season progresses and one should not forget that the points are doubled for the last race. So the battles will still be interesting.
At the moment, the Mercedes-powered teams are in the forefront and Sahara Force India, have put behind the problems to Sahara Group’s chief, and completed its pre-season testing programme in Bahrain as Nico Hulkenberg clocked up 74 laps in the VJM07.
Day Four Statistics:
Chassis: VJM07-01
Laps: 74 laps
Mileage: 401 km
Fastest lap: 1:35.577
Classification: P4
Nico Hulkenberg: “The final day of testing went pretty well. In the end we didn’t do the race simulation, but we did some long runs and signed off a lot of other things on the job list. We didn’t do as many laps as yesterday, but we still made progress and learned some new things. So it’s been two good days for me and I’m feeling pretty satisfied. You always want more time to prepare, but I think we’re in good shape. The car has come a long way since the first Jerez test and we have made progress every day.”
Andrew Green, Technical Director:
“The final day in Bahrain saw a continuation of yesterday’s work improving the car balance, collecting tyre data, and some long runs. Our programme ended slightly early with a suspected component failure, which was a result of high mileage, and so we didn’t manage to complete our target number of laps. Nonetheless our time in Bahrain has gone largely to plan with the mileage achieved during the previous three days leaving us in good shape going into Melbourne. We’re feeling positive about our reliability and have explored some encouraging directions for improving car performance. The other focus has been on our race readiness and we’ve done a great deal of homework to prepare the drivers for the challenge that awaits them in Melbourne.”
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Hulkenberg completes testing for Force India on Sunday. A Sahara Force India photo
Sakhir, 1 Mar 2014: Nico Hulkenberg returned to the cockpit of the VJM07 today as Sahara Force India completed the penultimate day of pre-season testing in Bahrain doing 100 or more laps for the third day.
Day Three Statistics:
Chassis: VJM07-01
Laps: 115 laps
Mileage: 622 km
Fastest lap: 1:36.205
Classification: P6
Nico Hulkenberg: “Lots of laps today, which is good, and it’s the third day in a row that the team has done more than 100 laps. When I jumped in the car this morning I could feel the progress the team has made since I last drove at the end of last week, so it shows we are moving in the right direction. The track conditions were quite tricky because it was windy, but otherwise it was a successful day and my feeling with the car is pretty good. We got through the test programme and hit the objectives for the day, including a race simulation in the afternoon. For the final day tomorrow we will continue doing our homework for Melbourne, ticking off the boxes and try and do another race simulation.”
Andrew Green, Technical Director:
“Once again we were able to do a lot of valuable work today and hit our target number of laps, which is very satisfying. At this stage of testing we still have lots of items to evaluate, but we’ve been able to combine this with giving Nico the opportunity to explore numerous set-up options ahead of Melbourne. He managed to try all the different tyre compounds available today and did three solid long runs at the end of the day, which went to plan. Nico also ran through some of the new procedures needed this year, especially those for grid formation.” -A Sahara Force India press release.Nico Hulkenberg at Bahrain Testing. A Sahara Force India photo
Sakhir, 28 Feb 2014: On the first day of pre-season testing a Ferrari topped the timesheet, since then every day has seen a car with a Mercedes engine go quickest. Today added a slight variation to the theme with the same driver going quickest for the second day in a row, with Force India’s Sergio Pérez once again the fastest man at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Along with Pérez, Daniel Ricciardo and Pastor Maldonado were continuing for Red Bull and Lotus respectively, while the other eight teams opted to switch drivers for day two of this final test. That saw Fernando Alonso appearing for Ferrari, Fel
Sergio Perez tops time sheets again on Day 2 during the Bahrain testing on Friday. A Sahara Force India photo
ipe Massa for Williams and Jenson Button at McLaren. Jules Bianchi stepped into the Marussia, Lewis Hamilton took over at Mercedes, Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso, Esteban Gutiérrez for Sauber and Marcus Ericsson at Caterham.
It was Pérez who set the first time of the day with a lap of 1:46.166. He followed that with a more representative 1:38.014 on his next lap. That stood for half an hour before Alonso announced his presence, going quickest with 1:37.274, before the Mexican driver took top spot back with 1:36.440, 90 minutes into running.
That came shortly after the first red red flag period of the day. Hamilton beached at Turn Three on new hard tyres. Mercedes, tongue-in-cheek, suggested they were testing the gravel. Running resumed as soon as the W05 was recovered and continued until Button necessitated a second red flag, slowing to a halt with a mechanical issue some two and a half hours into the session.
Repairing the McLaren took much of the day but Button was able to resume with 75 minutes of the day remaining and finished the session with a long run.
“We had a problem within the gearbox,” said Button after the chequered flag. “It took a while to change – as anything within the power-unit does these days – but we got back out at the end, and everything ran smoothly, which was good. It was a shame to lose that time – it’s the first major issue we’ve had this winter; but it’s better to suffer it here, rather than at a race weekend.
“We were still able to do a long-run on high-fuel this afternoon. The basic car is good, and there’s a great deal of potential there, but there’s still a lot of work to do. We have a good understanding of the power-unit, and we know how to race it, but, in terms of balance and grip, the car isn’t quite there yet.”
When running resumed shortly before noon, everyone had a time on the board baring Ricciardo, who to that point had only managed installation laps. That would change soon after with the Australian getting on the board with a lap of 1:40.867. Shortly before that, however, Pérez had improved upon his best lap, lowering the benchmark to 1:35.570. That time would stand until the end of the session, despite Force India completing 75 laps after lunch.
“It feels very good to have another full day and to do so many laps,” said Pérez. It’s my last time in the car until we arrive in Melbourne and I’m feeling positive about how things are going. The set-up work today was very useful because we tried some different things to have a better direction for the first race. Everything went to plan and we managed to complete all the long runs in the afternoon.”
After lunch it was Lotus’ turn to bring out a red flag as Maldonado’s E22 caught fire. It was sufficiently serious to end Lotus’ participation on day two. “We had a localised fire in the car which ended our running early and caused a reasonable amount of damage to the E22,” said trackside operations director Alan Permane. “We’re inspecting the chassis and installation very carefully to deduce the cause of the fire and rectify any issues we find. Clearly this is not how we wanted to spend our day, but our focus is getting the most from the remaining days of the test.”
Less spectacular was Mercedes decision to end their day 90 minutes before the close with a gearbox problem, but track marshals had to deal with another fire when Ericsson was required to exit the Caterham quickly as it started to burn, causing the final red flag of the day. It wasn’t all bad news for the Renault teams, however, as Vergne completed 61 laps for Toro Rosso and Ricciardo 66 for Red Bull. The Australian finished the day third quickest in the RB10, less than two-tenths off the best time of the day – though with Red Bull still lagging behind in its pre-season programme, the comparison with teams concentrating on long runs is invalid.
“It went a lot better today,” said Ricciardo. “In the afternoon we did some good stuff. We had a go on the soft tyre, which was nice, to see how the car responds with a bit more grip. We also did one long run at the end, which was very important, just to see how the car is behaving with the tyres. A big improvement everywhere over yesterday and a much more optimistic outlook now I think. We still have a lot to learn and understand, but we’re making progress and the past two days have been a big step in the right direction.”
Testing continues tomorrow.
2014 second Bahrain test day two – unofficial times
1 Sergio Pérez Force India 1:35.570s 108laps
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:35.634s +0.064s 122laps
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:35.743s +0.173s 66laps
4 Felipe Massa Williams 1:36.507s +0.937s 103laps
5 Jenson Button McLaren 1:36.901s +1.331s 52laps
6 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:38.092s +2.522s 75laps
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:39.041s +3.471s 89laps
8 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.636s +4.066s 61laps
9 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:39.976s +4.406s 106laps
10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:41.613s +6.043s 31laps
11 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:42.516s +6.946s 55laps
Sergio Perez who topped the time sheets in Bahrain on Thursday. A Sahara Force India photoBahrain: After a four-day hiatus Formula One returned to the Bahrain International Circuit today to begin its final pre-season group test before shipping out to Australia and the first grand prix of the 2014 season. Force India’s Sergio Pérez recorded the fastest lap of the day, though few teams seemed to be searching for outright pace. Headline times were several seconds slower than those recorded at the circuit last week. Instead, the day saw the front runners largely focussing on long-run pace and – as is now expected at the last test of the winter – fitting aerodynamic parts closer to a race-specification than those seen previously.
Pérez finished nine-tenths of a second quicker than Valtteri Bottas, though the Finn recorded the highest mileage of the day, with 128 laps for Williams. Kimi Räikkönen for Ferrari was third quickest, Nico Rosberg fourth for Mercedes and Adrian Sutil fifth for Sauber. McLaren’ Kevin Magnussen was sixth fastest. He completed 109 laps, joining Pérez (105) and Bottas in three figures. That was seventy laps more than seventh-fastest Daniel Ricciardo managed for Red Bull – he did, however, had the consolation of being the fastest of the Renault-engined cars. Eighth on the timesheet was Marussia’s Max Chilton who was followed by Daniil Kvyat for Toro Rosso, Pastor Maldonado for Lotus and Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi.
Bottas was the first man out on track, leaving the garage almost immediately the pitlane exit light turned green, though all 11 teams were lapping within the first half-hour. The first time of the day was set by Ricciardo, with a 1:40.262. The Australian dropped that to 1:38.642 moments later, over a second faster than the RB10 managed at the previous test.
If that were a reassuring start for one Renault team, the opposite was true at another as Caterham caused the first red flag of the day, with Kobayashi pulling his smoking car over 40 minutes into the session.
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg gave the timesheet a familiar shape when he went fastest an hour and a half after the start with a lap of 1:37.722. That stood as the benchmark for an hour before Pérez took a second out of it with a lap of 1:36.051. He then improved to 1:35.290 as the lunch break approached.
“We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it,” said Pérez. “We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it’s been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car. Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.”
In a change to the timetable for the previous test, a half-hour break was scheduled for 1300, compensated with an extra half hour on track at the end of the day. The change was for the benefit of the track marshals rather than the teams – though some had a busy lunch break as Pastor Maldonado stopped out on track a few minutes before the interval. Lotus had been trialling a new exhaust system and later revealed this to be the source of the breakdown. They did not run again during the day.
After lunch Kvyat caused another red flag, stopping the Toro Rosso at Turn Two but there was happier news from the other Italian team. An unspecified glitch had restricted Raikkonen to just 12 laps in the morning but Ferrari were able to resolve the issue and allow the Finn a full afternoon of running – though it was he who brought the session to a slightly premature conclusion, stopping out on track a few minutes before the scheduled close.
Things were going the other way at Red Bull. Ricciardo completed 32 laps in the morning but failed to build on that, spending much of the afternoon in the garage as the team suffered a problem with its exhaust. Ricciardo added a further seven laps at the end of the day – but with Red Bull wanting a significant increase in track time this week, it was not the ideal start to proceedings.
“We sent Daniel out for a long-ish run, but we had to abort about five laps in, as we noticed some issues on the sensors,” explained race engineering co-ordinator Andy Damerum. “We brought him in, had a look at the car and discovered that we had a problem with the exhaust. So we had a long afternoon in the garage, but we did manage to get Daniel back out at the end of the session, which was good. We have some work to do overnight but hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to run in a similar style to this morning.”
Testing continues tomorrow and will run until Sunday.
2014 second Bahrain test day one – unofficial times
1 Sergio Pérez Force India 1m35.290s 105laps
2 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m36.184s +0.894s 128laps
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1m36.432s +1.142s 54laps
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m36.624s +1.334s 89laps
5 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1m37.700s +2.410s 89laps
6 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1m37.825s +2.535s 109laps
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1m37.908s +2.618s 39laps
8 Max Chilton Marussia 1m38.610s +3.320s 44laps
9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1m39.242s +3.952s 56laps
10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1m40.599s +5.309s 31laps
11 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1m42.285s +6.995s 19laps
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Bahrain, 22 Feb Mercedes tops time charts on the last day of testing at Bahrain on 22 Feb 2014. A photo by Pirelli Tyres2014: The Formula One teams have been able to complete more testing distance with Pirelli’s new 2014 range of tyres in Bahrain, as they begin to get a better picture of how the latest tyres interact with the radically different new cars. A number of teams were able to complete race simulations, as well as qualifying and pit stop practice, assessing every aspect of tyre usage. Weather conditions remained dry and warm, in the region of 20 degrees centigrade or higher: temperatures that are much more representative of the season as a whole.
In accordance with the nominations they had made in advance, the teams were able to try out the entire 2014 range of P Zero tyres in Bahrain, as well as a special ‘winter’ hard compound, with a faster warm-up.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director:
“The teams were able to learn more about tyres over the four days in Bahrain than they could in Jerez two weeks ago, thanks to increased running time and optimal weather conditions. Although the teams are still at a comparatively early point on the development curve with their new cars, testing data so far indicates that the 2014 tyres are more consistent and durable than their predecessors. As a result, we are also seeing fewer ‘marbles’ on the circuit: one of our objectives at the start of this season. However, teams are likely to improve their performance and understanding of the car-tyre package still further in the test to come, which means that the lap time differences we have been seeing between the compounds are likely to come down: especially when the teams discover more downforce as the season goes on. We’ve collected plenty of useful data from this test, but of course we are still ready and able to change the specification of the tyres for the start of the season if this is shown to be necessary.”
Testing Facts:
Teams ramped up their distance considerably over the four days of the test. In total, 482 laps were completed on the first day of the test, with 676 laps on day two, 695 laps on day three and 469 laps on day four.
Teams had a maximum of 30 sets of tyres per car to test in Bahrain. Pirelli, in conjunction with the teams, chose 22 of those sets (plus an extra medium ‘prototype’ set – used to test the performance of tyres without tyre warmers, which is part of the 2015 regulations). The teams were then able to choose in advance the remaining eight sets, up to their maximum permitted total of 30. In total, 135 sets of tyres are allowed per team for testing purposes throughout 2014.
The performance differences in Bahrain between the compounds so far are approximately as follows: the supersoft is around 0.7s per lap faster than the soft, the soft is around 1.2s per lap quicker than the medium, and the medium is around 1.3s per lap quicker than the hard. These gaps should come down considerably as the cars evolve.
More Testing Facts:
A total of 24 drivers took part in the Bahrain test, completing 2,322 laps and 12,566 kilometres. Last year, the second test of the year took place in Barcelona, over exactly the same four-day period, during which the drivers completed 16,006 kilometres.
The total testing distance completed so far this year, combining Jerez and Bahrain is 3,792 laps and 19,074 kilometres. This time last year, the teams had completed 6,970 laps and 31,640 kilometres of pre-season testing (Jerez and Barcelona 2013 combined).
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the Bahrain test, with a time of 1m33.283s on Saturday with the P Zero Yellow soft. By way of comparison, the fastest race lap at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year was 1m36.961s, set by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year was 1m32.330s: within a second of Rosberg’s fastest test time today. At the Bahrain race last year, pole was also set by Rosberg.
The highest number of total laps completed at this year’s Bahrain test by any one driver was 174 laps, from Nico Rosberg (Mercedes). Williams driver Valtteri Bottas set the second-highest total, 171 laps.
Testing numbers:
Total number of sets brought to Bahrain: 341 sets which equals 1,364 tyres
– of which supersoft tyres: 14 sets
– of which soft tyres: 61 sets
– of which medium tyres: 139 sets
– of which hard tyres: 94 sets
– of which ‘winter’ hard tyres: 28 sets
– of which intermediate tyres: 3 sets
– of which wet tyres: 2 sets
Total amount of sets used: 199
– of which supersoft tyres: 5 sets
– of which soft tyres: 37 sets
– of which medium tyres: 89 sets
– of which hard tyres: 51 sets
– of which ‘winter’ tyres: 17 sets
– of which intermediate tyres: 0 sets
– of which wet tyres: 0 sets
Longest run:
16 laps on the supersoft compound
16 laps of the soft compound
22 laps on the medium compound
22 laps on the hard compound
9 laps on the ‘winter’ compound
0 laps on the intermediate compound
0 laps on the wet compound
Highest / lowest ambient temperature over four days: 27 °C / 17 °C
Highest / lowest track temperature over four days: 37 °C / 18 °C
Testing Times:
Day 1
1. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1m36.880s on Soft New
2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1m37.879s on Medium New
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m37.908s on Hard New
Day 2
1. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) 1m34.910s on Supersoft New
2. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1m36.445s on Soft New
3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1m36.516s on Soft Used
Day 3
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m34.263s on Soft New
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1m34.976s on Supersoft New
3. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1m37.066s on Soft New
Day 4
1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1m33.283s on Soft New
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1m34.957s on Soft New
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1m36.718s on Soft New
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Sergio Perez remained behind the wheel of the VJM07 today as Sahara Force India concluded its first week of testing in Bahrain.
Day Four Statistics:
Chassis: VJM0701
Laps: 19 laps
Mileage: 120 km
Fastest lap: 1:39.258
Sergio Perez: “It’s a shame to lose the track time this afternoon, but I think we can feel quite positive about what we have learned this week. Every lap in the car gives us more information and we are always trying something new. I was not able to do the long runs we planned this afternoon so it’s important to do those next week. We also need to start pushing the performance and set-up work, which is not really an area we have focussed on that much yet.”
Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer:
“Although we didn’t cover a large number of laps today, we were able to complete some aero work this morning and evaluate some more set-up items. The programme was cut short by a drivetrain issue just before lunch, which confined us to the garage for the rest of the afternoon. With the amount of work involved in resolving the problem and the lack of time available, we decided it was better to regroup and put our efforts into achieving our objectives next week.”
endsSergio Perez in a Sahara Force India car. A Sahara Force India photo
Nico Hulkenberg covered 59 laps today as Sahara Force India completed its second day of testing in Bahrain.
Day Two Statistics:
Chassis: VJM07-01
Laps: 59 laps
Mileage: 319 km
Fastest lap: 1:36.445
Classification: P2
Nico Hulkenberg: “My two days in the car have been very positive. We’ve made some improvements to the car, collected lots of data, and continued to learn with each lap. At the moment it’s still early days, but I’m pleased with the progress we have made in terms of understanding the car. I think we are getting closer to seeing the potential of these cars, certainly compared with the performance in Jerez, but it’s such a steep learning curve and I expect the times to become quicker and quicker.”
Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer:
“It’s been another productive day with aero data collection, performance work and tyre evaluation. We had some aero devices on the car this morning and then continued with the set-up programme that we started yesterday. Nico was able to try the various tyre compounds available to us. There was a small amount of downtime in the middle of the day, but on the whole it’s been another solid performance with good reliability.”
Test Schedule
Sergio Perez will drive the VJM07 tomorrow and Saturday.
endsNico Hulkenberg in a Sahara Force India on Day 2 of Testing at Bahrain SIC on Thursday. A Sahara Force India photo
Sakhir, 19 Feb 2014: The second of Formula 1’s three pre-season tests kicked off Wednesday morning at the Sakhir circuit here in Bahrain.
Sahara Force India and Nico Hulkenberg finished at the top of the timesheets after the first day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Day One Statistics:
Chassis: VJM07-01
Laps: 79 laps
Mileage: 428 km
Fastest lap: 1:36.880
Classification: P1
After the busy programme, Nico Hulkenberg said: “A very positive and satisfying day. We had a busy programme and we learned a lot. Time in the car is very valuable at the moment and so it feels good to cover so many laps and even complete two long runs at the end of the day. That gave me a chance to see how the car behaves and to start getting a feel for it, which was not something I was able to do in Jerez. It’s great that we’ve already done some set-up work and started to improve the drivability of the car. But it’s still very early stages; we are learning with every lap and we face a very steep learning curve in the coming days. ”
Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer said: “Our Bahrain test has got off to a positive start. 79 laps is a good effort and it’s just what we need at this early stage of the VJM07’s development. The aero work this morning ran smoothly with the constant speed runs giving us some aero data we required. In the afternoon we started evaluating the soft and medium tyres, and running through different set-up options – changing ride heights and rebalancing the car. We ended the day with a couple of longer runs on the soft tyres.”
Test driving schedule
Nico Hulkenberg will be back in the VJM07 tomorrow. Sergio Perez will drive on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen drives the opening two days of the test for McLaren Mercedes, with Jenson Button concluding the test by running on Friday and Saturday.
Kevin kicked off proceedings for McLaren by conducting a series of short aerodynamic evaluation runs, complete with monitoring equipment fitted to the car.
In the afternoon, he completed a number of longer runs, aimed at putting mileage on the power unit and components, and also to proof theories and improvements introduced after the first test in Jerez earlier this month.
Kevin completed the second-highest mileage of the day, and, despite a slow start to the morning, was pleased with his progress.
1 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m 36.880s 78 laps
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m 37.879s 64 laps
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1m 37.908s 74 laps
4 Kevin Magnussen McLaren Mercedes 1m 38.295s 81 laps
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m 40.224s 14 laps
6 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1m 40.443s 82 laps
7 Robin Frijns Caterham 1m 42.534s 68 laps
8 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m 44.346s 5 laps
9 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m 44.832s 8 laps
10 Felipe Massa Williams – 5 laps
11 Jules Bianchi Marussia – 3 lapsNico Hulkenberg sets top times on Wednesday on Day 1 of Bahrain testing. A Sahara Force India photo
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Silverstone, 7 Feb 2014: Sahara Force India has expanded its driver development programme by teaming up with Hilmer Motorsport to create Sahara Force India’s official GP2 team.
The new partnership will see Facu Regalia and Daniel Abt race on the GP2 grid in the distinctive colours of Sahara Force India in the Hilmer Motorsport GP2 car.
The development programme expands on the success of Sahara Force India’s reserve driver programme, which has already helped progress several drivers to Formula One race seats. It also represents a logical addition to the team’s ‘One From A Billion’ talent hunt, which helped unearth a selection of young Indian karting talents. The most successful candidate has been Jehan Daruvala, a 15-year-old from Mumbai, who graduated into the team’s Academy last year and was crowned British KF3 Junior champion.
Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director of Sahara Force India: “As a team we’ve always placed great emphasis on nurturing young drivers so I’m delighted to announce our partnership with a GP2 team. It’s the logical next step as we look to bring through the next generation of drivers and provide them with the opportunity to showcase their talent. Our presence in GP2 moves us closer to having a holistic development programme to school drivers from grassroots karting to the higher echelons of professional motorsport.”
Franz Hilmer, Team Principal and Managing Director of Hilmer Motorsport: “We are very happy about the collaboration between Hilmer Motorsport and Sahara Force India Formula One Team. I’ve had an association with Sahara Force India for ten years and we are looking forward to working together on a sporting level going forward. With Facu Regalia and Daniel Abt we have two very talented young drivers with the potential to progress to Formula One. We will do our best to support them on their way to the pinnacle of motor racing.”
Facu Regalia, Driver #12 Hilmer Motorsport:
“It is incredible news for me to be a GP2 driver with Hilmer Motorsport and Sahara Force India’s driver development programme. I appreciate the belief Franz Hilmer showed in my performances last year and the opportunity to race with him in 2014. I am also very proud to be associated with Sahara Force India and will make the most of the opportunities it presents. The chance to drive a Formula One car at the end of the season is also a huge motivation. My focus is to work as hard as I can to make sure we are fighting at the front of the field and getting the best results possible.”
Daniel Abt, Driver #11 Hilmer Motorsport:
“I am very happy about the association between Hilmer Motorsport and Sahara Force India Formula One Team. Over the last few years, Sahara Force India has given young and talented drivers the opportunity to race in Formula One so it’s great to have their support this season. I am determined to have a successful year with Hilmer Motorsport in the GP2 Series and I’m sure that we have the right package to achieve our ambitious goals.”
Chennai, 3 Feb 2014: J Prithviraj of Coimbatore Automotive Sports Club, an active council member in promoting the rallying in India for the last few years was announced as the President of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India while pre-election favourite Bharat Raj, of Karnataka Motor Sports Clubs, who pumped in monies in the last few years to keep the rallying scene alive in India, was forced to support the new team.
It was Tutu Dhawan, who took Bharat Raj’s place as Vice-President in the Federation, which is under severe pressure to prove its efficiency and capability after the outgoing team’s high performance, at least, as far as Formula One is concerned.
Just like FIA and Formula One, both of whom are steeped in secrecy as far as financial transparency is concerned, FMSCI will also come under the scanner as far as Governance and Transparency issues are concerned especially as the National body which is the ASN (Association recognised by FIA, the World Governing boday) has paid a hefty income tax which would have been avoided, had it spent the money on promoting sport at the grassroot level or sharing the booty with the hard-working Clubs, who are suffering for lack of funds. Motorsports experts in the country feel that had FMSCI spent the money sharing the expenses of running events with the clubs, they would not have ended up paying a huge amount in scores of lakhs to the Income Tax department.
Coming to the elections, while Prithviraj serves as the President, Tutu Dhawan will be the Vice-President. The FMSCI also announced the formation of the new Governing Council for 2014-15 which will see the introduction of two new members. The change of guard promises a new direction that will focus on taking the sport to a higher level and the team and its members at various forums including Facebook, have expressed their inclination to come clean as far as transparency is needed. Prithvi, as he is popularly known in the rally circles, promised to look into the possibility of bringing the Federation under the ambit of RTI act.
Prithviraj has been a part of the rallying scene for over two decades, both as a participant and organizer. He has been a councillor since 2007 and the Vice President of FMSCI for two years, being Chairman and a member of various FMSCI sub committees.
Prithviraj was humbled to be elected President and commented, “I am honoured to be elected FMSCI President by my fellow councillors. Firstly I would like to thank the outgoing President and team for all their efforts over the years. As part of the last council our biggest achievement was bringing Formula One to India. Now our role will be to ensure we maximize the benefits of that to build national motorsport events across the country. The newly elected council is extremely excited of the task that lies ahead and I am confident that this is the perfect team to take the sport forward.”
The newly-elected Council will focus on the following few areas for the year ahead. The first area of focus will be the fact that policies and procedures will take precedence and not just the people involved. Secondly the council will select the best man for the job to ensure that seamless running of the sport comes first. The third objective will be to ensure total access to all information with regard to all aspects of the Federation. The FMSCI will also continue to partner with the auto and auto ancillary manufacturers to increase their involvement in the sport.
The FMSCI announced that they will launch an interactive website which will aim at making all event details easily accessible. From entry forms to regulations to schedules to officials to penalties everything will be made available on the website for everyone to see. Most importantly the online platforms will be interactive and open to queries and suggestions. There will also be an effort to ramp up marketing activities to ensure there is more reach and visibility for events.
Prithviraj commented, “We will look at coming under the ambit of Rights to Information act. The sport has been built to this level with the help of the media and we are looking forward to their continued support as we march on. All these factors will help us in offering better support and returns to our promoters, sponsors and partners.”
The FMSCI will also continue to make sure motorsports reaches all ends of the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Kutch to Kohima. The North-East has already proved a popular motorsport venue with one of our promoters holding rallies there under the aegis of the FMSCI. The FMSCI will continue to give more importance to the region.
Prithviraj also announced the forming of a advisory body which will work with auto manufacturers, partners and government. He commented, “The dedicated committee will be entrusted with the task of working closely with auto manufacturers and government officials. Motorsport is the perfect platform for auto majors to showcase their products and get maximum visibility out of it. We are very happy by the government’s decision to modify the trade policy to facilitate easy import of cars and motorcycles for racing events. We still feel there is a lot of work to be done”
The results of the election were not announced immediately after the elections in Dec due to a court case filed by Sportscraft’s Shrikant Karani. The court ruled in his favour and struck down FMSCI stand that profit making bodies are not eligible to contest as per a recent amendment, but Karani chose to withdraw from the contest at a later stage.
However, it was Sanjay Sharma of JK Tyre, who called the shots. Hardy, as he is popularly known represented as an alternate member of Himalayan Motorspord Club.
Akbar Ebrahim – Meco, S Karani – PCRT, J Prithviraj – CASC, J Balmurugan – Spitfire, Sanjay Sharma, the kingmaker – HMSA. A photo by Adrenna
He also addressed the Press Conference.
Two new member clubs made their entry into the council joining the three founding members. The eight members of the council are:
