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Tag: GT Races
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Sai Sanjay Makes Spectacular Debut in the UK GT4 Arena
Snetterton (UK), 10 October 2023: Indian racing star Sai Sanjay made his international debut winning a race in the GT Cup Championship 300 finale here in the GTH class. During the weekend, Sai won two races and finished P2 in the second feature race. For his stellar performance, he was also awarded the ‘Driver of the Day’ in a grid of seasoned competitors.
On Day 1, teammate, Davies, put the car on pole with a best timing of 1:55:744 and won the first Sprint race in 25:39.518. In the first Feature race of the weekend, Davies started as first driver and after the pit stop, Sai did a creditable job to keep the lead and finish the race with ease and grace. The Racelab pair clocked 51 minutes, 45.513 seconds in the 25-lap race. They clocked a best lap of 1:58.009.
On Day 2, Sai, who hails from Salem, proved the pace in the #13 Racelab McLaren Artura by putting in a storming 3rd lap with a timing of 1:55:472 to qualify 1.4s ahead of Hart’s Morpheus Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 in Group GTH. Sai won the 13-lap second Sprint race of the weekend from pole-to-finish in 25:40.512 and with more than 30-second gap. The team managed a second place with a time of 51:31.167 in the Feature (Pit-Stop) race. Davies pulled well clear in the early stages for Racelab but due to an incident, the pair had to settle for a second. Competing in his first weekend in sportscars, the Indian showed that his Qualifying speed was no flash in the pan, pulling clear to take an emphatic team victory.
“Competing in the UK for the first time in a GT4 car has been an exhilarating experience. I was elated to know that I would’ve been in the Top-5 of British GT Championship with my time in Qualifying. Looking ahead, I’m planning to explore the car more at Silverstone as we had very limited track time prior to the race weekend,” said Sai Sanjay.
Jon Lancaster (Driver Coach) said: “It is an unbelievable start to his GT career. Sai adapted well making his transition from single seaters to GT cars. We had an open mind before the first test but just after five laps in Donnington, I was super excited. He has been very professional and his feedback about the car has been good. He’s been the fastest man all weekend and a very promising start indeed.”
The 20-year Mechatronics student of VIT, Chennai was driving in the GTH category for the first time. The Indian National champion of 2022 in the MRF Formula 2000 car was encouraged and supported by mentor Aditya Patel, who was instrumental in Sai making his international debut in UK. He was coached by Jon Lancaster, a seasoned race driver and qualified instructor.
The GT Cup Championship is one of the UK’s leading sports car categories, catering for all levels of driver ability and a huge range of gorgeous machinery. Sai Sanjay and Team Racelab are now gearing up for the test at Silverstone today.
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Athira Murali, the Kerala vlogger, dreams about McLaren GT4 races in UK
By Bodapati David
Bengaluru, 14 Nov 2021: Athira Murali, a Malayalam Vlogger and a National rally driver is looking forward to speed in Touring cars as well, a big road-racing event. She is selected for the India trials to race in ‘Formula Woman’ that will be held in Vadodara from Nov 22 to 24.
“Formula Woman UK has tied up with AutoGuru India to give women drivers in the country an opportunity to win McLaren driving seats next year and help them make a career in motorsport.”
“The two-day event, to be held at Erda’s Speedway in Vadodara, will see women drivers being assessed on five parameters — driving, go-karting, physical fitness, media, and written test. Three winners from India will progress to the UK leg where they will compete with 47 other women from across 28 participating countries,” according to Socialnews.xyz
Formula Woman, which was officially known as the Privilege Insurance Formula Woman Championship, is a female-only one-make racing series started in 2004 in the UK. It was inspired by the lack of female drivers in other series and was created, amongst other reasons, to boost the female audience of the sport. After an absence of 17 years, in March 2021 it was announced that The New Televised Formula Woman Competition prize will offer the finalists the opportunity to race a McLaren GT4 Race car in The British GT Cup Championship
INRC – Rally debut
Earlier, on 31st January this year, Athira Murali, 27, made her debut in the FMSCI motorsports rally Nationals at Coimbatore in INRC4 category for the delayed 2020 season third round of the Indian National Rally Championship for cars. The Kerala girl from Pampady, Kottayam district, exhibited rich driving skills to clock good timings and beat many male counterparts at the Windmill farms of Kethanoor.
Inspired and supported by her father, VN Muraleedharan, she fell in love with cars and took up the sport at a late stage but made an impressive debut and looks forward to continue her passion. Sponsored by JK Tyre for this season, the popular Malayalam vlogger is looking forward to the 2021 Rally calendar, which was announced last week. She is preparing for Round 1, a high-speed tarmac rally that will suit her style, in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh, on the beaches of Bay of Bengal from Dec 17 to 19.
But before that she will be looking to take part and follow a dream of getting into McLaren GT4 races in UK. The India selection trials will be held at Vadodara from November 21 to 24.
Athira Murali is also a URF and India book of Records holder and a journalist with Kaumudy, with her popular weekly Automobile show aired on Tuesday at 8pm prime time in Malayalam. The ever-smiling Vblogger in Malayalam, commands a following of one lakh on YouTube, 25,000 on Instagram and more than 1.5 lakh followers on Facebook. Follow your dreams like her, on YouTube @AthiraMuraliOfficial.
You can contact Athira Murali from Kottayam, Kerala at athiramuraliwheelzflyer@gmail.com
