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Tag: Indian
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TVS Racing’s Harith Noah wins National Supercross title beating Jinnan
Pune, 4 Dec 2017: Harith Noah made a fairytale ending to his comeback year by winning both Motos hands down to claim SX1 national title at the season-finale race of the MRF MoGrip FMSCI National Supercross Championship at Mundhwa ground here on Saturday night.
TVS Racing rider Noah had an enviable task of finishing at No. 5 position in both Motos to confirm his championship and prevent privateer CD Jinan from overhauling his points, but Noah raced impeccably to win on the 700-metre-long unique track that saw participants taking elevated start for the first time in India.
Noah had made a comeback to supercross racing early this season after having taken sabbatical for a few years and from the first round in Goa to the following rounds in Coimbatore, Jaipur, Nashik, Indore and now in Pune, the TVS Racing rider always stayed ahead of the competition with clean racing all through.
eom/God Speed Racing, the organisers’ release
Harith Noah in action for a superb win that got him the National Supercross title in his come-back year at Pune on 4 Dec, 2017. Image by God Speed Racing -
Felix Rosenqvist brings Mahindra’s win after Abt was disqualified: Formula E in Hong Kong
Felix Rosenqvist has provisionally won the second round of the 2017 FIA Formula E Championship in Hong Kong after on-track winner Daniel Abt was disqualified after the race for a technical infringement.
It was found that the FIA security stickers (barcodes) on the inverter and MGU units did not correspond with those declared on the Technical Passport provided by the competitor Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler for the event. The race results remain provisional subject to an appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal by Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler against the Stewards´ Decision.
It was a thrilling climax to the E-Prix as race-long leader and rookie driver Edoardo Mortara spun out with just three laps to go as he was trying to set the fastest lap in the Venturi Formula E Team machine.
Mortara took the lead after pole-sitter Rosenqvist spun in his Mahindra Formula E Team car at the first corner on the opening lap. The race had started under safety car conditions because of fault with the start lights, but the mistake meant that Rosenqvist had to spend the 45 laps fighting his way through the pack.
Mortara, famed for his prowess on the fierce street circuit in Macau where two weeks ago he won the FIA GT World Cup, looked at home in his first ever Formula E weekend, and steadily opened out a gap to the chasing Abt.
Behind the Audi driver, Mitch Evans and Alex Lynn were pushing each in fourth and fifth in the opening laps, but while Evans maintained fourth place to the flag, Lynn dropped down to ultimately finish ninth.
Evan’s post-race promotion hands Panasonic Jaguar Racing its first podium in the FIA Formula E Championship.
Yesterday’s runner-up Jean-Eric Vergne fought his way from eighth on the grid to finish fourth ahead of yesterday’s winner Sam Bird. It was a hard charge for the DS Virgin Racing driver to come through from 14th on the grid to finish fifth.
Oliver Turvey, Maro Engel and Nico Prost finished in close quarters in sixth, seventh and eighth for NIO Formula E Team, Venturi and Renault e.dams respectively, with Prost’s team-mate Sebastien Buemi rounding out the top ten behind Lynn.
From facing backwards in the first corner, Rosenqvist ended up taking maximum points from the round having taken pole position, the win and the fastest lap.
Round three of the 2017/18 FIA Formula E Championship takes place in Marrakesh on 13 January.
Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, said: “There’s been a lot of ups-and-downs all weekend, but I’m happy with taking away 29 points – for pole, winning the race and fastest lap – it’s a lot of points! But I feel sorry for Daniel as well, he won the race on track, but I don’t know the reason. It’s not the way you want to win and I don’t feel like I’ve won the race. But I’m happy with the points. Sometimes you’re happy and then you’re sad, like yesterday we were in P15 and turned it around – getting fastest lap but it got taken away, so there’s been a lot like that but I’ll take maximum points and third in the championship.”
Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E, said: “It’s difficult to find the words actually after a race like that. It’s tough to swallow. We had the pace and managed the race from the beginning to the end. I was checking my energy consumption and the gap to Daniel the entire race and I guess at some point I wanted too much. Sometimes you need to admit it – you were too confident and I should have focussed on bringing home the win. We showed the others today we had the pace, and I’ll improve myself at the next races.”
Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, said: “I’m proud to secure Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s first podium in Formula E. It’s bittersweet as Daniel is a good guy and a mate of mine. After a tough year in our first season, this is a great reward for the hard work of everyone in the team. Tonight we will celebrate this achievement together and then work hard to repeat it.”
2017 HKT Hong Kong E-Prix (Rd 2) – Provisional Race Results
1 – Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, 50:05.084s (29)
2 – Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E Team, +7.031s (18)
3 – Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +10.619s (15)
4 – Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH, +12.593s (12)
5 – Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +12.879s (10)
6 – Oliver Turvey, NIO Formula E Team, +14.199s (8)
7 – Maro Engel, Venturi Formula E Team, 15.676s (6)
8 – Nico Prost, Renault e.dams, +18.905s (4)
9 – Alex Lynn, DS Virgin Racing, +19.025s (2)
10 – Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, +22.139s (1)
11 – Antonio Felix da Costa, Andretti Formula E, +23.359s
12 – Nelson Piquet Jr, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +27.904s
13 – Andre Lotterer, TECHEETAH, +28.591s
14 – Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, +39.137s15 – Jerome D’Ambrosio, DRAGON, +55.189s
16 – Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +1 Lap
17 – Kamui Kobayashi, Andretti Formula E, +1 Lap
18 – Neel Jani, DRAGON, +1 LapDNF – Luca Filippi, NIO Formula E Team, 36 Laps
DSQ – Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, 45 LapsDriver standings
Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing – 35
Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH – 33
Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing – 29
Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E – 24
Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing – 15Team standings
Mahindra Racing – 44
DS Virgin Racing – 41
TECHEETAH – 33
Venturi Formula E Team – 30
Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 27
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler – 11
NIO Formula E Team – 9
Andretti Formula E – 8
Renault e.dams – 7
DRAGON – 0*Subject to an appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal by Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler against the Stewards´ Decision to disqualify Car no. 66
eom/
Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist takes a provisional win pending appeal in the second race of Formula E in Hong Kong on Sunday. An FIA image. FIA press release
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Gill touches unbelievable speeds, thrills fans; Karna/Nikhil win INRC2; Dean/Shruptha INRC3
Gaurav Gill took a substantial lead on Saturday in the APRC. Photo by Anand Philar Ole Christian Veiby takes a corner at blistering speed after the gearbox was changed in the afternoon reverse run. Image by Srinivasa Krishnan Chikkamagaluru, 25 Nov 2017: The `King of Indian Motorsports’ was at it again. The Speed Maestro touched speeds of over 170 kmph as he enjoyed a lone `straight’ at the picturesque Coffee Estates owned by sponsors Coffee Day in Chikmagalur on Saturday, the first day of the final round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship .
“I was on 6th for a long stretch and I enjoyed the stage touching high speeds,” said a visibly-pleased Gaurav Gill, who loves his speed. The reigning APRC champion was talking to the reporters at the service park, about his run in Special Stage 1 where he did an average of 63.63 kmph for the stretch of 11.58kms. One veteran driver said, “if you get that kind of an average speed means that Gill was going over 90-kmph consistently for many stretches of these tight and twisty corners.”
Gill and co-driver Stéphane Prévot scored wins in New Zealand and Japan while Ole Christian Veiby and co-driver Stig Rune Skjærmoen succeeded in Australia and Malaysia.
Though Gill is leading by 6 points, whoever wins the Coffee Day India Rallly wins the APRC title this year. “Gaurav and Veiby are allowed to drive without team order for the victory in India and winning the championship, ” said Skoda Motorsport boss, Michal Hrabanek before the rally began. But there was no need for any team orders on Saturday as Veiby, the 21-year-young exciting talent from Norway got into technical issues in the very first stage of the day and lost time on Gill, who by that time was galloping away on his Skoda Fabia R5 like a war horse, with navigator Stephane Prevot, giving the calls accurately on the tricky terrain which is nicknamed as a `Rally of 1000 corners’ by Gill himself, until Veiby renamed it as a `Rally of One million corners’. His first time here at the winding and twisty turns of Chikmagalur estates. In the pre-event press conference, Gill turned to OC and joked, “you are lucky”. And then told the press that the stages were made broader this year. “They opened up the stages and they are much faster and safer,” the current championship leader added.
Only a co-driver can understand the story behind all those umpteen corners one had to drive through. The co-driver prepares pace notes during the recce and say, if each page has about 10 calls, this rally demands a pace notes of over 400 pages which keeps the co-driver busy, and any wrong call will result in an immediate casualty what with the narrow stretches. Different navigators, as they were called in the days of yore, have different styles of preparing notes and different ways of making the calls.
By the end of the day Veiby (OC), Gill’s closest rival and team-mate, despite a late aggression after the gear box change, lost the chance of preventing the Indian from pulling away. Gill created a safe lead of 15min 21.0 seconds, and still not easing off, as is his wont, and is sitting pretty for a grand victorious run on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in the fourth round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship that was run concurrently, Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil V Pai in a Volkswagen Polo emerged overall winners, ahead of Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal). Karna Kadur, whose ancestral home is at the nearby Kadur, enjoyed the home coming for another great win with Pai calling the pace notes, for a well-deserved victory in INRC2, even if it is by a very close margin of one second, where a charging Arjun Rao, ended at that. Dean, who also has his home in Mangalore, a neighbourhood city, won the INRC3 category with his old-time navigator Shruptha Padival. They slipped to overall third as the results were updated after midnight due to some scratch times, which were awarded for a cancelled stage. The youngster is considered as an up-and-coming talent, who shot into limelight doing great speeds as a teenager, a few years back.
Gill, winner of APRC crowns in 2013 and 2016, enjoyed a six-point lead in the championship over Veiby going into the final round. In order to win the title Veiby has to score seven points more than Gill, which now looks extremely bleak. With four more Special Stages to be run on Sunday covering 64.12 kms, Gill, who leads second-placed PG Abhilash of R3A PGA Motorsports team by 15 minutes, 21.0 seconds, has one hand on the trophy. Veiby is lying third, trailing Abhilash by 02:25.1.
Gill, who turns 36 in six days, was virtually in cruise control mode in his RaceTorque prepared Skoda Fabia R5 after Veiby encountered gearbox and driveshaft problems midway through the day’s first Special Stage. It cost the 21-year old Norwegian massive amount of time with his car losing front-wheel drive and stuck in third gear.
Veiby’s misfortune was to PG Abhilash’s benefit as the Keralite in a Subaru Impreza WRX Sti eased into second place, but remained very much in the sight of a hard-charging Veiby, who after mid-day service saw his team of mechanics change the gearbox in 20 minutes flat. Veiby cut the eight-minute deficit to Abhilash at half-way mark, to a little over two minutes at the end of the day by being the fastest over the last five Stages.
“Somewhere in the day’s first Stage today, I heard some noise and then lost the front-wheel drive. It was very difficult thereafter and worse still, my car was stuck in third gear. My co-driver Stig (Rune Skjarmoen) had to use the handbrake for me. We spun a few times too.
“This is rallying, but I feel the game is not over yet. Anything can happen as there is still a lot of driving left in this rally. Of course, I will push as hard as possible from now on,” said Veiby during the service break.
Despite the healthy advantage, Gill felt he still needed to bring home his car safely on Sunday. “It is a very difficult and long rally. Though I have a big lead, my aim is to bring home the car in one piece. Overall, I am pretty pleased with the car and especially the tyres which are of a new pattern that MRF developed. The tyres offered good grip and I could attack the corners with far more confidence,” said Gill.
Gill, the genial giant, had the advantage of knowing the stages here `nearly by heart’. But he didn’t compete with the Fabia R5 since Rally Japan in mid-September while Veiby in the meantime got a lot of mileage on gravel roads with the same car on World Championship rallies in Spain and the United Kingdom. But he debuts at these estate dirt roads where Gill had his baptism into rallying many years ago.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Mike Young, driving the Volkswagen Polo, was forced to retire following a fuel leak and other mechanical issues. “I thought I had good pace today, but the fuel tank developed a leak on SS-6, though I am not sure how because I didn’t hit anything, and I decided to pull out rather than risk a mishap,” he said.
Provisional results:
APRC: 1. Gaurav Gill / Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (02Hrs, 24mins, 22.2secs); 2. PG Abhilash / Srikant Gowda (Team R3A, PGA Motorsports, Subaru Impreza WRX) (02:39:43.2); 3. Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjarmoen (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (02:42:08.3).
MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship – Overall placing): 1. Karna Kadur / Nikhil V Pai (ARKA Motorsports, VW Polo) (01:32:18.3); 2. . Arjun Rao / Satish Rajagopal (VW Polo R2) (01:32:19.3); 3.Dean Mascarenhas / Shruptha Padival (VW Polo) (01:32:54.4).
eom/with inputs from the press release; updated at 10am, 26nov2017
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Maiden victory for Kari; Podium for Maini: GP3 Series
Arjun Maini (right) comes 3rd, for another podium at Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Photo by Zak Mauger Niko Kari drove a perfect race in this afternoon’s Race 1 at the Yas Marina Circuit, pushing up to the lead at the start and absorbing all the pressure his rivals could through at him, along with a couple of VSC periods, for his maiden win in the GP3 Series ahead of 2017 champion George Russell and Arjun Maini.
The victory was made at the start: when the lights went out Arden teammates Leonardo Pulcini and Kari made great getaways from P2 and P3 respectively, leaving poleman Russell the choice of which driver to cover. He chose the Italian and pushed across to the inside line, leaving the outside wide open for Kari to swoop through and into the lead at turn 2, ahead of Russell, Pulcini and Maini, while behind them Nirei Fukuzumi and Raoul Hyman were slow to get away from the grid, delaying most of their rivals.The Japanese driver clattered into Giuliano Alesi at turn 8, forcing both drivers to pit, while ahead of them Pulcini blew past Russell to set up an Arden 1-2 on track, with the top 4 edging away and behind them Dan Ticktum leading Dorian Boccolacci, Anthoine Hubert (who was hoping to insert himself into the fight for the vice-champion position), Alessio Lorandi, Steijn Schothorst and Ryan Tveter.Kari was looking to build a DRS buffer back to his teammate when Marcos Siebert stopped at turn 8, prompting a brief VSC period on lap 5: the Finn easily controlled the restart with Russell almost catching Pulcini napping and being forced to run over the kerbs to avoid the Italian, handing Kari the vital 1s gap he needed to avoid the DRS and allowing him to control the race, and his tyres.Ticktum and Lorandi were both mugged at the restart but soon regained their positions, with the Briton sailing away into the distance and the Italian soon looking for more: as Hubert suddenly slowed with some sort of gremlin dropping him back through the field, Lorandi got the jump on Boccolacci on the back straight for P6 just before Alesi rolled to a stop at turn 20, bringing out the VSC boards once again.Russell caught out Pulcini once again at the restart, but this time made it stick for P2 on the final turn, while Lorandi and Boccolacci resumed battle again, swapping position all around the circuit before the Italian finally made it stick on lap 14, with Schothorst inserting himself into the battle and forcing the Frenchman to keep an eye on his mirrors.There was soon more bad news for Pulcini: his left rear started to deflate, dropping him back down the grid before an inevitable retirement on lap 17, handing Maini a place on the podium. Ahead of him Russell was unable to do anything about the speed of Kari, who punched the air with delight as he was greeted by the flag across the line. Ticktum rolled home a lonely 4th, ahead of Lorandi and Schothorst, who both broke away from the squabble behind them: Boccolacci just held off a fast charging Hubert, who drove a magnificent recovery effort for P8 and tomorrow’s pole, just ahead of Tveter and Kevin Joerg.Provisional Race 1 ClassificationDriverTeam1Niko KARIArden International2George RUSSELLART Grand Prix3Arjun MAINIJenzer Motorsport4Daniel TICKTUMDAMS5Alessio LORANDIJenzer Motorsport6Steijn SCHOTHORSTArden International7Dorian BOCCOLACCITrident8Anthoine HUBERTART Grand Prix9Ryan TVETERTrident10Kevin JOERGTrident11Bruno BAPTISTADAMS12Juan Manuel CORREAJenzer Motorsport13Raoul HYMANCampos Racing14Jack AITKENART Grand Prix15Nirei FUKUZUMIART Grand Prix16Tatiana CALDERONDAMS17Leonardo PULCINIArden Internationaleom/GP3 series press release
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Ruhaan Alva raring to go: World Rotax Max Challenge finale
Ruhaan Alva after booking the berth for World Finale in Bengaluru on Oct 15. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan Bengaluru, 5 Nov 2017: Schoolboy Ruhaan Alva, supported by Italian manufacturer Birel Art, will be making his debut in the World Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals commencing in the beachside town of Portimao, Portugal, from tomorrow (Monday) as 360 competitors representing 60 countries will vie for titles in various age-group categories.
Ruhaan, the 11-year old from Bengaluru, who finished third Overall in the recently-concluded Easykart series in Italy, has entered in the 125 Micro Max category which has a grid of 36 drivers who have qualified from their respective National Rotax Max championships or international Rotax Max series.
After completing formalities over the weekend, the competitors will have two days of practice sessions on Nov 6 and 7. The qualifying sessions commence on Wednesday, Nov 8, leading up to the three rounds of heats (Nov 9) and pre-finals (Nov 10) before the finals on Saturday, November 11.
Looking ahead to his maiden participation in the Grand Finals, Ruhaan said he would put to good use his experience in the recent Eastkart championship in Italy and hoped to deliver a strong result.
“I had a good season in Italy though it was very tough because I switched to a higher and more competitive Easykart 60 category after the first round in the Mini class which I won.
“Despite a non-finish in one of the rounds thereafter, I still managed to tie for second place in the championship with my team-mate Patrese Lorenzo. However, since Lorenzo had participated in all the rounds in this category, he was declared second ahead of me although I had won more races.
“It was otherwise a steep learning experience for me and it helped me to improve a lot. The experience helped me finish second in the National championship despite a few problems, including a non-finish in one of the rounds.” said Ruhaan.
The 18th edition of the Grand Finals, which is among the most prestigious championship in the World of karting, has attracted 360 entries from about 60 countries and competing in six age-group categories.
Race equipment like chassis, engines, tyres, fuel, tools, Kart trolleys will be provided to all participating drivers in order to guarantee equal opportunities and fair races.
eom/press release
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Jehan Daruvala for FIA F3 World Cup at Macau on Nov 19
This year’s FIA F3 World Cup will be fought out exclusively by the cream of young drivers seeking to make a name for themselves in world motor sport. Touted as the future F1 driver from India, Jehan Daruvala is the only driver from India who made it to the Macau event.. Along with four other Carlin teammates, he will be behind the wheels of a Dallara Volkswagen.
Eight of the top ten drivers from the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship will all take to the track in Macau, as well as five of the seven rookies who contested their first year of F3 competition in the world’s premier series.
This of course means that newly-crowned FIA F3 champion Lando Norris will once again be facing his main rivals going up against the likes of Joel Eriksson, Maximilian Gunther and Callum Ilott.
Three of the top four runners in the 2017 All-Japan Formula 3 Championship will also contest the event in the form of Sho Tsuboi, Alex Palou and Ritomo Miyata.
While last year’s inaugural World Cup was weighted towards more experienced competitors, with Antonio Felix Da Costa winning his second Macau GP in five years from Felix Rosenqvist who was making a bid to become the first person to win three Macau GP’s in succession, this year it is guaranteed that a new winner will take to the top step of the podium.
2016’s front-running drivers have moved on to race in the FIA Formula E Championship, although Rosenqvist will debut in the FIA GT World Cup at the Guia circuit.
While none of the drivers on this year’s grid have won at Macau, many have some experience driving the challenging Guia Circuit. Ilott, fifth in the 2016 FIA F3 World Cup and fourth in this year’s European F3 Championship knows Macau well. His form in 2016 following Da Costa into second in the qualifying race and battling for an early lead in the final marked him as one of the fastest of the young guns at the circuit.
Likewise Eriksson, second to Norris in the European championship with seven wins and thirteen podiums, will surely be one to watch.
Norris also knows the undulating Macau circuit, although arguably not as comprehensively as Ilott or Eriksson. Norris first raced at Macau in the inaugural FIA F3 World Cup in 2016 when he finished 11th, after qualifying in the top ten on debut and testing the track limits when his nose cone was torn off in a qualifying race incident.
The demanding Macau circuit with its bumpy surface, high speed main straight and 19 wall-enclosed corners is a constant challenge for both rookies and veteran drivers alike.
This year nine of the FIA F3 World Cup contestants will be new to the track.
The most prominent will be Mick Schumacher, son of seven time World F1 champion Michael, twelfth outright and third in the Rookie Championship of the FIA F3 European title.
His father won the Macau GP in 1990 in spectacular fashion from Mika Hakkinen.
Other key drivers to look out for will be:
Sergio Sette Camara: Third in 2016 FIA F3 World Cup. Set the lap record around the Guia circuit in 2015 – a 2:10.186
Kenta Yamashita: 2016 All-Japan F3 Champion. Impressed in the first FIA F3 World Cup finishing 4th. Currently racing in Super GT and Super Formula in Japan
FIA Director of Single-Seater Championships, Charlie Whiting, said: “It’s very exciting to see so many young stars contesting the second FIA F3 World Cup. This is exactly what the event is all about – bringing together the top talents from the top F3 series around the world for an end-of-season showdown on this incredible circuit. Macau always resets the form book, and it’s sure to be an intense and unpredictable battle for a new driver to be crowned FIA F3 World Cup winner.”eom/FIA press release
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Esteban Ocon qualifies P7 ahead of Sergio `Checo’ Perez on P10
Sahara Force India showed well at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday as Esteban Ocon qualified in seventh place ahead of Sergio Perez in tenth for Sunday’s United States F1 Grand Prix.
P7 – ESTEBAN OCON – VJM10-04
Q1 1:35.849 Q2 1:35.113 Q3 1:34.647 Esteban: “I’m happy with the result today. The team has done a fantastic job once again and we have been strong in every session. We have a great chance to pick up a big bunch of points tomorrow. It was not an easy qualifying session for me because I did not feel well. I had a very bad headache and problems with my stomach. So I am glad to have made it through the session with a strong result. I now need to get some rest and try to recover to be ready for the race tomorrow.”
P10 – SERGIO PEREZ – VJM10-02
Q1 1:36.358 Q2 1:34.789 Q3 1:35.148 Sergio: “It’s quite disappointing to end up tenth because I know I had the pace to be at least seventh or eighth. My qualifying was compromised in Q1 when Kevin [Magnussen] blocked me. It cost me an extra set of tyres in Q1 and it meant I went into Q3 with just a single set of fresh tyres. I had to do my final lap on used tyres and had to settle for tenth place. I can’t wait for the race tomorrow. I hope we can get a good start and make up for some of the ground we lost today.”
ROBERT FERNLEY, DEPUTY TEAM PRINCIPAL
“Another strong performance with both cars making it through to Q3 this afternoon. After the grid penalty for Verstappen, we expect to line up in sixth and ninth places tomorrow, which gives us a great opportunity to score good points. We had to work hard yesterday and this morning to dial the car into this circuit – much more so than in Malaysia and Japan – but the team did a fantastic job overnight and took the right decisions ahead of qualifying. Sergio was a bit unlucky during the session and didn’t maximise the car’s potential, but the race pace is very encouraging for tomorrow. Esteban was a little under the weather during the session so to qualify in seventh place is a tremendous effort.”
eom/Sahara Force India press release
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Aditya Patel finishes the season with a bang, helps team with a double win: Blancpain GT Asia Series
Zhejiang: Twenty-nine year old Chennai racer Aditya Patel finished the seasonn with a bang with a double victory in along with teammate Gilbert in the 12th and final race of the Blancpain GT Series Asia Championship. The duo, piloting the Audi R8 LMS GT3, missed out on the overall championship title by a single point in the inaugural edition.
Indian GT ace Aditya Patel and Malaysian teammate Mitch Gilbert won both the races at the final round of the Inaugural Blancpain GT Series in Asia which helped them claw back vital championship points, finishing only one point behind the final winner, Hunter Abbott.
“What a weekend! I’ve had a fantastic year with OD Racing and the support from my sponsors Audi India, Jubilant Motorworks and 2GO Activewear has b
Aditya-Patel-and-Gilbert-after-a-double-win-in-the-season-finale-on Sunday. Photo courtesy Aditya Patel een amazing! I can’t wait to see what next year has in store,” said an ecstatic Aditya to www.INDIAinF1.com through an email after the weekend.
The OD Racing pair came into the final round 28 points behind the championship leading pair of Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong. With 50 points up for grabs, Patel and Gilbert came into the weekend with an outside chance of winning the title.
Patel put in a lap which was good enough for second place on the grid for race 1 while Gilbert set a blinding laptime in qualifying 2 which put them on pole position for race 2.
Starting 2nd for the first race, Aditya was quick to take the lead in wet conditions and began to open a gap between himself and 2nd place Aidan Read. The Indian then handed the car over to Gilbert who found himself in the lead even after serving a five second pitstop penalty. From there on Gilbert opened up a gap and finished comfortable with a win in race 1.
Race 2 was held in treacherous conditions after it rained through the night and continued to rain as the day progressed. Gilbert took the start but lost a place to Martin Rump on turn one, and kept his head down through his stint, and then handed it over to Patel who served his 10-second penalty for winning Race 1 and came out in 2nd place behind Rump’s teammate Rick Yoon. However, as conditions got worse, Yoon spun and handed the lead back to Patel who cruised to the 2nd victory of the weekend. Although he roped in a maximum-points haul, the pair still missed out on the overall championship by just a single point.
“What a weekend! We came in 28 points behind the leaders with an outside chance of winning and now we’ve finished 2nd only one point behind. We did everything we could this weekend and had a perfect weekend but in the end it wasn’t enough.
eom/with inputs from Aditya Patel
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Ruhaan Alva, Yash Aradhya, Aaroh Ravindra for World Rotax Grand Finale in Portugal
Bangalore, 15 Oct 2017: Ruhaan Alva (Micro Max), Yash Aradhya (Junior Max) and Aaroh Ravindra (Senior Max) will represent India in the World Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at Portugal from November 4-11 according to sources. Portim
ao in Algarve will be the venue for the 16th edition where 288 of the best kart drivers in the world will compete in four categories supported by independent chassis partners.Meanwhile, in the Nationals, Arjun Rajiv of Birel Art India won the Micro Max Championship while Yash Aradhya (MSport) and Aaroh Ravindra of Rayo Racing won the Junior Max and Senior Max Championships respectively. Team Rayo Racing won the team championship while Nirmal Umashankar became the best driver of the year.
Ruhaan Alva, won the final race of the fifth and final round in the Micro Max class at the Meco Kartopia in the Rotax Max Karting National Championship organised by Meco Motorsports under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (fmsci) here on Sunday.
However, the 11-year old Bengaluru boy, who recently won the second runners-up place in the Italian EasyKart 60cc championship, was given a third place after the stewards’ ruling following a protest. That did not, however, deny him a second place in the Micro Max championship.
Aaroh Ravindra, Senior Max National Champion. Photos by Srinivasa Krishnan Ruhaan reacts at the Meco Kartopia on Sunday after hearing the news of World finals. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan, commissioned for INDIAinF1. Ruhaan’s teammate Arjun Rajiv could only finish sixth and fifth in the two races this week-end but that was enough for him to garner a total tally of 416 points, eight more than Ruhaan, to win the Championship crown. Rishon MR, also of Birel Art India, came third for a clean sweep by the Birel team. Both Ruhaan and Rishon had 408 points.
In the Senior Max championship, it was Aaroh Ravindra of Rayo Racing who won the National title with 436 points after he finished second in both the races in the last round here. Nirmal Umashankar of MSport was second with a tally of 403 points while Aanjan Patodia, also of Rayo Racing, got the second runners-up with 388 points.
It was Yash Aradhya of MSport who won the National Championship in the Junior Max category with 432 points edging out Chirag Ghorpade, who won both the pre-finals andn finals this week-end but fell short by six points in his last-round dash with only 423 points. Yash came third in the pre-final and second in the last race of the season. Shahan Ali Mohsin MSport came third with 405 points with a second and third place this week-end.
Championship winners:
Micro Max
- Arjun Rajiv – 416 – Birel Art India
- Ruhaan Alva – 408 – Birel Art India
- Rishon M R – 408 – Birel Art India
Winning Team Champion – Peregrine Racing
Junior Max
- Yash Aradya – 432 – MSPORT
- Chirag Ghorpade – 423 – BPC Racing
- Shahan Ali Mohsin – 405 – MSPORT
Winning Team Champion – MSPORT
Senior Max
- Aaroh Ravindra – 436 – Rayo Racing
- Nirmal Umashankar – 403 – MSPORT
- Aanjan Patodia – 388 – Rayo Racing
Winning Team Champion – Rayo Racing
Maximum Number of Pole Position – Ruhaan Alva
Maximum Number of Wins – Aaroh Ravinda
Best New Corner – Rishon M R
Best Driver of the Year – Nirmal Uma Shankar
Akbar Ebrahim Most Improved Karter of the Year – Rohaan Madhesh
eom/with inputs from official results
edited at 11.15 am on 16 Oct 2017 correcting names following an official revisions
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Bengaluru girl Aishwarya fourth in Raid de Himalaya: Xtreme category Group B bikes
Photos courtesy Aishwarya Pissay Aishwarya in action at Raid de Himalaya 2017 in Group B Xtreme class. Leh (J & K), 13 Oct 2017: Aishwarya Pissay, riding a factory-supported TVS Apache RTR 200, endured the grueling 19th Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya Rally to finish a creditable fourth in the “Xtreme” category for Group B bikes here on Friday.
She is the only female rider to complete the course in the week-long event in her second attempt this year.
The Raid, which has earned notoriety for breaking the hardiest of men and machines, is considered to be among the toughest rallies in the World as the participants have to negotiate treacherous terrain and high altitude mountain passes.
Aishwarya, the 21-year old from Bengaluru and first-ever National champion among girls in both racing and rallying, was in line for a podium finish, but a couple of crashes cost her precious time.
Reflecting on her performance, Aishwarya said: “I am delighted to have finished such a grueling rally, and it was an improvement over my debut last year when I had to retire on the very first day. Today, the gap was too much to make up and I focused on finishing the course, though fourth in Group B.
“It was a very challenging event which tested my mental and physical limits. There were times, especially when I crashed a few times, my body wanted to give up, but I pushed myself to continue. I also had to endure extreme cold and high altitude. So, overall, I am extremely happy to have crossed the finish line.”
After a smooth start to her campaign which was flagged off from Manali on October 8, Aishwarya, who is supported by TVS Racing, had to endure tough moments. In her bid to catch up with front-runners yesterday, she fell heavily. In fact, she covered the last 20 Kms of Stage on just two gears, first and second, and having to bend down to move the gear lever with her hand.
“I had a good start with trouble-free runs on Days 1 and 2 though the terrain was really rough. Only about 25 of the 43 bikes which had taken the start finished Day 2.
“On Day 3, I had some issues with my bike as there was not enough intake of oxygen into the carburetor and the engine kept stalling, but I managed to pull through and was running third in my Group B class.
“I survived a couple of crashes on Day 4 when we did the Leh to Kargil run and dropped one spot to fourth. Yesterday, Day 5, was very stressful. We had a 65Kms of Competitive Section followed by 85 Kms of Special Stage. In the latter half of the run, I fell heavily as I pushed too hard trying to catch up with a couple of bikers ahead of me.
“The bike suffered some damage and kept dragging to the left. Over the last 20 Kms or so, I had to bend down to change the gears with my hand. There were only first and second gears available, but somehow I managed to finish the Stage at the end of which the TVS service crew did a fantastic job of repairing the bike.
“We had to return to Kargil by the same route as the next Stage was cancelled due to technical reasons. I had a 4 am flag-off and I think, I rode for nearly 11 hours, covering some 400-plus Kms!”
ao in Algarve will be the venue for the 16th edition where 288 of the best kart drivers in the world will compete in four categories supported by independent chassis partners.
