Source: Volkswagen
Saturday, July 17, 2010 08:23 PM IST (02:53 PM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Sports; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Automotives, Business services, Media & entertainment, Sports; Automotive
--------------------------------------------------
2nd Race of the Volkswagen-JK Tyre Polo Cup India 2010 Ready for Flag-off at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, Saturday, July 17, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) --
Vishnu Prasad takes Pole Position for the 2nd Round of the Race being Flagged off on Sunday, July 18, 2010/ After the Historical Inaugural Round of Polo Cup in Pune in a Street Race Format, Polo Cup is back with the Second Round on a Proper Race Track-Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore
Volkswagen India & JK Tyres announced the starting grid line-up of the 2nd Round of Polo Cup India 2010 which is being flagged-off on Sunday at the Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore-the hub of action in motorsports in India. Vishnu Prasad from Chennai took the Pole Position by clocking a best lap time of 1:15.811. He was followed by Saran Vikram with a best lap time of 1:16.045 as 2nd on the grid. The second row of the grid was completed with Sahil Shelar and Karthik Shankar on 3rd and 4th position respectively.
The results of the qualifiers are:
Driver Best Lap* Guest Driver
Vishnu Prasad 1:15.811
Saran Vikram 1:16.045
Sahil Shelar 1:16.544
Karthik Shankar 1:16.671
Anthony George 1:16.868
Sailesh Bolisetti 1:16.943
Mohd. Fahadkutty 1:16.971
Vikash Anand 1:17.202
Parth Ghorpade 1:17.328
Munjal Savla 1:17.375
Bertrand D'Souza* 1:17.412
Gokul Krishna 1:17.438
Alisha Abdullah 1:17.445
Samyak Shah 1:17.492
Jayprashant Venkat 1:17.659
Gurniaz Maan 1:17.869
Suraj Bhagat 1:18.134
Ameya Bafna 1:18.278
Imran Majid 1:18.304
Sourav Bandhopadyay 1:18.855
Oshan Kothadiya 1:20.073
This is the debut year of Polo Cup in India and it has 6 racing weekends. The 1st round was held in Pune in May 2010 in a street race format. Polo Cup India races are part of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship, which is a flagship motorsports event in India.
Speaking about winning Pole Position, Vishnu Prasad said, "I am really excited about getting Pole Position here at Kari Motor Speedway. The track was really great and with the Race Polo, I was able to drive at a good, consistent speed through the qualifying laps. Now my focus is to capitalise on this Pole Position in order to win the race tomorrow."
Saran Vikram, also from Chennai, was second on the grid with just a .234 seconds difference between his qualifying time and Vishnu Prasad's qualifying time. Saran Vikram said, "I knew that I had qualified for the race, but was awaiting the final line-up announcement. Now that I have got myself a position on the 1st row of the starting grid, I will put in my best efforts to win the race."
The 1st season of the Polo Cup in India commenced on May 30, 2010. The inaugural race was held at Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi in Pune, the hometown of Volkswagen India. Sailesh Bolisetti, the 22-year old driver from Vishakhapatnam, won both, Race 1 & Race 2, on the street track in the Balewadi Sports Complex. The racer from Vishakhapatnam led from start to finish as he created history by becoming the first winner of the Polo Cup India. He even clocked the fastest lap with a time of 1:35.717.
The current driver standings after the 1st race of Polo Cup India 2010 in Pune are as below:
Driver Points*Guest Driver
Sailesh Bolisetti 60
Karthik Shankar 44
Mohd. Fahadkutty 35
Vishnu Prasad 33
Sahil Shelar 33
Saran Vikram 31
Oshan Kothadiya 29
Munjal Savla 26
Parth Ghorpade 23
Gurniaz Maan 23
Gokul Krishna 20
Samyak Shah 17
Anthony George 17
Alisha Abdullah 16
Saurav Bandhopadhyay 11
Imran Majid 11
Mitra Yerwadekar* 0
Ameya Bafna 0
Jayprashant Venkat 0
Mohit Ahuja** 0
Vikash Anand 0
**Suraj Bhagat will replace Mohit Ahuja from this race onwards in the Polo Cup India 2010
The Polo Cup India will have six races in total. Polo Cup India's first race of the season was on May 30, 2010 and second will flag-off tomorrow at Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore. These will be followed by races each month until December. The remaining races will take palce on the race circuits in Chennai and Coimbatore.
. 28/29 Aug 2010 at Coimbatore (Kari Motor Speedway)
. 25/26 Sep 2010 at Chennai (Irungattukottai Race Track)
. 27/28 Nov 2010 at Chennai (Irungattukottai Race Track)
. 18/19 Dec 2010 at Chennai (Irungattukottai Race Track)
Over 1,100 motor sports enthusiasts from across the country registered to compete in the Polo Cup India 2010 and become a part of Indian motor sport history. After a strict selection process 20 young talents were chosen to form the starting grid in the first race in Pune. The selection process ran from the last week of March to mid of May. The aspiring racers were divided into 2 groups - first-timers and experienced racers, and were put through two rounds of selection. The young racers were narrowed down to 45 drivers through an adrenalin-pumping go-kart selection. The short listed drivers were then placed behind the wheel of the Race Polo cars, for the second round of selections held in Coimbatore, to earn their place in the final 20 candidates for the races.
The candidates were selected with the support of the expert selection team. The team of selectors consisted of one driver selector & coach from Germany Polo Cup, two Indian driver coaches (experienced drivers from Volkswagen & JK Tyre) and one FMSCI representative, including some of the doyens of Indian motor sports like Akbar Ebrahim, India's only principle instructor in racing, Farhan Vora, India's guest F1 steward and Rayomand Banajee, six times National Champion. They personally followed the international structures and conducted the coaching camps to select the best young talent.
Motor sports enthusiasts interested in getting further information can log on to the website, www.polocup.in. This website will display information about the format of The Polo Cup India, race updates and driver profiles.
About Volkswagen Motorsport
Volkswagen is committed to broad-scale motor sport as in internationally staged cross-country rally racing programmes in countries including Germany, Europe and the United States apart from other countries in Asia and has a long tradition of promoting young talent. Following the legendary Formula V as of 1966 the brand, in 1976, sponsored a one-make touring car cup for the first time. Among others, the Scirocco Cup produced drivers like the subsequent Formula 1 racer Manfred Winkelhock. In 1977 the first-generation Golf GTI replaced the Scirocco as the cup vehicle and remained the popular competition car for a generation of young racers up to 1982. In 1983, the second-generation Polo followed as the cup vehicle - initially using the 88-hp normally aspirated engine version and, from 1986, the 112-hp compressor engine. At the relaunch in 1998, Volkswagen presented the Lupo, which offered top-class sport at fair prices, as well as the Volkswagen New Beetle Cup.
The year of 1998 stands for an all-new concept in the world of racing. To this day, this new concept featuring centrally fielded vehicles and car swapping among the drivers guarantees maximum equality of opportunity. In 2004 the 150-hp Polo replaced the small Lupo as the cup vehicle and the concept was subjected to further refinement. The Polo Cup's success story is closely linked to the DTM-Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. The premier league of touring car racing has evolved into a real crowd-puller and is envisaged as a concrete career goal by many junior racers.
For picture(s)/data to illustrate this release click below:
http://www.BusinessWireIndia.com/attachments/Picture1(7).JPG
Picture1(7).JPG
http://www.BusinessWireIndia.com/attachments/Picture2(4).JPG
Picture2(4).JPG
CONTACT DETAILS
Kurt Rippholz, Volkswagen Group Communications, +919930455597, kurt.rippholz@volkswagen.co.in
Pradnya Joshi, Volkswagen Group Communications, +919764999349, pradnya.chaudhury@volkswagen.co.in
Nishant Maller, 20:20 Media, +919840070444, nishant@2020india.com
David Vaz, 20:20 Media, +91/9322652611, david@2020india.com
KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, SPORTS, MARKETING, AUTOMOTIVE, BUSINESS SERVICES, MEDIA, AUTOMOTIVE
If you wish to change your Business Wire India selection please click on this link http://www.businesswireindia.com/media/news.asp and use your personal username and password to login.
Submit your press release at http://www.businesswireindia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment