Chennai: Vishnu Prasad and Vikash Anand are not exactly household names in Indian motorsport right now, but that's set to change.
The teens from Chennai, upcoming racers in the national circuit, are just beginning their careers, trying to follow in the footsteps of the Narain Karthikeyans and Karun Chandhoks.
Times have changed, though, and the duo won't have to wait as long as Karun or Narain to get a chance to race in front of home crowds during a Formula One weekend. Vishnu, all of 18, and 17-year-old Vikash have a special date at the Indian Grand Prix in Noida, driving in the support races for the biggest racing spectacle the country has ever seen.
Vishnu has been given a 'sponsored' entry in the penultimate (fifth) round races of the JK Racing Asia series while Vikash will take part in the two races of the MRF Delhi Championship at Buddh International Circuit come October 30.
Both racers, naturally, are excited about racing in front of racing legends and bigwigs. "It is a big occasion and easily the biggest race so far in my career," says Vishnu, a front-runner in the Volkswagen Polo R Cup championship of the national racing series. "Hopefully I'll give a good account of myself."
A good display could launch the careers of Vishnu or the other youngsters in the support races at Buddh Circuit, and that is basically the idea behind the organization of the JK Racing Asia series . Three rounds of their six round championship are support races for F1 events.
Sanjay Sharma, head of JK Tyre's motorsport division, explains the motives behind the start of the JK Asia championship, formerly the BMW Pacific series.
"JK Tyre has been involved in the National Formula racing scene for the last 14 years with our karting, Formula cars and saloon car racing programmes. It has always been our endeavour to provide the best possible platform for budding talent. The big drivers to come out of the country, including Narain and Karun, have come through our series and the JK Asia series was the logical next step," says Sharma.
"The series is a stepping stone for Asian drivers to higher international series and for the talent to catch attention it is paramount that they are given a big stage to perform. That is why three of our rounds are held as support races for Formula One Grand Prix - Malaysia, Singapore and of course Indian GP," adds Sharma.
Vishnu is not a regular in the series but he was provided a sponsored drive at the Indian GP for he is one of the most exciting young talents around, says Sharma. Of course, the regulars in the series are the cream of upcoming talent not just in the Asia and Pacific regions but from Europe too. The championship , which is run on FB02 cars manufactured by BMW AG (Mygale chassis and 1.2 litre BMW engine), is led by Lucas Auer of Austria with Malaysia's Afiq Ikhwan, who won the last five races, just nine points behind in the table. That sets the stage for a tight fight in the penultimate round of the series.
The second support race, the MRF Delhi championship, runs the same Formula 1600 cars used during the six-round MRF international challenge, the second edition of which was held earlier in the year.
The cars, which run on Ford engines, was designed and built in India and the series again is based on the philosophy of providing a chance for Indian drivers to compete with some of the best upcoming drivers in the world. "We are having a two-race Delhi championship in Noida during the F1 weekend and it is separate from our Formula challenge," says MRF motorsports head Antony Rodricks.
"We have been in formula racing long back but in the last ten years we were concentrating more on rallies. But with the Indian GP coming we thought the time was ripe for us to use our expertise and resources to start a truly Indian series which will pit our drivers with the rest of the world."
The 20-car grid will feature some promising names in world motorsport including Brit Jordan King, who is making waves in the FIA Formula 2 championship. The races will have seven English drivers, two Finns and even a driver from Iran. There will be eight Indians in the grid including national rally champion Gaurav Gill and regular National formula series drivers Ameya Walawalkar and Ashwin Sundar.
With a sell-out crowd expected at the stands, the sideshow actors who will take stage before the F1 biggies step in will have their day in the sun, and a chance to get noticed. Youngsters like Vikash and Vishnu are not going to let that chance pass.
"Right now I am preparing for Delhi. I will be ready both physically and mentally and will put a good performance," says Vikash, more excited than nervous about the big stage.
KNOW YOUR TEAM
LOTUS RENAULT GP
Lotus Renault GP, formerly Renault F1, is a British F1 team. The Oxfordshire-based team's roots go back to the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault has competed in various forms since 1977, before taking over this team in 2000. The team also won the Constructors and Drivers' titles in the 2005 and 2006 season.
Renault purchased Benetton Formula Limited for $120 million in March 2000 to return to F1. Renault continued to run with the Benetton name in the 2000 and the 2001 seasons. The team was at the centre of controversy in 2007, with the FIA accusing Renault F1 of having McLaren F1's technical information in their possession. The FIA found Renault F1 in breach of article 151(c) of the sporting regulations but did not penalise the team.
In 2009, the team's actions were once again under the scanner with an incident in the 2008 season being examined over alleged race fixing. The issue surrounded Nelson Piquet Jr's crash during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix which Renault teammate Fernando Alonso went on to win.
In 2010, Renault sold a majority stake in the team to Genii Capital, a Luxembourg based investment company. Renault sold the remaining 25% stake to Lotus in December 2010. The Renault R30 performed consistently in 2010 with Robert Kubica challenging the frontrunners. The team, though, finished fifth in the standings.
Kubica was severely injured in an accident in a rally in Italy. The team started strongly in 2011 with Vitaly Petrov coming in third at the Australian Grand Prix. New restrictions over the use of off-throttle blown diffusers were introduced for the British Grand Prix, and the team was badly affected, having designed their car around the system.
TOI
