Le Castellet (France):The JK Racing Asia Series will make its debut in Europe when the second round of the championship will be run at the historic Paul Ricard circuit here this weekend.

The round will be held alongside the Blancpain Endurance and Lamborghini Super Trofeo races.

The weekend will also see India's Aditya Patel driving for the 2011 team championship winners Eurointernational along with Aston Hare and Nabil Jeffri

The qualifying session is scheduled for Saturday and the races will be run Sunday at the 5.8-km circuit that is uniquely built on a plateau making it an unusually flat circuit.

"We are looking forward to our maiden round in Europe. We believe that it is a step forward and hope the teams and the drivers make the best of this opportunity," said Sanjay Sharma, head-motorsport, JK Tyre and Industries.

"Our new racing sensation, Aditya Patel is a guest driver at Paul Ricard. He has proved his mettle in the Indian and International circuit and I am sure with his passion for motor racing, he surely won't let it be a easy race weekend for his competitors," he added.

Chris Vlock of New Zealand, Briton Sean Walkinshaw will also join the current line-up for Rounds 5 and 6, competing against some of the best young stars from Asia.

Vlock has participated in the Formula Tour 1600 and the Toyota Racing Series.

Walkinshaw is an active participant of the Formula Renault and is the son of late TWR founder, Tom Walkinshaw. These two drivers will also race for Team Eurointernational.

The first leg of the series was held at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia in May. The race weekend witnessed the emergence of rookie driver Hare from South Africa as the championship leader with 67 points. Trailing him by five points is Eurointernational teammate Jeffri from Malaysia.

All of the five circuits that the series visits in 2012 are Formula 1 venues which are crucial to driver development in preparing them for higher levels of racing. (IANS)