Virgin All Set To Fly - Australian GP

It’s no secret that the Virgin Racing team had quite an abysmal time at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Initially the pre-qualifying practice sessions and the qualifying sessions at the Bahrain Grand Prix did show some amount of hope and promise for the debutants. However, much of their hopes and aspirations were extinguished when both their cars retired within just a few laps of the race.

Both their drivers and the technical director were disappointed and understandably so. After all, the pre-season had started off with much promise for them and it was to be seen how the only team on the grid to have boldly used only CFD design and technology would perform.

Having said all that, all those problems, and the woes of Virgin Racing at Bahrain are all in the past and were not necessarily related to their CFD designed aerodynamics. The cars suffered from hydraulic and transmission problems which made the sun set rather quickly on their weekend in Bahrain.

This time round at the Australian Grand Prix, Virgin Racing certainly hopes to make an impact. It is a rather interesting race, being a street circuit and will require the drivers to use their technical skill. Good speed and lap times will be crucial during the qualifying sessions as the new regulations do seem to have made over-taking a little too difficult.

The Virgin Racing team seems to be rather upbeat about this weekend and one hopes they can certainly do better than the Bahrain Grand Prix. In my opinion, I am certain that they will. After all, let’s not forget that this is a young team with young drivers and there may certainly be a few technical glitches at the start; but nothing that can’t be fixed.

My prediction for the race is that Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi will both complete the race this time round and see the much desired chequered flag. I think that would be a good goal to achieve and as long as the team manages that, this race will be a successful one. I believe that one must climb the ladder to success slowly but surely and a step in the right direction would be to finish the race this street circuit.

Timo Glock is said to like the race track and conditions at the Australian Grand Prix and it would be exciting to see the young Lucas di Grassi race on this circuit for the first time. I certainly look forward to the race this weekend and to Virgin Racing being competitive. I am sure that they will do much better as the season progresses. But my prediction for this weekend is that both the cars make the chequered flag.

Ajith's entry confirmed - 2010 F2 (Formula2) Championships!

Motorsports seems to be climbing the slope of popularity in India. The number of Indian names in the list of racers taking part in International races is substantially increasing year after year. One of these names is Ajith Kumar. Mr Kumar has just confirmed his entry for the 2010 FIA Formula 2 Championship. Ajith Kumar is a South Indian film Star and a motor racing enthusiast. However, this is not the first time Ajith will be burning rubber on the race track. This makes it his third season in the International Racing scenario after his debut in 2003 in the Formula BMW Asia Championship. His best results were in Korea where he qualified 4th and finished 6th. The other best results achieved by him were in 2004 races in British Formula 3 Scholarship Class, where he managed two podium finishes.

Ajith is one of those many enthusiasts in the country who believe motorsports in India very well needs a wakeup call. The other prominent Indian names in the field of International Motorsports are Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok. Ajith is not the only Indian to take part in the Formula 2 Championship. The other Indian names in the championship are Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran. Ajith hopes that the Indian youth is inspired by his as well his fellow Indian racer’s entry into the International Motorsports scene.

"I have the confidence of achieving some success in this year's FIA Formula 2 European Championships. I have already done some testing in Malaysia recently and am looking forward to more practice runs in Snetterton & Silverstone before the event kicks off on April 16th. I hope my participation along with the other two Indians, Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran will create the right amount of interest in the sport in India," says Ajith Kumar.

F2 Series Director Jonathan Palmer said, "I am delighted to welcome Ajith to F2. To have a well known Indian film star who has demonstrated such ambition now racing in F2 is very exciting for the championship, and I really admire Ajith's determination and enthusiasm. Paul Newman demonstrated that international celebrities can be competitive in international motorsport - and late in his career. Ajith on the other hand is several years younger than both Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. The F2 team and other drivers look forward to giving maximum support to help Ajith become increasingly competitive."

Managing a professional approach towards motorsports along with an ongoing acting career may not be a piece of cake. We hope Ajith’s efforts bear the sweet fruits in form of inspiration to the rest of the enthusiasts back in the country who may restrict their entry into professional motorsports citing career related issues. Ajith intends to be a professional racer alongside his acting career.

by Motoroids

Chennai born Karun Chandok confirmed for F1 this season (2010)

Karun Chandok has just been confirmed as the official driver for the Hispanic Racing F1 Team (HRT) formerly known as Campos Racing in Spain for the 2010 F1 season! He will now partner with Bruno Senna, with whom Karun had already shared the team space in the 2008 GP2 season. Chandhok will be presented to the public at the Murcia unveiling, which is set to confirm the team's new identity and its plans for 2010. 

Colin Kolles, HRT's team principal, said: "I am very pleased to use the Murcia site to officially unveil our car livery today. We also complete the driver's team line-up with the Indian Karun Chandhok at the wheel of the car for our first ever season. We have been very impressed with Karun's performance in GP2. India is a great country. It will be great for the sport to have an Indian driver on the grid for the first Indian Grand Prix. Murcia is part of the roots of the team."

 

The Chennai born Karun, started racing in 2000 and ultimately joined GP2 in 2007 where he did quite well to let the whole world and especially the F1 teams know his standard of driving. He was presented with the ‘Best Driving Style’ award in 2008. With this deal, Karun Chandok now is the second Indian driver to race in F1. The first one was Narain Karthikeyan who spent a single season at Jordan five years ago.

Karun Chandok might join F1 this season! 2010!

Chennai born Karun Chandok who was once titled "The most promising Asian", is all set to make his F1 dream come true. For Karun, the racing blood runs in the family with his father the legendary Vicky Chandok and grandfather Indu Chandok, both being ace drivers of their times. And now, Karun is carrying the family's racing heritage forward.

Karun started racing in 2000 and ultimately joined GP2 in 2007 where he did quite well to let the whole world and especially the F1 teams know his standard of driving. He was presented with the ‘Best Driving Style’ award in 2008. But the last season (2009) wasn’t too great for him. So Karun is all set to make a comeback to racing and this can’t get better than this...

He is about to sign a deal with Spanish Campos Racing founded by former F1 driver Adrian Campos. Bruno Senna,nephew of late Aryton senna will be Karun's team mate if the deal is finalized. Bruno shared the team space with Karun in 2008 GP2 season too. Campos racing's team principal Collin Kolles is going to rename the team once they get a position on the finalized 2010 F1 grid. Karun's F1 dream is slowly turning into reality which means that he will soon get a well deserved place at the pinnacle of motorsport. The team hasn’t done any testing in the pre- season. If things go in the right direction they will be present on the grid on March 14th in Bahrain.

With Narian eyeing Nascar this year and Karun thinking of securing a place in F1, the country will soon get the much needed and deserved recognition in this fast paced world of racing.