Lack of funds could cost Chandhok F1 seat

Karun Chandhok could be set to lose his Formula One seat due to his stream of sponsorship funds drying up.

A report in the English language Indian newspaper Hindustan Times on Saturday said the boss of the HRT team, Colin Kolles, is in talks with potential replacements for the 26-year-old from Chennai.

Former Midland and Spyker racer Christijan Albers may be one potential candidate. The Dutchman has F1 experience and has driven for Kolles' Formula One, DTM and Le Mans teams.

Albers, 31, said this week that he "might soon return to F1 with the help of my loyal sponsors. I have a partner that just might give that final push".

Referring to 'sources', Hindustan Times said Narain Karthikeyan and Pastor Maldonado, and HRT third driver Sakon Yamamoto, might also be in the running for Chandhok's drive.

Chandhok acknowledged in Montreal that the Indian corporate world has not fully backed him, while angling for a Force India seat "at some point in my career".

"I've been chasing (Indian) sponsors for years in GP2 and formula three and stuff, and there are people who want to get involved but are sitting on the fence," he said.

Chandhok's influential father, the high-ranking Indian motor racing official Vicky Chandhok, is in Montreal this weekend.

Just Marketing International nabs Formula One deal in India

Just Marketing International, an Indianapolis-based motorsports marketing firm, has been hired by India-based JPSK Sports Private Ltd. to provide strategic consulting services for the commercial development of the Jaypee Group Circuit, the venue that will host the inaugural Formula One Indian Grand Prix in 2011.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

JPSK Sports is constructing a world-class motorsports facility near Greater Noida, about 25 miles outside New Delhi, as part of Jaypee Sports City. The Formula One circuit is part of a 2,500-acre site that includes a 100,000-seat international cricket stadium and, in future phases, will also feature world-class hockey, soccer and tennis facilities.

JMI will provide strategic counsel in developing a motorsports facility plan and support JPSK Sports in optimizing return-on-investment for both the venue and the events staged at the complex, including the Grand Prix.

"JMI comes to us highly recommended by global leaders in motorsports," said Mark Hughes, JPSK Sports vice president of operations. "The agency's experience, relationships and insider knowledge, combined with a thorough and broad understanding of the commercial landscape of motorsports and sponsorship, will be invaluable to us as we launch this ambitious venture."

Tom Moser, executive vice president of strategy for JMI, said the deal gives the Indianapolis firm an entry into a growing motorsports market.

IBJ Staff

June 12, 2010
http://www.ibj.com/just-marketing-international-nabs-formula-one-deal-in-india/PARAMS/article/20472

Renault F1 Team’s Bob Bell Gives Backing to Europe’s Biggest Student Motorsport Event

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has announced a new ambassador for Formula Student (FS) 2010. Renault F1 Team Managing Director, Bob Bell, has become the latest to offer his expertise and support to Europe's biggest educational motorsport event. Formula Student is run by the IMechE to challenge the next generation of engineers to drive a single-seater racing car they have designed and built from scratch. The aim of the competition is to help students develop academic, vocational and practical engineering skills and training that is considered essential by industry experts for students hoping to pursue a career in F1 or motorsport. The partnership augment FS's collaboration with a number of well respected and high profile organisations supporting the 2010 competition including Shell, Airbus in the UK, E.ON UK, Cenex, Autodesk, National Instruments and The MathWorks. This year FS will benefit from Bob Bell's experience and expertise, as he brings 30 years of motorsport experience to his role as an ambassador of FS 2010. Prior to working for the Renault F1 Team, he has worked for Formula One heavyweights including McLaren International, Benetton Formula, and the Jordan Grand Prix. Bell also played an integral role in the Renault F1 Team's back to back world championship successes in 2005 and 2006.  Bob Bell, MD of Renault F1 Team, said: "I feel very privileged to be become an FS Ambassador, given its outstanding success in promoting competitive engineering at an international level. Few other forms of professional engineering offer such an opportunity to young engineers, and its educational benefits are of significance over a very wide engineering domain."  Formula Student attracts entries from universities all over the world. This year teams from countries including Australia, Canada, India, Sweden and Croatia will all take part in the five-day event at Silverstone on 14 - 18 July. At the event FS cars undergo a series of dynamic tests such as acceleration, sprint, skid-pad, endurance and fuel economy. Students are also tested on design, presentation and cost assessment elements.  FS will once again run its low carbon category of Class 1A cars which allows teams to develop new and novel powertrain technologies, resulting in race cars with low carbon emissions.  For further information please visit www.formulastudent.com Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1 Birdcage Walk, London SW1H 9JJ T: 020 7304 6835/6888 E: s_mowlabaccus@imeche.org or media@imeche.org  W: www.imeche.org

Anxiety, Anxiousness, Excitement : 2011 F1 Calendar Could Be Longest Ever

Bernie Ecclestone has talked in latest weeks concerning expanding the F1 calendar to 24 races. The near the beginning signs are next year's Formula 1 calendar could be the longest ever – with the new Indian Grand Prix taking the championship up to 20 races for the first time.

It seems more and more likely the 19 venues visited this year will all be retained for 2011. The Turkish and Chinese rounds had been in some worries, the former seeing very poor crowds in recent years and the latter reaching the end of its original seven-year agreement this year.

But Ecclestone dropped hints during the Turkish Grand Prix weekend that the race would be staying on the calendar. Mercedes, who supply three F1 teams including their own factory outfit, are understood to be keen on keeping a race in China, an important market for them.

Additional races whose long-term future had seemed uncertain now look more secure. The owners of the Hockenheimring have said they expect to sell more tickets this year (thank you, Michael Schumacher) and Silverstone has finally nailed down a long-term contract.

With India set to join the calendar next year F1 looks set to visit 20 venues in 2011:

The teams have raised some objections to the amount of long-distance traveling this will involve. There concerns make a lot of sense when you look at how the calendar is organized.

Why are Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, two races that are reasonably close together, at opposite ends of the calendar? Would it not make sense to run these races on consecutive weekends to save flying all the way there and back.

The same goes for the Malaysian and Singapore rounds. And would it not also make sense to move the Chinese round closer to the Korean and Japanese races?

Despite the team's concerns the signs all point to the calendar getting larger. The 2012 United States Grand Prix could move the calendar up to 21 races.

(As an aside, if that race is paired with the Canadian round as seems likely, a June race in Texas would be held in punishing heat. The only previous F1 race in Texas – the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix, held in July – was one of the hottest races ever.)

On top of that Ecclestone is looking into possible future races in Rome and Russia.

The prospect of a larger calendar is obviously good news for fans of the sport and, in the long term, is probably a benefit for F1 too.

But how far the teams can accommodate more races in distant venues, at a time when they're trying to bring their costs down, remains to be seen.

Article Source:f1fanatic.co.uk

NCR-based firm providing BPO services to F1

Sometime back, American churches started outsourcing their prayers to Indian churches in Kerala. Holy mass and Thanksgiving requests are handled by Indian churches in return for a fee. 

Starting from just simple voice based outsourcing, Indian companies are now doing some very interesting and high value outsourcing work for global companies. An example is an NCR-based firm, which works with one of the Formula One teams. The common engine control unit in these racecars are like the black box in an aircraft. It receives inputs from the many sensors that measures aspects like temperature of tyres, balance of the car, steering control, suspension and a number of other aspects. This data is collected and sent back to the company's centre in the NCR after the race. 

The job of the staff at this company is to analyse the huge amount of data that is sent to them, point out problems with each aspect and suggest improvements. 

Could F1 Handle 24 Races A Year ?

Williams chief executive Adam Parr believes that it would be possible to increase the number of races in each season to twenty-four – but only if race dramatically change their schedules.

This season's calendar features nineteen races – the highest number of events since 2005. Subsequently, this figure is expected to rise in the next few years, with India being added to the calendar in 2011 and the United States a year later.

This has greatly concerned teams who fear that an expanded calendar will prove to be a logistical nightmare and mean that extra team members will have to be found to rotate with existing staff.

However, with falling attendances and sponsorship drying up, the F1-supremo is keen to continue to expand the calendar in a bid to increase the amount of capital generated by the sport's commercial rights holder, the Formula One Group, and to help service the debts of private equity firm CVC Capital Partners- which reportedly paid around $1.7bn to acquire control of the organisation in 2006.

As a result, Parr believes that the sport could handle more than twenty races on the calendar – but only if meetings were shortened from three days to two.

Despite supporting an extention to the season, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn admitted that any change would initially increase costs.

"I think there's a step change, where you get to a certain number and you have to start taking on duplicate crews like they do in NASCAR," he said. "That first step change is quite expensive, so it can be done but we need to make sure it's managed properly."

"To be clear, we're all delighted that they're increasing the number of races."

Although teams currently receive half of the sport's commercial revenues, Brawn admitted that teams must remain cautious when negotiating with the sport's commercial rights holders. 

"There's an agreement with Bernie that the more races we do the more money the teams get, so we've got to make sure that the money we get is more than the money we spend, which is not easy with Bernie," he said.

"We just need to manage the situation properly because especially the races which are coming up, they're great for Formula 1, so we will support them 100 percent.

"There are consumables involved: we use more engines, we use more brakes, we use things like that.

"We've got flights, we've got hotels, but a lot of the core costs are spent before you even go to the first race."

My Comments: Come what may, the F1 schedule is bound to change next year.  A lot of changes and much more excitement is on the cards! But yet, I do wonder if the drivers have a fatigue factor...

The Coming F1 Race in 2011 Gives Fillip to Motorsports in India

Even before a track in India gets integrated into the Formula One racing circuit, motorsports in India could get a much needed leg-up from manufacturer-backed, single-make racing championships. The Volkswagen Polo cup is the first such backed by the German-brand and its first made in India hatch.

In 2010, the Polo cup, which is a championship popular in many countries worldwide, starts out on its 13th season. Volkswagen cup races have already been successfully introduced in China, South Africa and America. Other VW Motorsport activities include the Dakar Rally, the F3 Euro Series and the German F3 cup.

Racing series such as the Polo cup are restricted to young drivers, who compete in technically identical vehicles with the same performance data. This gives the upcoming racing drivers an opportunity to develop their skills and get to experience what it takes to make a career as a successful racing driver first hand. The Polo cup is widely considered the starting platform or training ground for future touring car champions.

Racing vehicles

The unique concept, the sound regulations, the meticulous Abt Sportsline racing team, the response by new, young drivers and the dynamic competition vehicles supplied by Volkswagen have been consistent elements of the cup throughout its history.

VW has chosen to go with the Polo TDI (diesel) for the cup. From the outside, the car looks identical to its street legal avatar and even features a retuned version of the 1.6-litre R4 common rail diesel engine that VW plans to introduce in the market later. In the race Polo the engine generates a peak power of 95 kW or 130 PS at 4,400 rpm and a peak torque of 250 Nm at 1,500 to 2,500 rpm. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. Top speed is rated at 180 km per hour.

For the safety of the driver, the Race Polo features a FIA approved roll cage, a fire extinguisher system with internal and external release, an electrical cut-off system and a race brake system with four piston fixed calliper. For braking, it is fitted with a ventilated 213mm disk at the front and a 232 disk brake at the rear.

To experience the Race Polo first-hand, we at Smartbuy travelled to the Kari Motor Speedway just outside the southern city of Coimbatore. The Race Polos that had been lined up for a bunch of us motoring journalists wore the same colours that the street Polo is offered with. Inside, the regular seats of the Polo had been pulled out and the carpeting and insulation stripped to reduce the weight of the car.

Instead, one race driver’s seat with integrated head protection, a 6-point seatbelt prepared for the HANS (head and neck support) system, a safety window net on the driver side and an additional display and data logger system with an on-board camera were the interior features in the Race Polo. The dashboard itself (except for the steering column mounted data logger) is identical to the street Polo.

On the 2.2-kilometre track at the Speedway, the Race Polo is quick off the start, the TDI engine spooling up and delivering peak torque immediately after the throttle is given a hard jab. The steering is precise and predictable giving us greater confidence to push it around the 14 turns and corners on the track. The Race Polo also comes with 17-inch alloys and 200/605 R17 tyres. For suspension, single adjustable dampers and struts developed by Sachs of Germany along with Eibach springs have been used. The bearings and hubs have been uprated for racing strength.

Selection process

VW received over 1,100 registrations from potential racers, of which 20 chosen drivers will get to rev their engines for this first single-make manufacturer-backed series in India. The selection process ran from the last week of March to mid of May. The aspiring racers were divided into two groups – first-timers and experienced racers, and were put through two rounds of selection. The young racers were narrowed down to 45 drivers through a go-kart selection process. The short listed drivers were then placed behind the wheel of the Race Polos for the second round of selections held in Coimbatore, to earn their place in the final 20 candidates for the races.

The first season of the Polo up in India will commence from May 30, 2010. There will be a total of six races, with the first being a street race in VW India’s home town – Pune, where the 20 short listed drivers will celebrate their world debut at the Polo Cup India 2010 as part of the JK Tyre-FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship 2010. They will compete in six races across the country, the first in Pune, followed by five races on the race courses in Coimbatore and Chennai.

S. Muralidhar in Business Line's SmartBuy