SIDVIN Festival of Speed Champions Crowned at a glittering ceremony

~Indian National Racing Champions Ashwin Sundar, Arjun Balu and Feroze Khan win LGB Formula 4, Indian Touring, and Indian Junior Touring Car Championships respectively~

~Ameya Walavalkar is JK Tyre-VW Polo R Cup 2012 National Series Champion~

~Rookie driver Aston Hare crowned 2012 JK Racing Asia Series Champion~

New Delhi, December 3, 2012: Three of Asia’s top racing championships – the 15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship, the 3rd JK Tyre-Volkswagen Polo R Cup National Series Championship and the JK Racing Asia Series - concluded in style after a season of thrilling action on the finest racing circuits in the world. The championship prize distribution ceremony that took place at the Buddh International Circuit was attended by the biggest names in Indian motorsport in a dazzling event at the end of the final round of races.

The glamorous ceremony showcased the best of Indian motorsport and was attended by personalities such as Vicky Chandhok, President of the FMSCI, Indian racing champions Karun Chandhok and Armaan Ebrahim, Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport - JK Tyre & Industries Limited, David Sonenscher,

Chief Executive Officer of Motorsport Asia, Ulrich Richter, Managing Director, Volkswagen R GmbH, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative (India) Dr. John Chacko, Prithvi Raj Siddappa, Head, Motorsports Volkswagen India, B Vijaykumar, Managing Director, LG Balakrishnan & Bros Ltd. as well as a host of the country’s top race drivers, team owners, stewards and technical representatives.

The races of the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship, India’s definitive racing event now in its 16th successive year, saw the country’s top drivers competing for glory. Ameya Walavalkar, the immensely talented driver from Mumbai lifted the 3rd JK Tyre-Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2012 championship that ran on the classy and powerful TSI Race Polo 1.4 petrol. Chennai’s Ashwin Sundar, racing for new team Dark Don Racing, lifted the season’s LGB Formula 4 Championship comfortably with ease. The widely followed Indian Touring Cars Championship was won by Coimbatore’s Arjun Balu, one of India’s top rally and race drivers while Chennai’s S Feroze Khan was crowned the Junior Touring Cars Champion for 2012.

It was a historic year for the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship, which comprises of Formula LGB 4, Indian Touring Car and Indian Junior Touring Car classes. After the initial five rounds held at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore and the Madras Motorsport Race Track in Chennai, the fifteenth edition of the series made its debut at the Buddh International Circuit. Not only did the drivers get an opportunity to demonstrate their skills on a world-class circuit, they also got to race alongside the best drivers in the country.

The season witnessed the debut of the new Formula LGB 4 cars, the vastly improved cars with enhanced comfort and safety features are one of the most economical single-seater race categories in the world. Chennai lad Ashwin Sundar racing for Dark Don Racing missed Round 1 of the series but put in a stellar performance in the remaining rounds to finish on top of the championship table with 186 points. The fact that Sundar finished first or second in all the races in which he participated is a testimonial of his class and the prospects he holds.

Saran Vikram racing for Mars Racing and Sarosh Hataria from Coimbatore who won a race each over the weekend finished with 146 and 132 points respectively. Dark Don Racing, making its debut this season won the Team Championship trophy with 377 points, a whooping 127 points ahead of the second team.

The Indian Touring Car class championship went down right to the wire with just one point separating the eventual champion Arjun Balu (168 points) racing for Tiger Sports and N Leelakrishnan (167 points) from Big Foots Coimbatore, B Balavijay (123 points) from Chennai representing Motorev India completing the top three. With 217 points in their kitty, the Team Championship trophy in category was lifted by Big Foots Coimbatore.

In the hugely popular Indian Junior Touring Cars category, S Feroze Khan son of the legendary racer Ayub Khan from Chennai showed his class and lineage by lifting the Championship title with 197 points. Fahad Kutty, racing for Team Game Over gave Khan a good run for his money, winning both the last races, yet finished with 187 points followed by Trichur lad Diljith who finished on 169 points. Team Game Over took home the Championship trophy in the class with 233 points.

34-year-old Ameya Walavalkar, a 6-time national champion won the JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup National Series Championship thanks to his unbeatable performances throughout the season. Gathering 470 grand points, he beat first runners up Chennai’s A Sandeep Kumar, who is a 2010 MMS Rotax rookie cup champion, by 96 points. The second runners-up were Goa’s Avdumber Hede with 339 points. Sandeep Kumar won the Pro-category of the championship while Hanoosh S won the junior-category.

In the JK Racing Asia Series, South African driver Aston Hare was crowned 2012 champion after a dramatic end to the final race. In its 2012 season, the JK Racing Asia Series made its grand European sojourn visiting the world’s best Formula 1 circuits such as the Paul Ricard in France, Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, the Silverstone Circuit in England, and India’s Buddh International Circuit.

16-year-old Rookie driver from South Africa Aston Hare was crowned the 2012 drivers champion of the JK Racing Asia Series. The young and talented racer grabbed first place with 236 fantastic points that were earned through a host of brilliant finishes over the 16 round season. The driver snatched the Championship from his Eurointernational teammate Malaysia’s Nabil Jeffri after Jeffri was hit by fierce rival and fellow citizen Afiq Ikhwan just two laps from the end of the race. 19-year-old Jeffri finished second at 223 points while Ikhwan came in third armed with 174 points. Hare also became Rookie Champion of 2012 while Eurointernational grabbed the team championship of 2012.

Guest Indian drivers Aditya Patel and Akhil Khushlani recorded fantastic performances through the season with a number of podium finishes in the series.

With yet another fantastic season coming to an end and the advances made in the last year, the next season promises to be packed with more adrenalin pumping action, new and faster cars, and international quality Indian talent on display.

Championship point standings post Round 6 –

LGB Formula 4

Ashwin Sundar - 186; Sarosh Hataria - 175; Saran Vikram - 146

Indian Touring Cars

Arjun Balu - 168; N Leelakrishnan  - 167; B Balavijay - 123

Indian Junior Touring Car

Feroze Khan - 197; Fahad Kutty - 187; Diljith - 172

JK Tyre VW Polo R Cup

Ameya Walavalkar - 440; Sandeep Kumar - 342; Rahil Noorani - 221