New Delhi, August 31, 2012: JK Tyre brand ambassador and India’s youngest
racing sensation Armaan Ebrahim is all set to make his entry into the FIA GT1
World Championship, widely regarded to represent the
pinnacle of sports car racing in the world. Armaan Ebrahim is the lone Indian driver
on the grid and this is going to be his first outing in the World GT1
Championship at a brand new world-class facility-Moscow Raceway which is
located on the outskirts of the Russian Capital. The Chennai based racing
driver will represent ‘Team India’ and will drive for SunRed Engineering, a
leading motor racing team from Spain.
GT1 features
fiercely competitive racing between the world’s most desirable luxury sports
car brands. The entry list reads like a who’s who of automotive exotica. Cars
from the Aston Martin DBRS9, Audi R8, BMW Z4, Ferrari 458, and Ford GT, to the
Lamborghini Gallardo, McLaren MP4-12C, Mercedes SLS and Porsche 997 GT3 R will
vie for the honour of being crowned FIA World Champion at the end of the
season.
With two races
per event, the GT1 championship gives the world’s best drivers an opportunity to
battle it out in 10 events that are organised on the finest circuits in 10
countries around the world. Each GT1 race runs for 60 minutes and each car must
perform a mid-race pit-stop to change tyres and drivers. The last round of the
championship is scheduled to take place at India’s Buddh International Circuit on
December 2, 2012.
Armaan’s team -
SunRed Engineering – is a professional race engineering company based in Spain
with a very successful record of accomplishment in sports and touring car
racing at the very highest international levels. The company has been granted
the rights to compete within the FIA GT1 World Championship under the
designation of ‘Team India’.
Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre &
Industries Limited said, “We hope that this move helps Armaan consolidate his next career move
in the world of motor-racing. It will be a dream come true for a youngster to
be finally racing in India in front of his family and supporters. We wish that this
move will help him get closer to achieving his ultimate goals.”
The FIA GT1
World Championship was launched in 2010 and is one of five FIA recognized world
championships, alongside events such as Formula 1, World Rally and World Endurance
Championship.
Armaan Ebrahim said, “I would firstly like to thank my Principal
Sponsors JK Tyre who have done a lot of work in putting this together, thus
giving me the opportunity to drive for Team India in a World Championship and
most importantly in my own country at the Buddh International Circuit
subsequently. I will have to get used to the GT Cars as I have raced in Formula
Cars all my life and to that extent, the test in Barcelona last month was a satisfying
experience. I’m very happy that I’m going to be in the elite company of the
best drivers in the world on a debut international race meet in Moscow.”
The young driver
views the FIA GT World Championship as a big moment in his life. “To compete in a World Championship was what I
have been working towards since I was 12”, he added.
“We are delighted to have finalised a contract with
young Indian sensation Armaan Ebrahim to drive for our Team in the last 3
Rounds, which will hopefully lead to a full year’s contract in 2013. We have
been following Armaan’s career and he is definitely one of the brightest
prospects from India and it is our desire to work hard with Armaan in 2013 to
deliver to the world, the 1st Indian World Champion”, commented Joan Orus, Team
Principal of SunRed Racing.
SunRed Racing
has done very well in other championships and is the World Touring Car
Championship title winning team. The team is working hard on getting the Ford
GT 40 upto its paces, which Armaan will be driving.
Qualifying round
of the championship is scheduled to be held on Saturday, September 1, 2012 at
3.15pm (local time) with Race 1 on Sunday, September 2, at 11.15am and Race 2 at
3.15pm at the Moscow Raceway. The next race is scheduled to take place at Nurburgring
in Germany on the 22nd and 23rd of September and the
final round at the Buddh International Circuit in India on the 1st
and 2nd of December 2012.
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About
JK Tyre Motorsport
JK Tyre has always been
closely associated with the world of sports. Almost three decades back the
company laid down a long term and sustained approach to promote Motorsport.
Participating in this form of the sport has helped the company in continuously
updating its products to meet the challenges of gruelling Indian conditions.
The sport at that time in India was perceived for elite but JK Tyre took upon
itself to package and redesign the sport to suit the masses. The company not
only made the sport affordable but also equivalent to International operating
standards. JK Tyre’s foray into Motorsport was a well thought out strategic
decision to not only use and develop this virgin branding platform but also to realize
the dreams of making India a force in the field of motor sport.
In 2011, the company
acquired the Formula BMW Series and rechristened it as the JK Racing Asia
Series (JKRAS). With this acquisition, JK Tyre created history in Indian
Motorsport by becoming the first Indian company to acquire an FIA accredited
series. The series has to its credit of producing as many as six of the current
Formula One drivers, including reigning two- time champion Sebastian Vettel. By
taking over the series, JK Tyre promises to utilize it as a platform to
encourage and support the world’s best racing drivers and promote India as one
of Asia’s motorsport capitals. Thus, JK Tyre has conquered two steps in the
motorsport program where the new racing aspirants first establish themselves in
India, then graduate to Asian level i.e. to Formula BMW, which is now JKRAS and
then they move to higher levels of racing. JK Tyre now stands closer to
achieving its mission of bringing world-class motorsport to the Indian masses.
The Racing and Karting
programme by JK Tyre has been the breeding ground for the country’s motorsport
talents like Narain Karthikeyan, Armaan Ebrahim, Karun Chandhok, Aditya Patel
and other emerging talent.
Posted By RASRAJ