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HRT elated as both drivers finish
Posted on: April 6, 2010
Karun Chandhok lead HRT finishes over the weekend at Sepang
Hispania Racing Team (HRT) achieved what they were set out to do in the Malaysian Grand Prix when both their drivers completed the race. Karun Chandhok finished his second race in a row and this was the first race finish for Bruno Senna. Both the drivers were very satisfied with the results.
Karun Chandhok who finished 15th at Sepang was very happy with the result.
Speaking after the race he said, “I am fantastically happy to have finished my second race today after our difficult debut in Bahrain. I kept out of trouble and pitted on lap 17. On lap 45, I had a tricky moment, passing Trulli’s Lotus. A great thank to the team who did a fantastic job. To finish was very difficult today but I am happy to have done it.”
Bruno Senna who completed his first race this season was really pleased with the efforts of the team to get both cars to finish.
“I had a good start and gained as much as I could. I am really pleased for the team to have finished the race with both cars. It has been another positive weekend for the team taking a good step forward.” , he said after the race.
The team Principal Collin Kolles was visibly elated as his team was able to finish both the cars only in their third race and was all praise for both the drivers.
“A fantastic day for the team completing our first two-car finish in only our third race, with no pre-season testing. Bruno Senna had a good start while Karun Chandhok had a bad one. But Karun could find a good pace then and both drivers had reliable races. Again we have made a great step forward. We reached our goal with two cars finishing the race. Congratulations to the team who worked again hard to achieve this result. Now we have to work on more developments for the next Grand Prix in China.”, he said.
So the HRT team has achieved their first goal but now would want to do better in the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix. Both the drivers would be confident with their cars after a good race at Sepang and would want to carry over the confidence to the rest of the season.
Ajith back on (Race) track
Posted on: March 31, 2010
- In: Ajith Kumar | Cricket and Sports | Entertainment | Formula 2 | Formula one | General | Motorsport | Movies | Real Life | Sports
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Tamil Superstar Ajith Kumar (Thalai) to race in Formula 2 this year
Ajith has decided to give his passion of racing another go as he is competing in Formula 2 championship this year. We all know Ajith’s immense love for motorsports and Karun Chandhok’s entry to Formula 1 has inspired our “Thalai” to give his racing career another chance. Ajith though quickly dismissed any intentions of him trying for formula 1 and is much happier to be racing in Formula 2 right now.
He also says on his exclusive interview with Rediff that he is going to take racing career seriously this time. He said that he is going to concentrate on racing for the majority of this year and has plans to do just one movie with Gautham Menon later this year. Ajith has already raced in Formula Asia and Formula 3 before and he also had couple of podium finishes in the competitive British F3 championship.
Ajith was thrilled about his prospects with Formula two this season,
“I am really excited about racing in F2. I have a great regard for Jonathan Palmer – thanks to him and his efforts Formula Two is the next best thing to F1. Coming from India with a population of 2 billion, I want to take motor racing in this country to the common man. Right now, it is still a niche sport largely popular in the urban areas. Given my profile as a film star, I hope to use my status to popularise the sport in India.” he said
So best of luck to Ajith and I hope that he has a great season. It will be great to see our “Thalai” get couple of podium finishes this year.
You can follow Ajith’s progress this season at official formula 2 site. You can also get more information about his racing career at Ajith Kumar profile on the same website.
Karun Chandhok was absolutely delighted as he achieved the first finish for his team HRT in the Australian Grand Prix. He finished last in the race but a finish nonetheless for the Hispania Racing team. Karun who hit a bump and had to retire in the first race of the season seemed very satisfied with his efforts in Australia,
“A great thanks to the team. To finish was very difficult today, and all the more satisfying because of that. I dedicate this race result to all the mechanics and engineers who worked so hard since Bahrain, without any pre-season testing. This is a fantastic day for the team and a great step forward. I am proud to have ended our first race.”
He was confident that they will be able to finish higher in the races to come. His teammate Bruno Senna though wasn’t that lucky as he had to retire following a hydraulic failure. He was visibly frustrated but remained hopeful that his team would be able to finish both the cars next race.
“I didn´t intend my second Grand Prix to end with a hydraulic failure, but that´s racing. I made a good start and was in 14th after the big crash in front. It’s fantastic for the team to make it to the finish and we have got a great deal of data to work from for Malaysia. I hope we can finish with two cars next race.”
The next race begins in about 4 days in Malaysia and the HRT team will have their work cut out in getting both cars up and running. The fact that one of their drivers completed the race would give them much needed confidence for the remainder of the season. And as Senna said the team will be hoping for both the cars to finish in Malaysia.
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Praveen Kumar has been one of the few successful Indian pace bowlers in IPL 3
When 39 year old Anil Kumble is the best bowler in a T20 competition then you have serious issues. This is exactly the story of IPL III this year where Anil Kumble and Muthaih Muralitharan have been the best bowlers by a mile in terms of economy and wickets tally respectively. Even though the overseas pacers have done reasonably well, the Indian pace bowling continues to suffer in the ongoing IPL.
Ishant has been ordinary and the less said about Irfan Pathan’s bowling exploits the better. RP Singh looks jaded and the other young bowlers like Tyagi and Sangwan lack consistency and pace to survive at the international level. So why is India struggling to unearth one good pace bowler to compliment Zaheer in the Indian team? Praveen Kumar has been bowling very well for Bangalore Royal Challengers and Zaheer has been in decent form for Mumbai Indians but that about does it for Indian pacers till date.
Chaminda Vaas who hasn’t played for Sri Lanka for a while has easily out bowled every Indian bowler in this tournament. That says something about the plight of Indian pace bowling in the past few months. So it seems like the selectors are in for a headache when they sit together to pick a team which will best represent India in the upcoming T20 WC in West Indies. Zaheer and Praveen probably will be automatic selections considering current form but who will claim the third seamer spot is anybody’s guess at the moment.
Sreesanth has been poor, Nehra injured and Irfan Pathan not in the 30 probable’s picked for the T20 WC. The selectors might look to play 2 spinner, 2 pacer attack to counter this situation with Mishra or Chawla joining Harbajan in the bowling line up or they could give a chance to a untested youngster such as the promising Mithun or Umesh Yadav who has bowled with pace and heart for Delhi Dare devils. I guess some investigation should be done as to why our bowlers regress after a strong start in their careers to avoid such situations in the future. Is it the money? Is it the fame? Is too much cricket affecting them? Someone has to find an answer to that question.
The team selection will be an interesting one, whatever the combination the selectors come up with. I am not hoping for any drastic changes or any major surprises in the squad so we have to be prepared for Nehra, Ishant to be back in the squad. We will see Indian bowlers leaking lots of runs yet again the onus clearly will be on the batsmen to perform. Bowling continues to be a problem and looking at the IPL performances there seems no light at the end of the tunnel.
Hispania Racing team who had a disappointing beginning to the season when both their racers were unable to finish in Bahrain said that they are aiming for finishes in Australia. Karun Chandhok hit a bump and crashed out and Senna could only complete 17 laps as an engine failure forced him to retire.
Speaking to the media the team principal Colin Kolles said “We have worked extremely hard since the Bahrain season opener, We have worked long hours and successfully with Bridgestone, Cosworth and Xtrac learned from our first laps with the car and found a good basis from which to start preparation for our second Grand Prix in Australia in a few days. “
“We have successfully repaired the damage sustained by Karun Chandhok’s car and focused on building our car’s reliability. Our goal is to improve steadily and the next step is to work towards our first race finish. I am confident we will achieve this goal very soon and having seen how we came together as a team in Bahrain I can see just how much potential and commitment we have”, he added.
Karun Chandhok who had a disappointing start to his F1 campaign seemed optimistic with his chances in Australia.
“I am really looking forward to my second F1 race this weekend,” he said. “I have never driven in Melbourne, but I am a very quick learner. I was able to work on a team’s simulator before the Grand Prix so that will help my familiarisation a little bit! Our next step with the team’s engineers is to make the car reliable for the race. The secret of good racing preparation is to complete as many laps as possible on Friday to see where we are with the car. Finishing the race would be a fantastic achievement we will strive for.”
Bruno Senna who was forced to retire due to an engine failure after 17 laps hoped that HRT will have a better finish this weekend in Australia. Bruno Senna who has already won on this track albeit in Formula 3 seemed really confident ahead of the second race of the season.
“We need to continue building on what we achieved in Bahrain,” said the Brazilian. “We put two cars together and ran successfully in Bahrain. Now we must continue to work as a team. I came early to Australia to acclimatise to the time difference. I love Australia more and more, as I spend more time here! I have already driven on the Melbourne track, back in 2006.”
“I did the F3 support race for F1 back then and had a fairly successful weekend. I won! Now, I must work with the team to continue learning about the car. I have enjoyed working long hours with the team so far and I will be giving my all as I really want to progress and guarantee them good results.”
Source: Formula1.com
Ecclestone says no to any changes in the Refueling regulations
The refueling regulations implemented for the 2010 F1 season received quite flak from the media and the teams alike after the first race of the season. The reason for the outburst was due to the fact that there were no refueling stops which enabled the teams to strategize in the past and it made interesting viewing as it also paved way for teams to overtake.
Putting paid to any hopes of reinstating refueling Bernie Ecclestone said that there will be no rule changes for this season and the teams have to live with the same. He said that the rule change now is impractical owing to the designs of the 2010 cars.
Speaking to the media Bernie Ecclestone said,
“We cannot change the rules. It would take far too long and it’s too difficult. F1 is now a democracy. And all the teams voted for these rules, so now they must also deal with them.”
Even though every team has criticized the refueling regulations Ecclestone found a supporter in Vijay Mallya, the owner of F1 team Force India when he said that the teams have to give the new rule a chance.
Speaking to the media Mallya was quoted saying,
“We need to give the regulations a chance to prove themselves and for people to learn how to use them,” he said. “To change everything after just one race is a knee-jerk reaction, let’s see how it goes in Australia and Malaysia and make an informed decision about whether we do need to react to improve the Formula One show. If we do then at least we have more information to make a proper call.”
It seems like most of the drivers and team bosses are not happy with the current regulation but Ecclestone has clearly said that the rule is written in stone and cannot be changed this season. So the teams will do well to come out with a strategy to deal with the same instead of complaining. Hopefully the teams will be better prepared in Australia than they were in Bahrain and I guess the qualifying might become more important this season.
- In: Boxing | Cricket and Sports | General | Sports
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World number 1 Vijender Singh claimed gold in the commonwealth boxing championship
The Indian boxers created history when the won 6 gold medals to claim the overall title in the Commonwealth Boxing Championship in New Delhi. Vijender Singh, who recently became world number 1 according to the AIBA (International Boxing Association) rankings in the middle weight category beat England’s Frank Buglioni 12-3 to claim the Gold medal.
Along with Vijender, Amandeep Singh (49KG),Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg), World Cup bronze medallist Dinesh Kumar (81kg), Asian bronze medallist Paramjeet Samota(91+ kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60 kg) also won Gold medals in their respective categories. This is indeed a proud moment for the boxers and their families. It has to be noted that only recently the Indian boxing team received sponsership and Vijender signed a multi-million dollar deal with Percept Sports Management company.
This indeed is great for the sport in India and the success acheived by the boxing team will for sure generate more interest in the country. Congrats again to the boxing team for creating history and also to Vijender on becoming the number 1 ranked boxer in the world in the 75 KG category.
Alonso celebrates after his victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa make it Ferrari one-two
Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa made it a dream beginning for Ferrari when they took the top two positions on the podium on Sunday in Bahrain. Alonso, a former champion with Renault, had a fantastic start to this season with a win. Michael Schumacher, making a comeback to competitive racing after a four year layoff and racing for team Mercedes, finished 6th.
It was not all smooth sailing for the Ferrari team though, as Sebastian Vettel racing for Red Bull was in control of the race before an engine failure forced him to retire. Alonso took advantage of Vettel’s misfortune to claim the first position and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) also benefited, as he finished on the podium in third behind Massa.
The Indian contingent got off to a disastrous start when Karun Chandhok, representing Hispania Racing Team (HRT), hit a bump on the track and was forced to retire after a crash. Karun later apologized to his team about the mistake and said that a lack of time time on the track was the reason for the crash. Tonio Liuzzi, representing Force India, finished in the points when he finished in the top ten, giving the Indian fans something to cheer about.
This race belonged to Ferrari and Alonso as, but the new regulations have sparked a few controversies and the F1 bosses had plenty to say about it.
Refueling Regulations slammed by the media and teams alike
The new regulations for this year’s championship received quite a bit of flack from the media. According to the new regulations, starting this season there will be no refueling stops, which according to most of the drivers will make catching up almost impossible. This was done to get the on -the -track overtaking back to F1, but did not go well with the teams and drivers.
The press called it a “Bore-rain Grand Prix,”as they felt the change in regulation reduced the race to something of a procession. The McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh said that Formula 1 needs to consider immediate rule changes to spice things up on the track. The drivers joined the bandwagon too, as Mark Webber and Alonso slammed the changes, and Michael Schumacher said that it would be almost impossible to overtake due to this change and can only happen if the driver in front of you makes a mistake.
Only time will tell for both Ferrari and the regulations, but change is certainly going on this season, whether everyone likes it or not.
Hispania Racing Team's car this season
The first race of the Formula one season begins this weekend and it will also mark the debut of the Indian racer Karun Chandhok. Karun was signed up by Hispania Racing Team (HRT) as their second driver for this season and he became the second Indian to race in Formula one. This year is also special for the return of former F1 champion Michael Schumacher at the age of 42 to competitive racing after his retirement in 2006.
I am really excited for Karun as this will be big occasion for him and he will know that there will be lots of F1 fans like me who will be cheering for him this weekend. I hope that Karun does put up a decent show in his first year and it will be amazing if he can finish up with few points next to his name. He wasn’t on the track today during the free practice sessions for HRT but I am sure that he will be there on the track tomorrow during the practice session before the actual qualifying.
I wish him all success this season and I hope he does himself and his country proud.
Yousuf and Younis Banned for Life
Posted on: March 10, 2010
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Younis and Yousuf recieve life ban
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shocked everyone with their decision to ban the two most senior players for Pakistan in Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan today. It was known that after the inquiry commission reports the PCB might impose a ban on Rana Naved and Shoaib Malik for a period of one year, but this one was totally unexpected.
The reason given by the PCB for the ban of the two was that they caused infighting, which in turn damaged the team unity. Afridi and the Akmal brothers (Umar and Kamran) were slapped a fine of $24000-$35000 and have been kept on 6 month probation to mend their ways.
The life ban on Yousuf and Younis means that they will not be considered for any future games for Pakistan from here on in any format, but the PCB have allowed them to participate in their domestic tournaments, county cricket and in any such foreign leagues. Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved have been banned for a year from representing Pakistan in any form of international cricket starting now. It was not very clear as to what was the reason for the bans on Rana and Malik.
This now puts the selectors in a predicament as they have punished almost all of the senior members of the squad, and choosing a captain for the upcoming T20 World Cup is going to be a challenge. From the available pool of players – since Afridi has been placed on probation – Razzak might take the mantle for the T20 WC. He is the most senior member left in the Pakistan squad, and he is almost certain to represent them in the 20 over format.
The captain for the ODI’s and Tests will leave the selectors pulling their hair out. Whether they will name Afridi as the captain for all three formats is something to wait and watch. The inquiry commission has certainly left the Pakistani cricket in further turmoil, and it will take a lot of planning by the PCB to get the team on track.
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