VW Polo Cup India : The Driver lineup announced!

[GTO]

The starting line up:


From the official press release:

From more than 1,100 registrations received, 20 drivers will rev their engines for this first single-make manufacturer-backed series in India / First race on May 30, at Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune / Joerg Mueller, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India: “Polo Cup is the boost that the young drivers in India deserve and have been waiting for”

Pune, May 19, 2010 – Volkswagen India will flag-off of the first ever Polo Cup India 2010 with the first race of the season to be held on May 30, 2010 at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune, the hometown of Volkswagen India. The final 20 drivers will compete in a series of six races held between May and December 2010.

"Volkswagen India is happy and proud to announce the final 20 aspiring racers who have been short listed for the first-ever Polo Cup India 2010. These final drivers represent the best raw talent the country has to offer. Polo Cup is the boost that the young drivers in India deserve and have been waiting for. We are thrilled as this is the first year of Polo Cup in India and we are really convinced that this first single-make manufacturer-backed series in India will become a new milestone in the success story of Volkswagen India”, expressed Mr. Joerg Mueller, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India, President and Managing Director, Volkswagen India Private Limited on the occasion of a media briefing today at the race track at Balewadi Sports Complex.

Over 1,100 motor sports enthusiasts from across the country registered to compete in the Polo Cup India 2010 and become a part of Indian motor sport history. After a strict selection process 20 young talents were chosen to form the starting grid in the first race in Pune. The selection process ran from the last week of March to mid of May. The aspiring racers were divided into 2 groups – first-timers and experienced racers, and were put through two rounds of selection. The young racers were narrowed down to 45 drivers through an adrenalin-pumping go-kart selection. 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 candidates were selected with the support of the expert selection team. The team of selectors consisted of one driver selector & coach from Germany Polo Cup, two Indian driver coaches (experienced drivers from Volkswagen & JK Tyre) and one FMSCI representative, including some of the doyens of Indian motor sports like Akbar Ebrahim, India’s only principle instructor in racing, Farhan Vora, India’s guest F1 steward and Rayomand Banerji, six times National Champion. They personally followed the international structures and conducted the coaching camps to select the best young talent.

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, and then followed by five races on the race courses in Coimbatore and Chennai.

The first race of the Polo Cup India at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi in Pune will be the first major four-wheeler racing event to be held in Pune. The 20 short listed drivers, divided into two batches, will ‘burn rubber’ for the first time in a practice session at the circuit on Friday, May 28. Saturday, May 29 will witness a Free Practice session for the drivers followed by the Qualifiers. The fastest laps in the Qualifiers will determine the starting grid for the races to be held on Race Day, May 30.

Spectators will get a chance to see the final line up of the drivers in the drivers’ parade, marking the start of Race Day. This will be followed by two race sessions of 20 laps each. The final podium standings will be announced with a prize distribution the same evening. This weekend format will be followed for all the remaining races of the Polo Cup India 2010.

Like the spark that breathes life into a dormant combustion engine, the Polo Cup India was but a tiny idea conceptualised in October 2008. The journey of this thought into one of the biggest single-make touring car series in India is truly inspiring. The process of Volkswagen’s internal discussions in Germany and prospecting of Indian partners culminated in signing of the Letter of Intent with JK Tyre in October 2009. This is when the hard work truly began. Months of grease and sweat lead to unveiling of the Race Polo in the Delhi Auto Expo 2010. A fierce grill and clean lines form the perfect shell to the 1.6-liter R4 common rail diesel (CRD) engine, which can produce a top speed of 180 km/h.

Motor sports enthusiasts interested in getting further information can log on to the website, Volkswagen Polo Cup India. This website will display information about the format of the Polo Cup India, race updates and driver profiles.

[tantragna]

Good to hear it from VW! Wish those 20 drivers 'ALL THE BEST'!

Wondering when the VW would take a plunge into INRC officially similar to this?

[abhayshanu]

How are people under 18 also in this list?
There are two people 16 and two 17, are they allowed to race?

[tantragna]

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

How are people under 18 also in this list?
There are two people 16 and two 17, are they allowed to race?

Since it is track racing (not driven on public roads/streets), they are allowed to do so!

Don't get so jealous, you people still have the age & chance to do, as we (the age-ineligible people) who should be JEALOUS of younger lot like you!

[moralfibre]

Congratulations to all.

Team-bhpian Shrivz from Pune made it to the top 25 list. He would be replacing any driver that isn't able to make it due to sponsorship or other reasons.

Good to see Alisha Abdullah in the list as well - - (Alisha Abdullah, the first & only woman bike racer in India)

[KRf1]

This is a really great initiative by VW . Good luck to all the drivers and the organizers .
Things can only get better , high time Tata , MSIL involve themselves in Indian motorsport .

[gou]

Originally Posted by siddartha

the sad part was that there was an age limit for the drivers, only those between 18 - 24 could apply.

Yeah, that ruled us out of it. I did not know about the 2L fee, with that I would not have participated anyways

Originally Posted by cyqed

From what the pre-polo release news from VW, Polo cup is supposed to feature 1.6 version of Polo. Any news on that. Or are these contestants going to be racing with the 1.2 version. That is going to be like watching a bunch of M800 going in circles.

It will have 1.6 version.

Originally Posted by swale84

Pune BHPian Shrivz has been selected in the reserve category (i.e drivers who qualified between 20 and 25).
He might end up racing if someone else backs out because of sponsorship/fee issues or any other reason.
He didn't mention any other bhpians being there.
All the best if he does!

Will pray for him!! Hope he gets a chance and best of luck to him

[aman9393]

Originally Posted by swale84

Pune BHPian Shrivz has been selected in the reserve category (i.e drivers who qualified between 20 and 25).
He might end up racing if someone else backs out because of sponsorship/fee issues or any other reason.
He didn't mention any other bhpians being there.
All the best if he does!

Hope he gets a chance to race. Good luck Shrivz!

Originally Posted by quickdraw

I had gotten a call to appear for the karting qualifying at Kolhapur, but when I found out that I will have to pay a fee of 2+ lakhs if selected and there were pro drivers in attendance I humbly backed out.

2L! This is ridiculous. This will leave out many talented drivers.

[swale84]

The fee is 40,000 per race - so that works out to 2.4 lakhs to participate in the 6 races.
Also, contingency funds are required for damage repair (i.e if the driver is involved in a shunt during a race, he pays for the spare parts, which VW will provide at subsidised rates)
While VW is taking care of accommodation, participants need to make their own travel arrangements.

Overall costs would probably work out to roughly 3 lakhs.

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by swale84

The fee is 40,000 per race - so that works out to 2.4 lakhs to participate in the 6 races.
Also, contingency funds are required for damage repair (i.e if the driver is involved in a shunt during a race, he pays for the spare parts, which VW will provide at subsidised rates)
While VW is taking care of accommodation, participants need to make their own travel arrangements.

Overall costs would probably work out to roughly 3 lakhs.

It's 2.4 lakhs for 12 races i.e. 6 rounds. You are not going to be able to race cars such of high quality anywhere in the world at this price.

MARSHALLS REQUIRED FOR THE EVENT. (LINK (URGENT - Marshalls required for JK Tyre VW Polo CUP India)) IF INTERESTED PLEASE WRITE IN

jkpolocup@gmail.com

[swale84]

Originally Posted by Sideways

It's 2.4 lakhs for 12 races i.e. 6 rounds. You are not going to be able to race cars such of high quality anywhere in the world at this price.

MARSHALLS REQUIRED FOR THE EVENT. (LINK (URGENT - Marshalls required for JK Tyre VW Polo CUP India)) IF INTERESTED PLEASE WRITE IN

jkpolocup@gmail.com

Agreed, it isn't prohibitively expensive for someone who wants to get into motorsport.
Also, the branding options for potential sponsors are quite good - bootlid and C pillars of the car, drivers helmet and suit.
I believe these events will be telecast on ten sports and have a show on MTV as well.
Further, there are opportunities for drivers from the INdian leg to go and race in the Polo cup in other countries.

[nitrous]

All the South Indian names are track racers for the past few years.
Will be a good fight between them and the rest if the MH guys have karting/formula experience.

Originally Posted by MF

Team-bhpian Shrivz from Pune made it to the top 25 list. He would be replacing any driver that isn't able to make it due to sponsorship or other reasons.

Thats Superb! My Congratulations to him.

[ported_head]

Also, Munjal Savla is Jalsa777 on the forum.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by gou

Yeah, that ruled us out of it. I did not know about the 2L fee, with that I would not have participated anyways

2-3 lakhs for a full season of 12 races is PEANUTS!

It will have 1.6 version.

But, a diesel engine.

Originally Posted by aman9393

2L! This is ridiculous. This will leave out many talented drivers.

The cost sounds very fair and reasonable.

Can someone post the lap timings and/or rankings of the selected drivers?

[kiku007]

For VW India!!

Good luck to the participants. Hope it gets enough media coverage and forces other manufactures to start something like this.