[jalsa777]

Aditya Patel tested the Audi R8 LMS for the upcoming season of ADAC GT Masters in Oschersleben, Germany. He did 15 laps initially followed by a Race simulation of 5 laps and a 35 minute race distance run.

About Aditya's International Racing Career:
He debuted internationally in 2009 with Volkswagen Polo Cup in Germany. In 2010 he graduated to Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup. Recently concluded season of Scirocco R-Cup 2011 saw him finish fifth overall including a win and two podiums.


Here's what he had to say about the car and his performance:
“The test was a big surprise for me. It´s almost like an early Christmas gift. I thought the car would be much harder to drive but it was just super fun! During the morning session I did 15 laps and felt quite confident in the car. I think I almost tested the limit of the car a little bit. Rene Rast and the engineers helped me understand the car before the first session and it was really useful. After the first session we looked at the data and in most parts of the circuit it was really good. There are areas where I can improve, especially the braking. I have to learn to brake harder. Throughout the test I was able to control the car very well. Compared to the Scirocco, the Audi has a lot more downforce and a lot more grip. The car is lower and tyres are bigger. The car has fantastic balance and feels very neutral on fast corners. On the long straight Audi did about 250 kmph compared to the Scirocco which does about 210 kmph. I’m grateful to the Volkswagen group for giving me this opportunity. If I could drive the ADAC GT Masters or a GT3 Car in a championship next year, it would be a dream come true.”


More about the Audi R8 LMS: Audi R8 (road car) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
More about ADAC GT Masters: ADAC GT Masters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Picture Source: Aditya Patel's Facebook account

[madan80]

pretty exciting news. Considering that he';s the first indian in the Touring car series- am damn excited!

[jalsa777]

Audi has signed a 3 year contract with promising young motorsport driver Aditya Patel. They have secured a seat for Aditya with a team called Pro-Handicap e.V., in the challenging VLN endurance series in Germany. This series will provide him with much needed exposure to international racing and he will become the first Indian to race in the 24 hours of Nürburgring.

Pro-handicap e.V is a highly experienced team and is renowned for the reliability of their car, the Audi TT (sport model), having completed the 24 hours of Nürburgring all 7 times that they have entered. Aditya has already successfully tested with them and will now participate in his first 4 hour endurance race on the 14th of April.

Aditya’s motorsport career began at an early age with the JK Tyre National Racing Championship in 2001 when he was 14. Consistent performance and dedicated support from long term sponsors like JK Tyre, MAS Holdings and Petra Energy saw him rise through the ranks and later into more advanced formats such as the VW Polo R Cup and the VW Scirocco R Cup in Germany, where he finished 5th overall, in 2011. Audi India and JK Tyre along with other long term sponsors are dedicated to defining a concrete development path for Aditya. This will provide him access to various international racing platforms in Audi performance models ranging from the newly (in India) launched Audi TT to the super sports car, the Audi R8.

[ram_hyundai]

Good to see him do this.Remember old days when i used to see him at Dannys karting center along with vishnu(he was the national runner up for cadet class long before).The qualis had a long sticker mentioning F1 aspirant.Eventhough its not F1 he is doing a wonderfull job on the tracks.
ram

[Akshay1234]

I had met him during the R-Drive event in Bombay, didn't know he was a pro racer. He seemed to know alot about the cars. Good for him

[jalsa777]

The 24 hours of Nurburgring is one of the most prestigious races in the world of touring cars and endurance racing and we congratulate Aditya Patel for winning it (in his category).


Qualifying:
Starting position for the race: # 121 (Aditya's team Pro-Handicap e.V. qualified 7th in their class)

- Fastest Lap of Pro Handicap: 00:10:16 min (achieved by Oliver Rudolph – Professional racer and Audi DrivingExperience instructor in Germany)
- Fastest Lap of Aditya Patel: 00:10:55 min (in the evening @ 10:30 PM)

Race:
Aditya Patel with his team Pro-Handicap e.V. won the race in their category.


I will put more details as and when they are available.
You can follow @adityaracing on twitter for his updates.

Here's a neat video about what is the whole deal about this race:

The 24 Hours of Nürburgring Experience - Launching DRIVE - YouTube

[Rehaan]

Neat video!

As if the Nurburgring wasn't scary enough, i can't imagine doing it at NIGHT, that too with 200 other cars on track! Amazing.

Congrats to Aditya and team on the win.

cya
R

[khan_sultan]

I was there at the ring just 2 weeks before the 24hr race and had seen the buildup to this most famous event of the year at the ring. The whole town had only this on their mind. Can say that driving on this for 24hr is something else.

Congrats to Aditya. Well done. To wins this is something special and means you have arrived and have REAL potential

PS: Love the video

[jalsa777]

Some more information about the team and the race:

Aditya Patel’s team Pro Handicap e.V finished top of their class (Overall 59th). They were racing the Audi TTS cars in the SP 4T class. Audi also got the overall victory with the Audi Sport Team Phoenix in their Audi R8 LMS Ultra cars. Aditya's co-drivers were Wolfgang Müller and Oliver Rudolph and they completed a total of 126 laps of the 25 kilometer long ‘Green Hell’ track. This was Aditya’s maiden stint at the 24 hours of Nürburgring, making him not only the first Indian to participate in the marathon race, but also the first Indian to win it. Driving a total of 3 sessions (7.5 hours), Aditya began his final run in second place and 12 laps behind the lead car. Battling stiff competition and tough weather conditions, he put in a series of consistently fast laps to cut away at the deficit, eventually taking the lead before handing the car over to Oliver Rudolph for the final half hour. Commendably, team Pro-Handicap e.V. won the race with a lead of 12 laps of over second placed Besaplast-Racing.

Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India said,

This is a proud victory not only for Audi but also for India. We were confident that Aditya’s talent combined with the technical capabilities of the Audi TTS put the team up as a strong contender in the challenge. With this victory we further consolidate our strong association with motorsport and will continue to nurture Aditya’s promising career.

Reacting on his victory, Aditya Patel said,

I am ecstatic. This is a great victory for team Pro-Handicap e.V and also for Audi. This victory is very special because this is my first attempt at the 24 hours challenge. The tough weather conditions were not a concern thanks to the thorough preparations made by the team and the Audi TTS race car that I was equipped with. This result has reinforced my faith in the brand and I would like to thank Audi India and my sponsors for making this dream come true.

This victory has also kept team Pro-Handicap’s record of finishing the race each time they have entered, intact. This was their 8th attempt and a big win as it was one of the few teams to race with only 3 drivers, while most other teams are racing with 4 drivers. Aditya recorded an average lap time of 00:10:40 (10 minutes, forty seconds) and a personal fastest time of 00:10:23 (ten minutes, 23 seconds) while the team’s fastest lap was recorded by Oliver Rudolph, at 00:10:11 (ten minutes, 11 seconds).

Aditya’s motorsport career began at an early age with the JK Tyre National Racing Championship in 2001 when he was 14. Consistent performances and dedicated support from long term sponsors like JK Tyre, MAS Holdings and Petra Energy saw him rise through the ranks and later into more advanced formats such as the VW Polo R Cup and the VW Scirocco R Cup in Germany, where he finished 5th overall, in 2011.






From L to R: Oliver Rudolph, Audi Driving Experience Instructor, Wolfgang Mueller, Team Owner - Pro-Handicap e.V, Aditya Patel:

[deetjohn]

Brilliant news! Very happy to hear this. Congrats Aditya and Audi.

Hope the media gives it the deserving coverage back home.

[mac187]

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