Pushing his Race Polo to the extreme, Ameya Walavalkar took pole position for Race One of Round Three of JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2012 at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai. Clocking the fastest time 2:01.037, Ameya will be joined on the front row by Sandeep Kumar, who finished 0.672 seconds behind. Guest driver and 2010 Polo R Cup Champion Sailesh Bolisetti impressed upon his return and will start from third on the grid, 1.395 seconds off the pole time.
Ameya will start on pole for the second consecutive race weekend after claiming pole at the last race weekend in Coimbatore. Ameya said, “It feels good to pick up from where I left off from the last round. I managed to get my best time on the opening lap when the tyres were at its best. The start here tomorrow will be important so I have to make sure that I manage to stay ahead going into the first corner. I love racing at this track so looking forward to a good race tomorrow.”
Starting second on the grid, Sandeep said, “I am quite satisfied with the result but just could not match Ameya’s great lap. However I am more confident for the race as I feel the car will be better over race distance.”
2010 Polo R Cup Champion Sailesh Bolisetti was quickly on the pace upon his return and is happy to start third on the grid. “It feels great to be back at the Polo R Cup and even better to drive the all new TSI Race Polo. The car feels a lot more powerful which is great for young drivers. Qualifying could have been better but am happy to start in third. I am confident of a good showing in the race tomorrow. A big thanks to the Volkswagen Motorsport team for inviting me to participate in this round.
Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Motorsports, Volkswagen India, said, “It feels great to be back at the newly improved Chennai race track. The weather is always a challenge here but the Volkswagen Motorsports team and the drivers have risen to the occasion. The drivers have upped their game and really improved their form. We are looking forward to some really close racing tomorrow.”
The qualifying grid for Race One:
|
Sl.no. |
Driver |
Best Lap |
|
1 |
Ameya Walavalkar |
2:01.037 |
|
2 |
Sandeep Kumar |
2:01.709 |
|
3 |
Sailesh Bolisetti |
2:02.432 |
|
4 |
Avdumber Hede |
2:02.437 |
|
5 |
Ajay Kini |
2:02.439 |
|
6 |
Rahil Noorani |
2:02.631 |
|
7 |
Prashanth Tharani Singh |
2:02.776 |
|
8 |
Mihir Dharkar |
2:02.782 |
|
9 |
Munjal Savla |
2:03.091 |
|
10 |
Saurav Bandyopadhay |
2:03.146 |
|
11 |
Anthony George |
2:03.177 |
|
12 |
Donavan Vaz |
2:03.233 |
|
13 |
Diego Duez |
2:03.435 |
|
14 |
Niranjan Todkari |
2:03.932 |
|
15 |
Angad Singh Matharoo |
2:03.946 |
|
16 |
Abdullah Alisha |
2:04.670 |
|
17 |
Hanoosh Surapaneni |
2:04.337 |
|
18 |
Siddharth Sharma |
2:04.748 |
|
19 |
Yatin Magu |
2:06.075 |
|
20 |
Mahinder Khidia |
2:07.302 |
The Polo R Cup 2012 will have 6 racing weekends, which is similar to the previous year schedule. The racing calendar begins from the month of July and will be on till December of this year. Races will be held on tracks across Coimbatore, Chennai and Noida, as per the tentative calendar below:
- Round 4 15.09.-16.09.2012 Chennai MMRT
- Round 5 30.11.-02.12.2012 Noida BIC
- Round 6 14.12.-16.12.2012 Chennai MMRT
Thanks to its proven concept of promoting young talent abroad, the Polo Cup enjoys the reputation of being an ideal stepping stone to enter professional racing. Building on its success of two great seasons since its inception in 2010, Volkswagen Motorsport hopes to make the Polo R Cup this year an exciting and challenging season in the Indian Motorsports calendar.
Motor sports enthusiasts interested in getting further information can log on to the website, www.polocup.in. This website displays information about Polo R Cup format, race updates and driver profiles. Follow Polo R Cup on www.facebook.com/vwpolocupIndia