New Delhi: The 4th round of The JK Racing Asia Series 2012 will be held on September 8-9, 2012 at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in England, where it will run alongside the British GT Championship. The fourth round of the Series which was earlier scheduled to be hosted in Singapore was rescheduled at the Silverstone.
Located next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury, the 5.9km Grand Prix (Arena) layout that will be used for the coming event is best known as the home of the British Grand Prix and has been the host to various world class events like BRDC International Trophy, the MotoGP, the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the British F3 & GT Championships
Round 4 of the Series will also mark the comeback of India’s most promising motorsport talent- Akhil Khushlani in the series. Akhil was a part of the series in 2009 when it was known as the Formula BMW. Akhil has an impressive track record with two podium finishes and top 5 finishes in over 12 races in the Formula BMW Series. Akhil was amongst the few lucky Indian drivers who got a chance to race infront of their fans and the F1 fraternity during the inaugural Indian Grand Prix last year where the JK Racing Asia Series ran as a support race. Akhil started karting at a tender age of 10 and has participated in various national and international events. He has innumerable wins and podium finishes to his credit. The 22-year-old racing driver from Hyderabad has been a part of the JK Tyre Motorsport program wherein he has graduated from their national karting and racing championships to Asian and European levels of racing. It is worth a mention that Akhil finished fifth at the World Karting Championships – 2005 held at Langkawi, Malaysia, and was the first Indian to do so in a motor sports world championship.
He will be racing for Team US Formula Project and will be joined by last year’s JK Racing Asia Series’ Guest Driver Italian Lorenzo Camplese along with Danial. Camplese is currently contesting the ATS Formel 3 Cup. Consistent performance has been Akhil’s strength and he is not going to leave any stone unturned to give his fellow drivers a tough competition at the Silverstone Circuit.
A rejected UK visa application has forced Indian driver Aditya Patel to miss out on the opportunity of driving at the Silverstone Circuit. Aditya Patel who had participated in the Series as a guest driver at the Paul Ricard circuit and Spa Francorchamps in Belgium was denied a UK visa despite his repeated requests and visits at the UK embassy. A similar incident last month had Sailesh Bolisetti, winner of the inaugural season of JK Tyre-VW Polo R Cup 2010 and current driver for Team Lotus Sport at the British GT Championship, sit out of the championship after being denied a UK visa. The Vizag racer won at the British GT championship at the Nurburgring circuit a few months back but was unable to participate in the fifth round of the championship to be held at the Snetterton circuit and now at the Silverstone Circuit.
Qualifying round of the Round 4 at Silverstone is scheduled to be held on Friday, 7th September 2012 at 17:00hrs (local time) with Race 1 (Round 9) on Saturday, 8th September at 14:05hrs whilst Race 2 (Round 10) is scheduled for Sunday, 9th September at 14:55hrs.
With some fantastic wins under his belt and armed with 134 points, nineteen-year-old Jeffri still leads the championship ahead of Aston Hare and Irfan Ilyas with 122 and 73 points respectively.
The JK Racing Asia Series is recognised by the World Governing Body for Motorsport, the Federation Intenationale De L’Automobile (FIA), as having special status that allows for young inexperienced drivers to participate on a National License. The reason for this is that the Series provides them with an Education and Coaching programme that teaches them all aspects of what it takes to build a career in motorsport.
It is the first time the Asian Series has ventured to Europe, allowing the young impressionable drivers to get a firsthand experience of three of Europe’s best Circuits – Paul Ricard in France, Spa Francorchamps in Belgium and the final event of the European tour ends here at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in UK before heading back to Asia.
The JK Racing Asia Series organisers use the 140bhp FB02, which has an unrivalled track record for training future Champions and developing them for a success with graduates at the highest level of the sport such as Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastien Buemi in Formula 1, Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto in GP2, Jazeman Jaafar, Sebastian Saveedra and Carlos Sainz Jr in British F3, and many more. This coupled with the highest safety standards, makes the FB02 the most suitable machine for up and coming drivers on which to learn.
The JK Racing Asia Series is supported by Cody Maxx and official logistics partner, JAS Worldwide. The JK Racing Asia Series is organised by Motorsport Asia Ltd.