Second Race of Polo Cup India 2010 ready for flag-off

COIMBATORE: Volkswagen India & JK Tyres announced the starting grid line-up of the 2nd Round of Polo Cup India 2010 which is being flagged-off on Sunday at the Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore-the hub of action in motorsports in India.
Vishnu Prasad from Chennai took the Pole Position by clocking a best lap time of 1:15.811. He was followed by Saran Vikram with a best lap time of 1:16.045 as 2nd on the grid.However, Saran will be unable to participate in the race on Monday due to a driving failure. The second row of the grid was completed with Sahil Shelar and Karthik Shankar on 3 rdand 4th position respectively.
This is the debut year of Polo Cup in India and it has 6 racing weekends. The 1st round was held in Pune in May 2010 in a street race format. Polo Cup India races are part of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship, which is a flagship motorsports event in India.
Speaking about winning Pole Position, Vishnu Prasad said, "I am really excited about getting Pole Position at Kari Motor Speedway. The track was really great and withthe Race Polo, I was able to drive at a good, consistent speed through thequalifying laps. Now my focus is to capitalise on this Pole Position in orderto win the race tomorrow."
Saran Vikram, also from Chennai, was second on the grid with just a 234 seconds difference between his qualifying time and Vishnu Prasad's qualifying time. Saran Vikram said, "I knew that I had qualified for the race, but was awaiting the final line-up announcement. Now that I have got myself a position on the 1st row of the starting grid, I will put in my best efforts to win the race."
The 1st season of the Polo Cup in India commenced on May 30, 2010. The inaugural race was held at Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi in Pune, the hometown of Volkswagen India. Sailesh Bolisetti, the 22-year old driver from Vishakhapatnam, won both, Race 1 & Race 2, on the street track in the Balewadi SportsComplex. The racer from Vishakhapatnam led from start to finish as he created history by becoming the first winner of the Polo Cup India. He even clocked the fastest lap with a time of 1:35.717.
The Polo Cup India will have six races in total. Polo Cup India's first race of the season was on May 30, 2010 and second will flag-off on Monday at Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore. These will be followed by races each month until December. The remaining raceswill take palce on the race circuits in Chennai and Coimbatore.
28/29 August 2010 at Coimbatore (Kari Motor Speedway)
25/26 September 2010 at Chennai (Irungattukottai Race Track)
27/28 November 2010 at Chennai (Irungattukottai Race Track)
18/19 December 2010 at Chennai (Irungattukottai Race Track)
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 Polo cars, 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 Banajee, six times National Champion. They personally followed the international structures and conducted the coaching camps to select the best young talent.