Podium for Sailesh Bolisetti on British GT debut

DOHA: Former national saloon car and Polo Cup champion Sailesh Bolisetti has made a big splash on debut into the British GT championship.The Vizag lad, along with teammate Phil Glew, made it onto the podium in second place, after surviving an incident-filled Race 1 of the season-opening round in the GT4 segment of the championship at Oulton Park circuit, Cheshire, on Sunday.Heavy rain,which continued right into the afternoon, ensured Bolisetti faced the racingconditions and challenges which only the British Isles can provide. Continousrain during Friday's practice session gave the Lotus Sport UK driver a goodwarm-up."I thought that I'd much rather prefer a completely dryweekend, but with the race conditions it turned out well that we had someexperience in similar conditions. The lines, grip level and tyre characteristicsare completely different," said Bolisetti after the race.The23-year-old, who was quicker than his teammate in qualifying, took the wheelsfor the first half of the race, which saw many cars taking excursions into thegravel pit and grass in all corners of the track."It was reallytreacherous, I could see cars going off and coming back all over the circuit. Iwas just focusing on keeping all wheels on the tarmac and keeping my nose out oftrouble," said Bolisetti. And that simple strategy paid off, even though he hadissues with visibility as the faster GT3 cars ahead were throwing a lot of sprayon to his windshield.Bolisetti kept things safe till safety car came out in the 23rd minute after a crash, just before his scheduled pit-stop to hand over driving duties to his teammate. After the safety car period, Glew took over and kept things simple, keeping out of trouble to finish second behind Jody Fannin and Warren Hughes of Team WFR.Bolisetti feels Lotus couldhave fought for a win, had it not been for traffic from GT3 cars which hamperedtheir progress during the second half of the race.