BANGALORE: A record seven Indian drivers will feature in the penultimate round of the JK Racing Asia Series (JKRAS) to be staged as a support race to the inaugural Indian Formula One Grand Prix this weekend, ushering in a new era in Indian motorsports.
“We acquired the rights of the previously known Formula BMW Pacific series with a clear motive of taking Indian motorsports to the next level, and in keeping with our vision of making motorsports affordable and accessible to Indian drivers.
The presence of seven Indian drivers in the JK Racing Asia Series this weekend is testimony to the immense success of our pioneering efforts in putting together a development programme for Indian motorsports,” said Raghupati Singhania, Managing Director, JK Tyre and Industries Limited at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Alongside Raj Bharath, Round 5 will have six additional Indian drivers namely Sarosh Hataria, Raahil Noorani, Shashank Ravi Shankar, Vishnu Prasad, A Sandeep Kumar and Mohit Ahuja on the grid. These racers have been given the opportunity based on their performances in the JK Tyre National Racing Championship, and their participation in the JKRAS has been co-sponsored by JK Tyre and they will be driving with the Indian team Meco Motorsports. The competition comprises 18 races over six rounds. So far two rounds have been staged in Malaysia and one each in Indonesia and Singapore.
The championship is poised for a tight finish with six races remaining over two rounds.
The series so far has witnessed stiff competition between the top three contenders – Lucar Auer, Afiq Ikhwan Yazid and Nabil Jeffri.
Malaysian Afiq Ikhwan Yazid won both the races in the previous round staged alongside the Singapore GP to close in within nine points of championship leader, rookie Austrian Lucas Auer (193 points).
Afiq stands at 184 points while Malaysian Nabil Jeffri is in third place with 122 points. David Sonenscher, CEO Motorsport Asia Ltd said, “We are happy to finally be here at our sponsor’s home soil and we are proud with what we have achieved so far this season alongside JK Tyre & Industries. We expect this race to be a historic event.”