Motorsports

	Jeffri wins the first race of JK Racing Asia Series
	It was Nabil Jeffri from Petronas Mofaz Racing who won the opening round of the JK Racing Asia Series held at the Sepang International Circuit. Performing in front of his home crowd, the young Malaysian started the race in second place behind pole positioned, Euro International’s Lucas Auer who eventually finished third in the race. Two crucial mistakes made by Auer meant that he slipped down places to award Afiq Yazid a well gifted second position. Not to forget that Yazid had earlier dropped down to fourth just a few laps into the race before reclaiming second place.   Fourth place belonged to Aaron Chang, as he was locked in an intense battle with Hiqmar Danial who was placed initially fourth on the starting grid. Meanwhile, Australian driver, Duvashen Padayachee got a good start as he was able to jump from seventh to fifth by lap four and on the way was able to topple Daniel in the process. Behind them Natasha Seatter and Pasin Lathouras were engrossed in a battle of their own as both teammates fought it out to finish seventh and eighth respectively. Newcomers Jimmy Antunes of Atlantic Racing finished the race in ninth place dropping down one position while he was followed by Calvin Seibl of Euro International in tenth place. Irfan Ilyas got a decent start but an error on lap six meant that rookie could only finish the race in eleventh place. Nandy Akash and his Meritus GP teammate Andrew Kharpov crossed the line in twelfth and thirteenth followed by Freddie Ang, Dylan Young, Raj Bharath, Juwon Seo and Natalia Freidina completing the list of finishers for the race. While in Race 2 Lucas Auer of Euro International claimed 1st place as he lead the race from start to finish. Afiq Yazid and Nabil Jeffri completed the podium after an outstanding battle to the finish line where the duo changed positions several times during the race. The fastest lap went to Nabil Jeffri who cloaked a time of 2:11.495 seconds. They were followed by close pack of Hiqmar Danial, Irfan Ilyas, Aaron Chang and Duvashen Padayachee who were involved in a four way battle. The result being that Chang claimed fourth position while denial was fifth with Ilyas in sixth and Padayachee in seventh place. Freddie Ang made up some good ground as he finished eight from a staring position of being 12th on the grid. He was followed by Akash Neil Nandy in ninth and Andrew Kharpov in 10th respectively.
	Force India Launches Academy
	Last month, Force India F1 – India’s first and only Formula One team – announced the launch of the Force India F1 Team Academy. The academy is an initiative aimed at identifying racing talent in India and providing professional and academic training for young Indians aspiring to a serious professional career in motorsports. This is the first academy for motorsport in the country and the campaign – titled ‘Hunt for 1 from a Billion’ – is aimed at creating a talent pool within the country. The hunt comprises of three stages. The first is a regional trial where 7 cities across India will get to see aspiring drivers compete in each city. 14 finalists will then get selected from each city and go on to the next level, which is the National Final and where all the finalists will compete against each other. The top ten finalists from the National Final will go to Silverstone, UK, for a week-long intensive stint comprising of driver tuition on Dmax Karts, a day at the Porsche Human Performance Centre to assess and develop fitness for motorsports, media training with Goodman Media, two full days at the Silverstone F1 circuit with sessions on safety, car control training, driver assessment, and race procedure briefing. The ten selected drivers will complete their Silverstone experience with a race in Formula Silverstone cars. At the end of the intensive hands-on week, an expert panel will pick three winners on the basis of a holistic assessment of their multiple capabilities and proficiency in requisite areas. The three winners will be announced in India around the time of the Grand Prix of India in October 2011.
	Slippery Second Moto GP Race Gives Lorenzo Easy Win
	The second race of the 2011 MotoGP Championship was played out on treacherous track conditions that claimed a number of victims over the 27-lap race distance. Current MotoGP World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo, started from the front row and took home a his first victory of the 2011 season, and 25 points, at the Gran Premio bwin de España. This was his second successive win at Jerez and the Mallorcan finished a clear 13.256s over his fellow compatriot – Honda’s Dani Pedrosa – after a chaotic race which was unpredictable until the very last lap. Early in the race, Lorenzo slipped comfortably into second and stayed in contention in the top three for several laps, graduating to first position as rivals Stoner, Rossi and Simoncelli all crashed out of contention. A steady rhythm saw the reigning World Champion take the chequered flag, his first ever career win in the wet. Lorenzo’s victory propels him to the top of the MotoGP Championship standings with a tally of 45 points – 9 points clear of Pedrosa. Pedrosa had made a hesitant start to his race but managed to get back in the hunt for the win. Ben Spies of Yamaha Factory Racing had passed the Spaniard for second in the dying laps, but made a terrible mistake and ended up in the gravel. It was the same story for Colin Edwards of Monster Yamaha Tech 3, who, due to Spies’ error, was on course to take a podium position behind Pedrosa. However the American also ended up visiting the gravel trap and was unable to restart. It was Hayden who finished in third to take the first podium for the Ducati Team this season and the second of his career with the team. Meanwhile, Casey Stoner of Repsol Honda and nine-time World Champion, Valentino Rossi, were involved in an incident, which took the Australian out of proceedings. Rossi was able to mount his bike and eventually finished fifth. After the race, Rossi visited the Honda garage to apologize, but Stoner did not take it in good taste as he was clearly frustrated with the incident.