JK Tyre prodigy: Armaan Ebrahim heads to Thailand for round 5 & 6 of the formula BMW Asia Series
10 Jun 2005
New
Delhi: With a brilliant victory in round four of the Formula BMW Asia
Series Championship 2005, JK Tyre prodigy 15-year Armaan Ebrahim made history
by becoming the first rookie ever to achieve this result, in just his fourth
outing in the car.
Ebrahim is now heading to Thailand for round five and six to be held on the 11th and 12th of June 2005.
The track in Thailand is small but known to be extremely dangerous and is situated in a town called Bira very close to Pattaya. The track is just over 2-km long and is frequently used for 2-wheeler racing. With two very tricky and fast chicanes having no run off area in front of a concrete wall and a very fast right hander again with very little run off areas, makes this small track a tough one for the drivers.
Qualifying is going to be critical, as it is very difficult to overtake in Bira. Armaan along with the rest of the field had a total of six test sessions spread over Thursday and Friday to get used to the track and arrive at an optimum balance with the car.
Armaan has spent the last three weeks increasing his fitness under the watchful eyes of Ramji who heads the Gold gym in Chennai. He now has a new sponsor on board. Thanks to the support of. Gautam Singhania, chairman of Raymond, PARX has now come on board with Armaan to help support his racing career.
JK Tyre, BMW and PARX presently sponsor Armaan. Hopefully with a good showing in Thailand he will be able to get more sponsorships to cover his 2005-racing budget.
Formula BMW is the world''s leading entry-level class in Formula racing. In 2005 the series will be held in Germany, Britain, Asia and the USA. Up-and-coming drivers as young as 15-years-old are given the opportunity of entering motor racing with the high-tech, standard FB02 race car.
This racing car has been seen on the grid since 2002 and has set standards particularly on the safety technology front. The single-seater is propelled by a 140bhp-BMW engine up to 230km/h and exceeds by far the safety requirements for its class. BMW Motor sport has developed the ''formula rescue race seat'' especially for Formula BMW. The HANS safety system is also mandatory.
In 2005, Formula BMW will be staged five times as part of the Formula One support programme all the series offer a multifaceted education and coaching programme as well as sponsorship for promising racing talents.
The best-known alumni of this talent hothouse are Formula One drivers Ralf Schumacher and Christian Klien.
According to BMW Motor sport director, Mario Theissen: "Formula BMW offers talented young drivers more than just a car. In the Education and Coaching Programme we have designed specially for them, they learn everything they need to know to hold their own in the big wide world of motor racing. Formula BMW has shot out of the blocks to become the top entry-level class for Formula racing worldwide."
In December 2005 the Bahrain International Circuit will host the first Formula BMW World Final. Young racing drivers from the four regional Formula BMW series will compete in this event. The winner will get the chance to test a BMW WilliamsF1 Team car.
