Sailesh Bolisetti of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) who will be competing in the British GT motor racing championship in April this year. / The Hindu
Sailesh Bolisetti makes history by becoming the first-ever Indian to do so
History will be made when Sailesh Bolisetti from Visakhapatnam makes his debut in the demanding British GT debut with the Lotus Sport UK team this weekend (April 7 to 9) to become the first-ever Indian to do so. “Its a dream come true,” he exclaims before leaving for London.
YOUNG CHAMPION
“I wish to perform to my best despite my limited experience. There are no shortcuts in the learning curve. I also want to absorb as much information as possible from my team, including my experienced teammates,” the young champion saloon car racer says.
The seven-round 2012 season of the premier British Sportscar championship is said to be one of the most fiercely competitive in recent times, thanks to a strong 35-car grid featuring several manufacturer-backed entries.
The 23-year-old engineering graduate from Andhra University will be piloting the Lotus Evora in the GT4 category.
“Evora was a completely different beast compared to anything else I had driven before. Having raced front-wheel drive cars throughout my career, I had to make considerable changes to my driving style to adapt to the 360 bhp race car,” he explains.
“I was reasonably comfortable with its behaviour and am looking forward to carry the momentum into my first race weekend,” he states.
“To me, long, endurance-style racing appeals more than the 30-minute sprints,” says Sailesh, who is in his second year in international racing.
“I will be pushing hard from the very first practice session. In endurance racing, if a driver doesn’t perform at high-levels, it ends up dragging the whole team down even if everyone else is doing their best,” he explains.
POINTS SYSTEM
Sailesh said that the British GT points system was similar to the one employed in Formula 1 – 25 points to the winner all the way to a solitary point for the 10th placed finisher.
“I take this as a huge opportunity to realise my dream of making a mark in big-time racing,” Sailesh concludes.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V.Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad, April 06th, 2012