F1- Force India make it into points

Hello,

So Adrian disappoints again. But if you look at the fact that he jumped back to 12th after going low down to 21st you know that good news can not be far behind.
Liuzzi who started 12th came in 9th and earned the valuable 2 points for Force India.
People have already started noticing the speed of the car and good days seem to be round the corner.
In fact I will not be surprised that Force India (FI for F1) comes out with a podium finish soon.
Liuzzi is an excellent recruit and let us hope Adrian is able to get over his bad luck spell.
By the way, the most extraordinary result came from Filepe Massa, the guy who had the horrendous crash last season.
Karun Chandok did what can be expected from a rookie with an untested car. But these are early days for him.
Best regards,
Manoj

FORCE INDIA - READY TO TAKE ON THE WORLD

Hello,

The Bahrain GP is going to start in a short while from now. Adrian Sutil is in 10th place and a disappointed Vitantonio Liuzzi is 12th. Adrian got in Q3 and it is a good start. Now counted amongst the best teams by none other than Lewis Hamilton the expectations are high and the guys seem to be ready.

The post qualification comments are as under:

Adrian Sutil (10th, Q3 - 1m 56.309s)

“I'm very happy. I think it was a great achievement to go into Q3 at the first race: our best start to the season for a long time. The team should be very proud of it, I am very proud of this, so let's see how it goes tomorrow. Our goal is now to finish in the points. At the moment I'm in tenth and hopefully we can make one or two positions up as I'm the only car on the hard tyre so it may be an advantage. I'm surprised that the others were on the soft tyres so our decision could pay off tomorrow. We are strong under heavy fuel loads but we were very fast in Q1 and Q2 when everyone was on soft tyres so there are a few more positions we could gain. We worked very hard over the winter and over the last four years and it's nice to see it giving dividends now.”

Vitantonio Liuzzi (12th, Q2 - 1m 55.653s)

“I am a bit disappointed as we didn't know what had happened to the car since free practice. In the morning it seemed to have a pretty good balance and we didn't change very much but then we went into qualifying and we had a problem with the traction. That was the main reason we couldn't go through to Q3. Now we have to work on this and understand what happened but we believe in the race that we should be really strong as yesterday we were quick on the longer runs.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India chairman and team principal

“I think the whole team can be very proud of this result; it's a great start to the season and a mark of how much progress we have made over the winter. Last season we didn't get through to Q2 in this race and this year we've got both cars in the top 12. Of course that's not a precursor to getting points, which is what really matters, but it does give us a much better chance. Particularly positive is that Adrian is starting the race on the harder tyre, unlike the rest of the top ten, so should be well-placed to capitalise as the softer tyre degrades in the warm conditions. I can't wait for tomorrow's race now!”

The harder tyres of the Force India cars can really make a difference and I eagerly await for the race to begin.

The other India connection in the race is Karun Chandok. Can you believe that he went for the qualifying without a test run. Amazing.

His comments:

Karun Chandhok (24th, Q1 - 2m 04.904s)

“I still can't believe that we will be on the grid tomorrow. It was not looking good in the morning and I was not sure if we would make it to the qualifying session as well. I didn't expect to be driving the car for the first time in qualifying but as I have always said these are the circumstances and we made the best of it. For me it was just a string of installation laps and to finish just a second slower than Bruno is definitely a huge achievement. I think I might be the only driver in the history of F1 to go straight into a qualifying session of a race without even having done a shakedown of the car! Once again I think the team have done a brilliant job so am very grateful to them.”

Let's watch the Indian connection at F1 Bahrain.

Best wishes to Force India and Karun,

Manoj

POLITICS OF PAKISTANI CRICKET

Hello,

How many times have we seen Pakistani Cricket get caught in ugly controversies of infighting.

To some people the repetition of the same mistakes may appear shameful but it seems that they take these events in their stride in Pakistan.

While it is not rare to have conflicting interests, bloated egos and divided camps in a team, it does seem that the Pakistanis are the easiest to succumb to the consequences of such conflicts.

If we analyze the reasons for such drama in the team we notice one very important difference between the Pakistani and the other teams. The difference is in the knowledge of English.

Concidently when Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and to some extent Inzamamul Haque lead the teams the divisive forces were kept in check.

So does it mean that 'Language' plays a role.

The fact is that most of the players are literally picked off the streets and are mostly into the team without completing basic school education.

If you have seen this kind of street cricket you will know how easily the teams get aggresive and pick up bats and wickets for a fight to decide the winner will realize that what we see on the international stage is just a watered down version of what they are used to doing in their growing up years. Bowling and batting are skills they have but they cheat automatically to improve on these skills and get ahead of the rest.

While they get away with all this on home grounds where it is accepted as part of life they fall apart when they face international opposition and better umpiring.

Therefore if I were the selector of the Pakistani team I would select an English speaking captain and force the entire team to take classes on basic english manners. This will go a long way in curbing their wild ways and make the team cohesive and strong.

Best wishes,

Manoj

F1- Indian makes it to the starting grid

The new Hispania Racing F1 Team has been officially presented to the public in Murcia last Thursday, with the confirmation that GP2 Series race-winner Karun Chandhok will join former team-mate Bruno Senna on the driving strength for the Spanish outfit's maiden campaign of top flight competition – and in so doing become only the second of his countrymen ever to reach the very highest level in the sport.

Chandhok's recruitment means that all seats in the 2010 field have now been filled, whilst the popular 26-year-old will follow in the wheel tracks of groundbreaking compatriot Narain Karthikeyan, who made history when he became the first Indian to reach F1 by competing for Jordan Grand Prix five years ago.

Elena Dementieva - The Woman Tennis Player I am backing in 2010

Hello,

I think I'm a bit late with this post but the delay was caused by the expectations of having another good news and title win.

However things do not always go strictly as per plans and Elena lost 3-6 2-6 to #4 seed Alisa Kleybanova in a rain-disrupted final at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

This is her third finals in 2010 and with two title wins and one runners up position out of four tournaments she played in (I do not count the Dubai open as she retired hurt) it looks really good.

Now that the season is gathering steam we can hope for some big results that will take this player to the top - a position she aspires for but a position she has to work hard for.

I back her to be there.

Best regards,
Manoj