Indian Grand Prix - Once a dream now REALITY!!!

...Once a dream now a reality!

Finally Buddh International Circuit is Open today. All the rumors went running after the media had a chance to take a look at the Circuit.  

"I have driven almost all the F1 Circuits across the globe. I would rate this as best." says the fastest Indian Narain Karthikeyan.

Location : Gr.Noida , Delhi , India.

Circuit Length : 5.14km

Direction : Clockwise

Number of Laps : 60

Race Distance : 308KM (approx)

Number of Turns : 16

Highest point of elevation : 14m

Track Width : 18-20mts

Top speed : Around 320kmph

Total seating capacity : 110,000

Cost for building track : 400 Million USD

The Name Buddh International Circuit...

       Originally the circuit was to be named "Jaypee Group Circuit" or "JayPee International Circuit" but was named as Buddh International Circuit on April 2011. According to sources the name "Buddh" comes from the "Buddha"(Gautama Buddha) who resembles calm and peace. The name is also referenced from the Gautama Buddha nagar, the place where the circuit is located. 

Facts about Buddh International Circuit...

• The Buddh International Circuit has bee designed by the well renowned race track designer Hermann Tilke.
• Was designed with an intention to make the one of the most challenging races on the calender.
• The cars average a speed of around 210KMPh and can reach maximum speed of 320KMPh, making this the second fastest circuit after Monza.
• The track will have challenge of elevation changes and gradient changes on the first 3 turns itself mounting to 14m.
• The turns 10,11 and 12 are rather very tricky as they have to negotiated while braking and steering simultaneously.
• This means a real test to the drivers as different drivers will follow different racing lines while cornering.

Few More Pics of the Circuit...

2011 FORMULA 1 KOREAN GRAND PRIX

2011 FORMULA 1 KOREAN GRAND PRIX

Looks like a promising race for Lewis Hamilton. 

Its Pole position for him after a few unimpressive races. 

He was a bit nervous in the press conference yesterday post qualifiers. But lets see , this is one the most unpredictable sports on the planet.
lets wait and watch....

In the qualifiers it is Lewis in the pole then sebastian vettel then its jenson button and the two ferraris , then comes Nico Rosberg of Mercedes, then Petrov then the Force Indians.

Qualifiers Standings:::

RACE RESULTS:::

Finally the 2011 World Champion takes the Podium...

It was indeed a splendid race, the champion has his final say, followed by Lewis Hamilton then Mark Webber , Jenson Button, last years Korean Grand Prix Winner Fernando Alonso fifth then follwed by team mate Felipe Massa on sixth , Jamie of STR , Nico Rosberg of Mercedes followed by Sebastian Buemi of STR and Di Resta of Force India in the tenth.


Final Standings after race:

Race News :
Renault’s Vitaly Petrov has been punished by the Korean stewards for his collision with the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher during the Yeongam race on Sunday. Petrov receives a reprimand and a five-place grid penalty for the next round in India.

Formula-1 Suzuka 2011 News

SUZUKA FORMULA - 1 2011

 Vow!!!! What a session!!!

In the Practice session its Button who tops the list,

Vettel says "Its still the beginning".
He proves it today in the qualifiers, takes the POLE in Q3....

But Vettel just takes button by a whisker. Vettel was faster by just 9/100th of a second.

SUZUKA 2011 STANDINGS:

Lets wait for the Race, the standings are gonna change for sure....


Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

What a RACE!!!

JENSON BUTTON WINS THE SUZUKA 2011 GRAND PRIX AND SEBASTIAN VETTEL TAKES THE CROWN

Finally its Jenson Button who take the P1 and Sebastian Vettel becomes the 2011 WORLD CHAMPION for the second time.


What a race! Cant get better than this!



Final race standings:

Constructors Standings:

Honda BRIO.... Get....Set....Gooooooooooooooo!!!!

Finally Honda BRIO is out and ready to take on Indian roads.

Like all other Horses from the Honda stable this one also has a typical Honda look, be it from front back and sides. The usual front chrome grill with "H" and the wide windscreen show the typical Honda Breed.

At the first look, it gave me a feeling of small compact probably a 2+2 seater, but it proved me wrong.

It straight away said "Hey! I am a 5 seater." and yes, indeed it is. Yet again proved "First Impression is the best impression" is not right always.

Having a 1.1L Single Overhead Camshaft engine under the hood with a power of 88 bhp and a max torque of 109@4300rpm, she looks promising. This has a 5speed manual gearbox , Electronic power steering and a turning radius of 4.3m added to its feather. But the only place where it hurts is Honda is not planning to release a diesel version in any time now and at the same time this boasts of a fuel efficiency of 18.8 KM per litre of petrol, which I feel is really good in a Honda.

Under the hood

If you come to the exteriors, Looks really good with the huge Honda badge in the front and little weird yet new generation design at the back.

 

THE USUAL HONDA LOGO WITH CHROME LINING.

Interior:
 

The Interiors are way too good for the price. This car marks Honda's entry into the sub-5 lakh segment for the first time in India. I would say that the Japanese and Indians have similar priorities when it comes to small car segment, importance is given to space and fuel efficiency.

First ones first, as soon as I opened the door the interior are quite good keeping in mind the 5-lakh margin. The plastics and rubbers used in the doors and dashboard are way ahead compared to Figo,Punto and Polo. ABS and airbags are standard on middle and top-end variants. The dashboard equipment is not that lavish but the top-end includes Steering mounted controls, Electic mirros, Stereo with USB and AUX inputs , keless entry and engine immobiliser, 4 power windows, fog lamps and alloy wheels (4 wheels). Sporty looking steering wheel is also a plus for this class

Some minus are the stereo does support CD, absense of rear defogger even as an optional and absence of a modern antenna, currently it holds a pull out type. In the mid variant absence fog lamps & Alloy wheels and also have different upholstery, these make you a rethink if you are very particular of these features.

Variants:

E MT :  Rs.  403,000*

S MT :  Rs.  443,000*

S(O) MT :  Rs.  499,900*

V MT :  Rs.  522,000*

 *Prices are Ex-Showroom

Lewis Hamilton in Bangalore NICE Road.

It was the 27th of September 2011, the day the youngest F-1 champion wanted to meet the Motor sport enthusiast in Bangalore. It was just one day after the Singapore Grand Prix.

Myself and my friend drove to NICE Road to listen to some music from the McLaren-Mercedes Crew. The concert was to begin at 11am and we were ahead of time.On the way we could find Lewis turning to us and giving the distance updates.

Reached at around 9:30 and waiting in long queue with the SMS invite in one hand and camera in the other waiting to enter the arena.

 

We made our entry at around 10:30am and were eagerly waiting for Lewis to play some music with his MP-23 car, the car with which he won his first ever Grand Prix and went on to win the 2008 season. In the course of time I got to know a nice fact, formula 1 engines last only for 2 hrs viz just one race. Oh! what a mean machine it is. The clock struck 11:10am and we were all ready to hear the music, the music played by our youngest champ Lewis. Oh! dear MP-23 roared so much that we were all stunned and I was excited for sure. Come on man a formula-1 mean machine just in front of my eyes, OH! GOD,WHAT A TREAT!!!!

Adding some glamour quotient to Lewis's Concert :)

On the whole the concert was too good. I would say a once in life time. Some pics of Merc AMGs.

Some Videos: