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Massa sets the pace, Hamilton penalised
Tilaks, dogs and other Indian flavours
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Metallica concert postponed
England in India: Preview
Bhajji ignored for WI series
SL claw their way back
Women's boxing camp begins
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Massa sets the pace, Hamilton penalised
Massa emerged as the quickest in the afternoon's practice session, toppling Red Bull's newly-crowned world champion Sebastian Vettel by 0.088 seconds. His Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso emerged as the third quickest.
While Massa stole the limelight on BIC's first outing, Force India drivers also gave home fans something to cheer about with with Adrian Sutil emerging as the seventh fastest, two places above teammate Paul di Resta. However, it turned out to be a nightmarish outing for India's lone driver, Karthikeyan who finished last in the 24th position (1:32.824) in FP2 after finishing two places above in the morning session. "It's a nice track, different. The last corner makes the entry wide which creates different directions for the race. You need to brake more in the middle of the corner and it's a good idea for overtaking," he said. "The car was good, competitive. The track was dirty and it's difficult since there is a lot of sand outside the lane," he added. Hamilton, Perez get grid penalty
Former champion Lewis Hamilton's chances of winning the inaugural Indian Grand Prix suffered a jolt as he was handed a three-place grid penalty for ignoring double-waved yellow flags after setting the fastest lap time in the free practice session here today. The penalty means that even if Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, goes fastest in the qualifying session tomorrow, he will have to start the race in the fourth position at the Buddh International circuit. The incident happened close to the conclusion of the session at turn 16.
— PTI |
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Tilaks, dogs and other Indian flavours
Possibly for the first time ever, a Formula One car, drivers and team were blessed by a Hindu priest. It was an exotic religious ceremony that Team Sauber this morning at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) with a pandit performing pooja in the Sauber garages with the car being the centre of attraction. After blessing the car, drawing the Swastika and writing a mantra on its nose cone, drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez had tilaks applied to their foreheads! Among those in attendance were Muneesha Narang Kaltenborn, the Indian-born CEO of Team Sauber and officials of Amul Dairy, who have come in as a sponsor. From a lazy and somewhat a hazy day, the media centre slowly sprang to life. Across the road are the pit garages and the gentle buzz of activity suddenly catapulted to F-1 speeds. The first practise session started at 10 a.m. and at 10:05 the red flag was shown to the drivers. A stray dog had crossed the track!. No sharpshooters were required, a bamboo stick did the trick. At 10:09 hours the race was on. The first excitement of the day came about 21 minutes later when Kobayashi skidded off the track, tilak or no tilak. To keep the excitement alive, Michael Schumacher left the track twice! However he had set the fastest lap time for the day, one minute 28.656 seconds. The spectators had been warned to wear earplugs but few did. The noise getting on to 300 decibels is exciting and addictive. To add to the tamasha and flavour, the two Indian Teams of J.K. Tyres and MRF had their own teams to race in what are called 'Support Races'. The drivers, juniors who have been selected by MRF and JK Tyres as F-1 hopefuls, were given a chance to race on BIC. The atmosphere continues to be electrifying and seductive. There are glitches like shuttle buses running late and the signage being poor. Foreign correspondents, many of whom are veterans of 20-30 F-1 races, are all smiles and full of praise. "India is a fascinating country and the track and arrangements are simply spectacular," said one. Everything that can possibly happen on an F-1 circuit happened today. Cars spinning off the tracks, debris flying, cranes lifting the cars to safety, even a car catching fire and being doused. And of course, even the most experienced F-1 veterans had never seen a dog on the track! Tomorrow promises even more excitement. The qualifying session which will decide the starting grid and pole positions for Sunday's finale, starts at 2 p.m.
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Narain Karthikeyan
He subsequently tested with Williams and represented his country in A1 GP, and in 2009 he finished seventh at the Le Mans 24 Hours with ex-boss Kolles' team. In 2010 he started to carve a career in NASCAR by taking part in the Camping World Truck Series, with a highest qualifying position of ninth and a highest race finish of 13th.
He first made a name for himself in India when he won the Formula Maruti championship - one of relatively few junior series running in his home country. He quickly progressed to the Asia-wide Formula 2000 series and won that too. In 2002 he pitted his talents against the ultra-competitive British Formula 3 field and in his second year in the championship he finished a very respectable third with seven victories. That opened the door to GP2 the next year, where he steadily progressed and took a victory in the sprint race at Spa Francorchamps. His promising start in GP2 secured him two days of testing for Red Bull, at which he held his own . For 2008 he was paired with Bruno Senna at the race-winning i-Sport outfit in GP2 and was a consistent points scorer. In 2009 he stayed in GP2, but his season was dogged by retirements and bad luck. Nevertheless, with sponsors' money and his potentially lucrative nationality, a week before the start of the 2010 season he was announced as a race driver for HRT alongside Senna. After leaving HRT his future in the sport was far from certain, but he was picked up by Lotus as a third driver.
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New Delhi, October 28 "Red Bull has already won the championship this year but we were pretty close to them. We would be looking at winning the last couple of races so that in the next season we can have a good base. We are working very hard and always pushing ourselves,” said Hamilton on the sidelines of a promotional event. Button added, "Although the world titles are settled, we're incredibly motivated to win every race and if you win a Grand Prix in F1, you know you've done a great job. That's what we're aiming for in India." The 2008 world champion Hamilton said that he was quite surprised to see the hype of the Formula One in India and hopes that it will match cricket in terms of popularity. — PTI
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Metallica concert postponed
Gurgaon, October 28 The gate-crashers also ransacked the venue, damaged several stalls put up for the event and climbed up the stage prepared for the event. The concert was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. |
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Greater Noida, October 28 Mallya had said that he will not reveal his drivers' line-up before December but an anxious Sutil said he can't wait that long to know about his fate with Sahara Force India. "I speak to my drivers first before media and if he wants an early decision, I will give him (Sutil)," Mallya said. "Media has always criticised me that I can't do anything but results are there for everyone to see and I don't need to explain anything to anyone," said Mallya on the sidelines of announcing the winner of Force India Driver Academy's 'One from a billion hunt' contest. Force India has gone from strength to strength with each season. They finished ninth in 2009 and were placed seventh last year. They are currently placed sixth and have a good chance to finish at the same position. Sahara Force India has 49 points and its nearest competitors are Sauber with 40 points, while Toro Rosso have 37 points in its kitty. — PTI
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England in India: Preview
Kolkata, October 28 After a forgettable English summer during which India were demolished in all forms of the game, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men returned to rule the roost in the home series against the same team. India dominated in all the departments of the game with juniors as well as seniors doing their bit to humble the Englishmen. The action will now shift to the shortest format when the 2008 ICC World Twenty20 winners lock horns against the reigning champions, who are struggling in Indian conditions. That they have been installed as the number one Twenty20 side in ICC's new rankings would hardly make a difference if the Englishmen fail to capitalise on their last chance to restore some pride in India. But this Indian team is on a mission after they came back from the England tour, even as skipper Dhoni insisted on not calling it a revenge series. The ODI world champions had to prove themselves and they did it in style by not giving England any chance to fight back. The Indians exposed England's dreadful record here that reads one win from last 17 matches. — PTI
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Kolkata, October 28 Tamil Nadu off-spinner R Ashwin found a place in the 15-member squad picked by the Krish Srikkanth-led selection committee here, which also has four other new faces in Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ajinkya Rahane and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma. Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj, who missed the ODI series in England as well as the return rubber at home due to injuries, were recalled for the November 6-10 match at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground. After his below-par performance in the tour of England, out-of-form off-spinner Harbhajan continued to remain in the sidelines with the selectors preferring Ashwin over him. The Squad: M S Dhoni (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli, Varun Aaron, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Sharma. — PTI
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Dubai, October 28 Sri Lanka still trail Pakistan by 76 runs but had Paranavitana (42 not out) and Sangakkara (29 not out) to thank for staving off the opponents' attack after the fall of Lahiru Thirimanne for eight when the score was 22. Beginning their second innings 164 runs behind after two days on the back foot against Pakistan, Paranavitana nurdled his runs off 141 deliveries while the usually fluent Sangakkara compiled his watchful innings from 86 balls. Thirimanne was bowled by an excellent Mohammad Hafeez delivery that turned and clipped the left-hander's off stump, after which the unbeaten duo put on 66. Having resumed on 281 for four, Pakistan were all out for 403 in their first innings. — Reuters Brief Scores: Sri Lanka: 239 & 88/1 Pakistan: 403. Sri Lanka trail by 76 runs.
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Women's boxing camp begins
Patiala, October 28 The cream of women’s boxing talent will be part of the core group at the camp. The group constitutes of 15 members who have been specifically selected to train for the World Championships and the Olympics. The AIBA Women’s World Championship, slated to be held in Qinhuangdao, China, will act as the only qualifier for the Olympics. Talking about the focus areas, Chander Lal said that overall development of boxers will be imperative but emphasis will be given to improving techniques, especially with the changed scoring system. “We have few veteran boxers in the camp who are adapting well to the new system, but there are a few others who still have room for improvement and need to perfect their approach,” he said.
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Possibly for the first time ever, a Formula One car, drivers and team were blessed by a Hindu priest. It was an exotic religious ceremony that Team Sauber this morning at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) with a pandit performing pooja in the Sauber garages with the car being the centre of attraction.
Greater Noida, October 28
India's first F1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan joined Jordan in 2005 after 12 seasons in the junior formulas. He got the drive with the backing of Indian sponsorship, just after the team was bought out by the Midland group, and came to the sport with high hopes being dubbed "the fastest Indian in the world". 
At the time he said: "I've got the hopes of a nation behind me so I've no choice but to succeed now". He out-paced his team-mate Tiago Montiero early in the season but missed out on a podium at the farcical six-car race at Indianapolis and finished fourth - his best result. He was dropped by the team at the end of the season after stories of bitter rows with team boss Colin
Kolles. 
In 2011 there were more than a few raised eyebrows when he was signed on a one-year contract by
HRT, although backing from Indian car giant Tata to drive in the year of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix explained much. He now has a second chance to prove himself and claims to be in better physical shape.
After spending three years toiling away in the GP2 championship, Karun Chandhok finally made the step up to Formula One in 2010. His amiable personality won him a legion of fans in the junior series and his popularity continued to grow in his debut year. However, his budget didn't match that of Japanese Sakon Yamamoto and after the British Grand Prix he was left without a drive until joining Lotus in 2011.
Under its current guise, Force India has only been competing in the F1 championship since 2008, after the teams' name change was sanctioned by the
FIA, but the origins of the team go back to 1991. The team was formed from what was originally known as Jordan Grand Prix, who had been active in the championship since 1991.
Owner Eddie Jordan put the team up for sale and they were bought by the Midland group in 2005 and renamed Midland F1 Racing. After just a year the team was sold to the Spyker car company near the end of the 2006 season, however financial restraints saw the team being offered for sale yet again; just a year after Spyker took control. The price was 88million euro, much more than was originally paid, and this time it fell into the hands of Orange India Holdings group, with Vijay Mallya and existing board member Michiel Mol taking over.
