Jump to content


Photo

Formula 1, motor racing and India (merged)


  • Please log in to reply
19 replies to this topic

#1 madujoc

madujoc
  • New Member

  • 19 posts
  • Joined: April 05

Posted 15 April 2005 - 17:33

This comes from an ardent devotee of Formula 1 racing, from India. This involvement of mine as a fanatically committed person has been for almost twenty years now. Popularizing the sport has been my passion. This long time desire to be associated with the sport has epitomized in this website mad4F1.com. This is a medium for sharing the knowledge of the sport gained through all these bygone years with my fellow mates as well as popularizing the sport in India.

The popularity of Formula 1 racing is growing at an alarming rate in India. In fact the popularity of Formula 1 can be considered just second to Cricket (India worships cricket) and it is now the second most watched sports on TV.

I shall be very grateful if you give the feedback after going through the site. Your suggestions towards means of popularizing the sport in India will be highly appreciated.

Advertisement

#2 Pils1989

Pils1989
  • Member

  • 1,111 posts
  • Joined: December 02

Posted 15 April 2005 - 20:14

Wrong forum :confused:

#3 Rob29

Rob29
  • Member

  • 3,582 posts
  • Joined: January 01

Posted 16 April 2005 - 07:01

Originally posted by Pils1989
Wrong forum :confused:

Not sure,sounds to me that he is talking about popularising the HISTORY of F1?

#4 Pils1989

Pils1989
  • Member

  • 1,111 posts
  • Joined: December 02

Posted 16 April 2005 - 13:59

I'm a bit confused, tha'ts why I asked if it was the right forum.

#5 Jim Thurman

Jim Thurman
  • Member

  • 7,244 posts
  • Joined: February 01

Posted 16 April 2005 - 18:38

I view the original post as basically an invite for Atlas TNF members to stop in at that forum and share our knowledge and participate in discussions.

Is that correct madujoc?

#6 madujoc

madujoc
  • New Member

  • 19 posts
  • Joined: April 05

Posted 18 April 2005 - 11:38

I just need feedback on the website, considering the fact that the site has been designed
and developed to promote Formula 1 racing in India and would appreciate if anyone can provide innovative ways to popularize the sport in India...

#7 petefenelon

petefenelon
  • Member

  • 4,815 posts
  • Joined: August 02

Posted 18 April 2005 - 13:27

Originally posted by madujoc
I just need feedback on the website, considering the fact that the site has been designed
and developed to promote Formula 1 racing in India and would appreciate if anyone can provide innovative ways to popularize the sport in India...


Quite nicely done, but apart from the Indian news page, I'm afraid it doesn't seem to offer anything that the well-established grandprix.com or pitpass.com don't already have.

A website dedicated to India's motorsport heritage would be fascinating; I have vague memories of things like the Madras (F3) GP in the 80s, but I've no real idea how that related to any domestic racing scene.

#8 Mallory Dan

Mallory Dan
  • Member

  • 3,118 posts
  • Joined: September 03

Posted 20 April 2005 - 09:12

I recall an AMCO Ensign winning the Indian GP in the early 80s, Jim Crawford I think. The name Vijay Mallya rings a bell too ???

#9 David McKinney

David McKinney
  • Member

  • 14,156 posts
  • Joined: November 00

Posted 20 April 2005 - 09:26

OTTOMH Jim Crawford was driving an F2 Chevron, and Tiff Needell another.
Vijay Mallya, owner of Kingfisher breweries, was the Ensign driver
Can't remember who won

#10 Boniver

Boniver
  • Member

  • 589 posts
  • Joined: October 00

Posted 21 April 2005 - 19:28

1 Delhy - Boimbay Bombay
2-jan 1905 HD 833 3d Sorel De Dietrich


, 1 Madras Chennai Sholavaram circuit - Tamil Nadu - vliegveld
7-feb 1982 ,Madras GP mono , , Mallya Ensign
1-feb 1983 ,Madras GP mono , , Mallya Ensign
5-feb 1984 .Pacific race Pac . . Crawford Chevron
3-feb 1985 .Pacific race Pac . . Crawford Chevron
7-feb 1985 .Pacific race Pac . . Crawford Chevron
2-feb 1986 .Pacific race Pac . . Chandhok Chevron
9-feb 1986 .Pacific race Pac . . Chandhok Chevron
8-feb 1987 .Pacific race Pac . . no no
14-feb 1987 .Pacific race Pac . . no no


1 Calcutta circuit Calcutta - West Bengal - vliegveld
. 1983 Calcutta GP mono , , Mallya Ensign / Ford
12-feb 1984 .Pacific race Pac . . Crawford Chevron


1 Bangalore Kolar Circuit of Bangalora - Kamataka - vliegveld
27-jan 1985 .Pacific race Pac . . Needell Chevron


1 Madras Irungattukottai Chennai- Tamil Nau - permanent road circuit
11-feb 1987 .Pacific race Pac . . no no

#11 HistoricMustang

HistoricMustang
  • Member

  • 4,489 posts
  • Joined: November 03

Posted 11 January 2008 - 09:53

Kind of a crazy mood this AM before going to work and I have got to ask this question.

How long before someone paints a number on this thing, puts on the helmet and straps in? :rotfl:

This is the only thread at TNF with India in the title....................sorry.

Henry

Posted Image


Tata Reveals World's Cheapest Car
By GAVIN RABINOWITZ, Associated Press Writer
16 HOURS AGO
NEW DELHI - India's Tata Motors on Thursday unveiled the world's cheapest car, a $2,500 four-door subcompact the company promises will revolutionize the auto industry by bringing car ownership within reach for tens of millions of people.

The potential impact of Tata's Nano has given environmentalist nightmares, with visions of the tiny cars clogging India's already-choked roads and collectively spewing millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air.

Industry analysts, however, say the car may do for India and the developing world what Ford's Model T did for America nearly a century ago _ deliver unprecedented mobility to the masses.

"It is a potentially gigantic development if it delivers what has been promised," said John Casesa, managing partner for the Casesa Shapiro Group, a New York-based auto industry financial advisory firm.

"I think there is immense unmet demand for a vehicle of this type, because it effectively eliminates the great leap currently required to go from a two-wheel to a four-wheel vehicle," Casesa said. "They are creating something that has never existed before, the utility of a car with the affordability of a motorcycle."

The basic model will sell for 100,000 rupees, or about $2,500, but analysts estimate customers could pay 20 percent to 30 percent more to cover taxes, delivery and other charges.

Company chairman Ratan Tata, who introduced the new car at India's main auto show, has long promised a $2,500 "People's Car" for India _ a country of some 1.1 billion where only seven of every 1,000 people own a car. That vow has been much-derided by the global industry which said it would be impossible without sacrificing safety and quality.

"A promise is a promise," Tata told the crowd after driving onstage stage in a white, luxury edition Nano, his head nearly touching the roof. Four company executives emerged from another. Tata says the Nano can sit five.

The company will not say how the price was kept so low on the basic version and won't say how much the luxury Nano will cost until it hits showrooms toward the end of this year. The company also refused to let reporters sit in the car, let alone drive it.

But the basic version is austere: there's no radio, passenger-side mirror, central locking or power steering and only one windshield wiper. Air conditioning that would spare motorists the brutal Indian summer is available only in deluxe models.

The little car, with its snub nose, sloping roof, and slightly bulbous rear, makes it look like another Indian icon _ the mango.

The Nano's appeal, though, is not its pedigree but its price _ targeting people moving up from the lower ends of India's transportation spectrum, where two-wheeled scooters selling for as little as $900 are often crammed with entire families.

The Nano's closest competitor is the Maruti 800, a four-door selling for nearly twice as much.

In terms of performance it doesn't offer much more than the Model T. The Nano has a two-cylinder 0.6 liter gasoline engine with 33 horsepower, giving it a top speed of about 60 mph, according to Tata. It gets 50 miles per gallon.

The Model T cost $825 in 1909, comparable to about $19,000 in 2006, according to an aggregate of Consumer Price Index figures. And the Nano bests the Model T's 20-horsepower, four-cylinder engine, which topped out at 45 mph.

Analysts believe the Nano could transform the auto industry, forcing manufacturers to lower prices, and perhaps find cheaper ways to sell cars than in sprawling showrooms. French auto maker Renault SA and its Japanese partner, Nissan Motor Co., are trying to find ways to sell a compact car for less than $3,000.

"Most of the other carmakers are watching this development very closely," said S. Ramnath, an auto analyst at Mumbai-based brokerage firm SSK Securities Ltd.

For now, the car will be sold only in India, but Tata said it hopes to export it to developing nations across Asia, Latin America and Africa in two or three years.

Tata initially plans to manufacture some 250,000 Nanos per year. That would be about a quarter of all cars sold in India last year.

The emergence of the Nano has fueled a host of concerns.

With developing countries like India and China putting more and more cars on the roads, it has created a greater demand for fuel, contributing to sky-high global oil prices. India consumed nearly 120 million tons of petroleum products in 2006-2007, according to the Petroleum Ministry, up from 113 million tons the previous year.

And the idea of such a low-cost vehicle has environmentalists petrified, conjuring images of traffic jams at midnight, hours-long commutes and rolling clouds of pollution.

Chief U.N. climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize, said last month "I am having nightmares" about the car.

"Dr. Pachauri need not have nightmares," Tata said at the unveiling, promising the Nano met all current Indian emission standards.

Girish Wagh, who headed the design team, said the car has an oxidation catalytic convertor that emits 120 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.

Tata's promises have not reassured everybody.

"If you're talking about urban environment, it will cause serious problems," said Jamie Leather, a transport specialist with the Asian Development Bank. "The cheaper and cheaper vehicles become, the quicker those pollution levels will increase."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

#12 David McKinney

David McKinney
  • Member

  • 14,156 posts
  • Joined: November 00

Posted 11 January 2008 - 10:33

Originally posted by HistoricMustang
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Did you read this bit, HM?

#13 D-Type

D-Type
  • Member

  • 9,699 posts
  • Joined: February 03

Posted 11 January 2008 - 17:41

Curious that. I thought that Associated Press were a news agency who are paid by clients to write press releases for pressmen around the world to base their articles on. Surely it defeats the object to provide the information and then say you can't use it. Or is it only subscribers who can use the material?

HM,
They used to race Citroen 2CVs and may still do so and Isettas finished the Mille Miglia so it is feasible that the Tatas will get raced.

#14 David McKinney

David McKinney
  • Member

  • 14,156 posts
  • Joined: November 00

Posted 11 January 2008 - 19:39

Originally posted by D-Type
Curious that. I thought that Associated Press were a news agency who are paid by clients to write press releases for pressmen around the world to base their articles on. Surely it defeats the object to provide the information and then say you can't use it. Or is it only subscribers who can use the material?

They are a news agency paid by clients - newspapers and other media - to provide news stories, which copyright ensures will not be available to rival publications ;)

Originally posted by D-Type
HM,
They used to race Citroen 2CVs and may still do so and Isettas finished the Mille Miglia so it is feasible that the Tatas will get raced.

Not for me thanks, with a 0-60 time in excess of 20sec :lol:

#15 Hieronymus

Hieronymus
  • Member

  • 2,032 posts
  • Joined: May 02

Posted 11 January 2008 - 19:49

Same article, same photo in this morning's newspaper in Cape Town.

...AND SOME HUMOR:

How do you upgrade a TATA?

A: Put in an engine.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Q: What goes on pages 4-5 of the TATA's user's manual?

A: The train & bus schedule.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Q: What is the sport-version of TATA?

A: The driver wears Nike shoes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: What do you call a TATA at the top of a hill?

A: A miracle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: What do you call two TATA's at the top of a hill?

A: A mirage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: What do you call a TATA with dual exhausts?

A: A wheelbarrow.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How do you double the value of a TATA ?

A: Half fill it with petrol!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: What do you call a TATA with brakes?

A: Customized.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: What do you call a TATA with a seat belt?

A: A rucksack.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How do you make a TATA go faster uphill?

A: Throw out the passenger.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: How do you make a TATA go faster downhill?

A: Turn off the engine.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: What do you call a TATA with a flat tire?

A: A write off.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#16 HistoricMustang

HistoricMustang
  • Member

  • 4,489 posts
  • Joined: November 03

Posted 11 January 2008 - 20:51

Originally posted by David McKinney

Did you read this bit, HM?


Thanks David. In the future I will add the following to any information that I may transfer.  ;)


Fair Use Notice: This forum post may contain copyrighted material, the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners, whose forbearance I appreciate deeply. This forum post is originated under the assumption that this non profit use on the Web constitutes a "fair use" of the copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the United States Copyright Law.

#17 Alan Cox

Alan Cox
  • Member

  • 8,397 posts
  • Joined: March 03

Posted 11 January 2008 - 23:00

From today's Daily Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph...1/smgars111.xml

#18 HistoryFan

HistoryFan
  • Member

  • 7,825 posts
  • Joined: November 07

Posted 13 January 2008 - 21:49

Force India F1 - Formula One has an racingteam from India. But were there any Indians in history? Today a few Indians worked for the A1 GP team India, and there are a few drivers from India like Narain Karthikeyan or Karun Chandhok.

But what was in History? Were there any Indians mechanics, engineers, teams, and so on in F1,F2,F-Atlantik, F5000, USAC, CART and such series?

#19 fines

fines
  • Member

  • 9,647 posts
  • Joined: September 00

Posted 14 January 2008 - 07:24

I'm waiting for someone to mention the famous Indian Formula One driver Joie Chitwood...

Seriously, I know you're very young, so perhaps it doesn't seem that obvious to you, but try reading a bit about India's recent history and you'll understand that the people of India had a few other problems to cope with than to worry about Formula One. You can even go to the movies, Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi" will be a particularly enlightening film in this context...

Advertisement

#20 HistoryFan

HistoryFan
  • Member

  • 7,825 posts
  • Joined: November 07

Posted 12 August 2008 - 13:44

Aguri Suzuki had Indian forefathers. Can someone tell me more about his forefathers?