SAILESH BOLISETTI’S MAKES OVAL DEBUT AT TOURS SPEEDWAY

– Euro Race Car series rechristened to NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
– Finishes first race of his oval career 12^th place after qualifying 22^nd due to tyre issues.

6 July, Tours, France: Indian racing driver Sailesh Bolisetti made his oval racing debut at Tours Speedway here in Central France for round three of the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.

The series, formerly known as Euro Racecar Series was rechristened earlier this week, further enforcing its association with its governing body – the National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR).

Tours Speedway, a short 600 meter, 9–degree banked oval is a unique track even by oval standards, as the short length means that the driver is turning left throughout the lap without straightening the steering wheel.

“It was an intensive, nerve wracking experience – this was my first taste of a NASCAR–style oval and I now appreciate how difficult it is”, commented Sailesh.

“From the outside it may look like that the drivers are just turning left, but in the car it is extremely strenuous as the whole body is squashed to one side of the car and it continues to feel the same way even after you step out half an hour later”, he exclaimed.

With a pack of 24 cars on a short track, was always going to be difficult for an oval rookie but Sailesh coped admirably well, improving his pace gradually during the practice sessions, only to be left struggling in qualifying due to a strategic error.

“During practice, we didn’t have new sets of tyres to scrub for qualifying, and as qualifying was just two hot laps (like in NASCAR), it was impossible to scrub them during qualifying session”, he revealed.

As a result, Sailesh ended up driving on fresh out of the box tyres in qualifying with no grip for his two hot laps and as a result ended up qualifying in a lowly 22^ndposition – literally the back of the grid.

With everything coming down to the 100–lap race, Sailesh knew he had to keep his nose out of trouble to survive carnage and restarts normally associated with oval racing.

“I was told that there are going to be a lot of safety cars as people would get into trouble, so I knew I had to drive cleanly and avoid contact to take advantage of those opportunities.

And it turned out exactly as he had envisaged. The 100–lap race saw no less than six caution (safety car) periods and one red flag to remove a stricken car towards the fag end of the race. Despite the distractions and breaks in rhythm, Sailesh ensured that he stayed focused to make up places, especially during restarts.

Battling the cars ahead and making some brave moves on an extremely tight trackhe worked his way upto 12^th, finishing just 6 seconds behind the leader.

“I was extremely satisfied when I got out of the car – theweekend has been quite tough mentally and physically so I am happy to have got this result.

“Even though the race start was quite overwhelming, with the number of cars around but as the field spread out I was able to be more aggressive and pushy to make my passes stick. That is how stock car racing is supposed to be”, concluded Sailesh.

Scorpus Racing’s team manager Alain Veyssière commented, “Sailesh showed incredible temperament for an oval rookie – we know how difficult it is and drivers from circuit racing background struggle to cope, considering how short and narrow this track is.

“But he balanced aggression and discretion perfectly and finished well while bringing the car home in one piece!” added Alain.

The second 100–lap race of the weekend is scheduled on Sunday, July 7^th.