Vishnu’s loss is Oshan’s gain

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Chennai boy Vishnu Prasad’s loss has turned out to be a big gain for Pune’s Oshan Kothadiya. Vishnu earned a free entry into the Volkswagen Scirocco Cup for winning the second edition of the JK Tyre-Polo Cup in 2011, but the 18-year-old failed to raise money to cover extra expenses such as travel, accommodation and damages to the vehicle thus gifting the golden opportunity to Oshan.

A crestfallen Vishnu rued the missed opportunity of driving in the highly-competitive series in Europe. “I needed a budget of Rs 25 lakhs. We tried our best to find the money and managed only 50 per cent of it. The free drive, otherwise very expensive, came as a reward for the hard work I put in last year under Akbar Ebrahim. Scirocco exposure would have been a path-breaking experience for me. It’s sad that drivers are still finding it tough to make a career out of motor sport in the country despite the success of inaugural Indian Grand Prix,” said the SRM Engineering College student.

Vishnu dominated the Polo Cup last year with Oshan finishing runner-up in the single-make series. VW recently confirmed that Oshan would be driving in the Scirocco Cup, but its press release had no mention of Vishnu, whom it had announced as the selected driver early.

“Volkswagen Motorsport is committed to promoting talent at an international level by giving promising drivers an opportunity to participate in Scirocco R-Cup. Oshan, third Indian to participate in Scirocco R-Cup, is an example of how much talent and scope Indian Motorsports has,” said John Chacko, president and MD of Volkswagen India, said.

Vizag youngster Sailesh Bolisetti won the inaugural edition of the Polo Cup in 2010 and the following season he participated in Scirocco Cup series where he impressed the boss of Lotus Sport UK. It turned out to be a big break for Sailesh, who will race at the British GT Championship this year. Not just Sailesh, the German Saloon car series provided Aditya Patel a platform to showcase his tin-top skills as the Chennai youngster went on to make it big by finishing fifth overall in 2011 standings. Aditya is set to graduate to GT Masters.

Scirocco R-Cup calendar: 27-28 April at Hockenheim; 04-05 May at Lausitzring; 18-19 May at Brands Hatch; 01-03 June at Spielberg; 29-30 June at Norisring; 17-18 August at Nürburgring; 14-16 September at Oschersleben; 19-20 October at Hockenheim.