Sailesh Bolisetti to debut in British GT with Lotus Sport
Oulton Park, Cheshire (United Kingdom) 4 April 2012: Indian saloon car racer Sailesh Bolisetti is all set to make his British GT debut with the Lotus Sport UK team here this weekend.
The seven-round 2012 season of the premier British Sportscar championship is shaping up to be one of the most-fiercely competitive in recent times, thanks to a strong 23-car grid featuring several manufacturer-backed entries.
Sailesh will be piloting the Lotus Evora in the GT4 category, amidst strong competition with the category comprising of cars like the Nissan 370Z, BMW M3, Aston Martin N24, Ginetta G50 and Mazda MX5 GT. However, he is well-prepared for the weekend which at best will be a trail by the fire – given the amount of experienced drivers on the grid, including his teammates.
Having got some track time in the Evora GT4 last month, the Vizag lad concedes that it is going to be a steep learning curve. “My first experience in the Evora was overwhelming; it was a completely different beast to anything else I had driven before.” Since he has exclusively raced front-wheel drive cars throughout his career, Sailesh had to make considerable changes to his driving style to adapt to the 360 bhp rear-drive race car. “Maybe it didn’t help that it was my first time in a rear-wheel drive, but after a few sessions I was reasonably comfortable with its behaviour and am looking forward to carry the momentum into my first race weekend”.
The team was satisfied with Sailesh’s progress at the test, with his experienced teammate Phil Glew acting as the benchmark throughout. The weekend at Oulton Park comprises of two practice sessions, two qualifying sessions and two one-hour races. Harbouring the ambition to drive Le Mans-style endurance events, the format finds favour with the 2010 Volkswagen Polo Cup India champion. “To me, long, endurance-style racing appeals more rather than 30-minute sprints. “In that sense, I think this is the right first step as the races are an hour long minimum, we have a couple of two-hour events and even a three-hour event on calendar later in the season.”
Despite being only in his second year of international racing, Sailesh is aiming to push hard from the get-go, even though the whole setup of the championship and machinery may take some time getting used to. “There is no time to waste really – I know the car reasonably well, and have the full support of my team behind me. So I’ll be pushing hard from the very first practice session.
“In endurance racing, if a driver doesn’t perform at a high-level, it ends up dragging the whole team down even if everyone else is doing their best. “I’m not planning to be that guy, so there is no option but to do my best. “We have a competitive car and most likely we’ll end up fighting for the GT4 championship – so there’s no way I can lag behind.”
The British GT points’ system is similar to the one employed in Formula 1 – 25 points to the winner all the way to a solitary point for the tenth placed finisher. Of course, points are allotted category-wise (for GT3 and GT4 for instance) even though the entire grid races concurrently – the norm in endurance racing.
One pit-stop is compulsory during the one-hour race, whereas the two and three hour races need a minimum of two and three stops respectively. The British GT championship is predominantly based in the UK, although there is one round at Germany’s infamous Nurburgring Circuit, coinciding with the legendary Nurburgring 24-hour weekend. For now though, Sailesh is focussed on the job at hand – the upcoming race weekend.
“Obviously I wish to perform at my best, despite my limited experience. But more importantly, I want to absorb as much information as possible from my team, including my experienced teammates. “There are no shortcuts to the learning curve, but I want to get through it as quickly and smoothly as possible.”
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