India In F1Indians AbroadNon-F1
Akbar Ebrahim replaces Vicky Chandhok as FMSCI’s deputy in FIA
Chennai, 17 May 2014: The Governing Council of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) has nominated Mr Akbar Ebrahim, a renowned driver coach and an accomplished race driver, as India’s Deputy representative in the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA).
The FMSCI Chairman Dr Vijay Mallya endorsed the decision and the FIA was informed of the same.
Dr Mallya is the Titular Delegate of India and a member of the prestigious World Motor Sports Council of the FIA, which is responsible for all aspects of international motor sport at every level from karting to Formula One.
Mr Ebrahim has replaced Mr Vicky Chandhok in the role and will represent the FMSCI to lend a hand to Dr Mallya in the FIA.
Thanking the FMSCI’s decision, Mr Ebrahim said: “While my predecessor worked hard to get F1 to India, my priority now would be to get more Indians into F1 and its likes. We are going to work hard to create opportunities for our sportspersons to step out and take on the world. We’ll make sincere efforts to align with global best practices and avail all possible assistance from international associates.
“India has all that is required for our kids and our sport to unleash, and what we need to do now is to package and present our case to the world. To start the campaign, we need to lead the charge in the Asian Region.”
Mr Ebrahim had recently met FIA President Mr Jean Todt at the FIA Asia Pacific Region Motor Sport Forum in Sri Lanka, where Mr Todt had drawn everyone’s attention to FIA’s taskforce that is currently in operation in the Asia Pacific region.
“The idea behind this initiative is to interact, assist and coordinate between motor sports federations in this region,” said Mr Ebrahim. “The Forum gave the confidence that there is a genuine consensus in the FIA to study and work with the ASN’s (National Sports Association) on common perspectives as well as individual requirements.
“Some of the key areas that the Forum discussed were driver development, training of officials such as Race Director, Clerk of Course, Stewards, Time keepers, karting at grassroots level, singular Asia Pacific events, among others.”
Mr Ebrahim said the FMSCI has offered to host a part of the next Officials’ training programme for the FIA Asia Pacific region.
During his brief interaction with Mr Todt, Mr Ebrahim assured the FIA President that the FMSCI would strive to introduce the new FIA Formula 4 racing car as the first level junior international racing car in India, and would implement FIA’s Action for Road Safety, a programme promoted by FIA worldwide.
eom
