 Amaron, Karthikeyan set up racing academy
 Leading battery maker, Amara Raja Batteries, in a bid to identify, nurture and groom more Indian racing champs, has joined hands with ace racer Narain Karthikeyan to announce the establishment of the Amaron-NK Racing Academy. The academy will initially function from Coimbatore so that Narain can spend as much time as he can with it despite his international schedule.
"The move is aimed at promoting motor racing in the country and to give back something to the sport," said Narain in Chennai on June 26, 2006.
Gravity-defying speed, frenzied cheering, the rush of adrenalin, racing cars setting the tracks literally on fire, boisterous crowd rooting for their favourite team, and then the wave of the quintessential black and white checkered flag. That is the magic of Formula-1 racing. For long, Indians had to be content with the Schumachers and Alonsos of the world. Until Narain Karthikeyen came along. The number of F-1 aspirants in India multiplied. The new academy would help train these youths and provide them a viable career option through motor sport, said Jayadev Galla, managing director, Amara Raja Batteries.
A part of the Amaron Pro Racing initiative, this virtual academy will leverage existing racing infrastructure in the country. As one of the first few initiatives of the Amaron-NK Racing Academy, racing workshops will be conducted at the Kari Motor Speedway, in
Coimbatore.
The academy will also identify four promising drivers through a rigorous selection process and run two teams - Amaron@ and Speed@ (BPCL) - for the formula Rolon@ championship. These four would be selected from a short-list of 14, Narain pointed out.
Jayadev Galla said, "We have been associated with Narain Karthikeyan since his early racing days and he has made us very proud. We are strengthening our association with NK by extending our contract. The Amaron-NK Racing Academy is the next step of this association and our long-term commitment to the promotion of motor sport and motor racing in the country, from the junior school level."
K R Saikumar, territory manager (Retail), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., said BPCL would help Narain promote this concept of training young Indian drivers.
Amaron-NK Racing Academy will be an independent institution and the scope of the academy includes:
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Regular racing workshops and training programmes to aspiring and promising drivers. The 'Amaron-NK Racing Workshops' will be the first step in this direction.
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Identify promising drivers with a transparent selection process and give them opportunity to race in professional championships. The ACE programme will be a step in this direction.
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Manage and run teams in racing championships.
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Champion the cause of 'motor sport and motor racing' with the policy makers as the voice of the racing community.
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Promote events which identify talent and encourage participation of youngsters in
motorsport.
Galla said the objective of the academy is to encourage, identify, train and promote racers in the country and popularise motor racing as a sport. The academy will provide input at every stage of a racer's career.
"Narain has triggered motor racing craze in the country. More youngsters are today inspired to follow in his footsteps. In association with Narain, we nave launched the Racing Academy. Our endeavour is to encourage, identify and nurture more champs like Narain Karthikeyan," Galla said.
Narain said, "I have been associated with Amaron@ for many years and ARBL has been one of my early and steadfast supporters. I am delighted to continue as brand ambassador for
Amaron@."
Commenting on the Racing Academy, he added, "India has immense talent in sports. However, it is important to nurture and support the sportspersons if we need to see them bring glory to the country. ARBL and I share the common cause of nurturing talent and promoting motor racing. Now, by starting an academy for motor-racing, we are committing resources and time to the cause," he said.
R Rangaraj
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