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Tag: racing

  • Audi announces strategic partnership with Formula 1

    Audi announces strategic partnership with Formula 1

    Mumbai: Audi, which announced its entry into Formula 1 at the end of August, has selected Sauber as a strategic partner for the project and plans to acquire a stake in the Sauber Group. The partnership will see the traditional Swiss racing team competing as the Audi factory team from 2026 onwards, using the power unit developed by Audi for the pinnacle of motorsport.

    Sauber has around 30 years of competitive experience. While the power unit will be created at Audi’s Motorsport Competence Center in Neuburg an der Donau, Sauber will develop and manufacture the race car at its site in Hinwil (Switzerland). Sauber will also be responsible for planning and executing the race operations.

    “We are delighted to have gained such an experienced and competent partner for our ambitious Formula 1 project. We already know the Sauber Group with its state-of-the-art facility and experienced team from previous collaborations and are convinced that together we will form a strong team,” said Audi AG member of the board for technical development Oliver Hoffmann. For example, Audi Sport has already regularly used the Sauber Group’s high-tech wind tunnel in Hinwil, just under four hours away by car, during the successful Le Mans era and during the development of the Class 1 touring car for the DTM.

    “Sauber is a first-class partner,” he added.

    “Audi is the best partner for the Sauber Group. It is clear that both companies share the same values and vision. We are looking forward to achieving our common goals with a strong and successful partnership,” said Sauber Holding chairman Finn Rausing.

    Development of the power unit, which consists of an electric motor, battery, control systems and a combustion engine, is already in full swing at the facility of the specially founded Audi Formula Racing in Neuburg an der Donau. More than 120 employees are already working on the project. “Sauber is a first-class partner for the use of the Audi Power Unit. We are looking forward to working with an experienced team that has helped shape many eras of Formula 1 history. Together, we want to write the next chapter starting in 2026,” said the company’s managing director Adam Baker.

    The expansion of the Neuburg facility is in full swing. The timetable up to the first race with Audi participation in the 2026 season is ambitious. The expansion of the Neuburg facility in terms of personnel, buildings, and technical infrastructure should be largely in place in 2023. The first tests with the power unit developed for the 2026 regulations in a Formula 1 test car are planned for 2025.

    Formula 1 is taking a big step towards sustainability with the new regulations that will come into effect in 2026. This was an important prerequisite for Audi’s decision to enter the championship. The power units will be more efficient than they are today, as the proportion of electric power will increase significantly. The electric drivetrain will then have nearly as much power as the internal combustion engine, which comes to 400 kW (544 hp). The 1.6-liter turbocharged engines will be powered by sustainable synthetic fuel that is CO2-neutral (according to EU standards). Formula 1 has also set itself the goal of being CO2-neutral as a racing series by 2030.

  • Disney, ESPN & Formula 1 extend relationship with new, multi-year contract

    Disney, ESPN & Formula 1 extend relationship with new, multi-year contract

    Mumbai: In the midst of what is on track to be a record-breaking season of viewership, Walt Disney Co, ESPN and Formula 1 have extended their relationship with a new, multi-year contract. This will keep F1 races on ESPN Networks in the US through the 2025 season.

    The renewal was announced at the Formula 1 Aaramco United States Grand Prix 2022 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. This is the second of the two US stops for F1 during the 2022 season.

    Under the renewal, at least 16 races will air on ABC and ESPN each season, more than in the previous five years since F1 returned to ESPN networks in 2018. Also, all race telecasts on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will continue the commercial-free presentation used over the past five seasons, a format that has set ESPN’s coverage apart and proved very popular with viewers.

    The new agreement also includes expanded direct-to-consumer rights, giving ESPN flexibility to roll out additional ways for fans in the US to consume F1 content over the next three years, including on ESPN+, with details to be announced later.

    Formula 1 returned to its original US television home in 2018 – the first race ever aired in the country was on ABC in 1962. F1 races also aired on ESPN from 1984-1997.

    “Formula 1 and ESPN have been a strong and successful team and we’re delighted to extend our relationship. We look forward to serving fans in some new and innovative ways in the next three years as we continue to bring the reach and relevance of the Walt Disney Company networks and platforms to Formula 1,” said ESPN president of programming and original content Burke Magnus.

    After setting a record in 2021 for the most-viewed F1 season ever on US television with an average of 9,49,000 viewers per race, the average has moved into seven figures in 2022. Through 18 races, live F1 telecasts are averaging 1.2 million viewers on ESPN networks – with multiple events attracting race-record television audiences.

    Earlier this year, the telecast of the inaugural Miami Grand Prix on ABC generated an average viewership of 2.6 million, the largest US audience on record for a live F1 race.

    “We are delighted to announce that our partnership with ESPN will continue. Formula 1 has seen incredible growth in the United States with sold out events and record television audiences, and the addition of Las Vegas to the calendar next season, alongside Austin and Miami, will see us host three spectacular races there. The ESPN networks have played a huge part in that growth with their dedicated quality coverage. We are excited to expand our relationship and continue to bring the passion and excitement of Formula 1 to our viewers in the US together” said Formula 1 president & CEO Stefano Domenicali.

    “After Formula 1 returned to the ESPN networks five years ago, the popularity of the sport has grown impressively. The extension and expansion of our partnership is a reflection of exciting times ahead and a result of our shared desire to bring Formula 1 to as broad and diverse an audience as possible in the U.S. The popular commercial-free broadcasts ensure that viewers continue to engage with F1 before, during and after the race. From next year we will have six races in the Americas, which means more favourable time zones to fans in the region, making the Formula 1 offering more compelling than ever,” said Formula 1 director of media rights and content creation Ian Holmes.

    All race weekends will continue to include live telecasts of all three practice sessions and qualifying (including the F1 Sprint) as well as pre-race and post-race coverage. The new agreement includes an increased focus on qualifying, with more sessions airing on ESPN or ESPN2.

    ESPN Deportes will continue as the Spanish-language home of F1 in the US and ESPN’s coverage of F1 also includes a dedicated site that reports on the championship year-round.

    In addition, ESPN studio shows including SportsCenter will continue on-site coverage from races in the US, including the new event in Las Vegas for 2023, with coverage at other races potentially added. ESPN also will be creating additional ancillary programming on its platforms to support its F1 coverage over the next three years.

    During each of the five seasons that F1 has been on ESPN networks since its return, the amount of F1 content on ESPN television and digital platforms has steadily increased. This year, the Sky Sports F1 programs Ted’s Qualifying Notebook and Ted’s Race Notebook were added, airing on ESPN3 during race weekends, and the video podcast programme Unlapped began appearing on the ESPN YouTube channel.

  • Ten Sports to bring MotoGP to India; introduce new racing league

    Ten Sports to bring MotoGP to India; introduce new racing league

    MUMBAI: The avenue for non-cricket sports properties like kabaddi, tennis, wrestling, and football, which saw a great start last year is set to grow bigger. The newest entrant is the niche sport Moto Grand Prix popularly known as Moto GP.  

     

    According to sources, Ten Sports has inked a five year deal with the sports property. Previously, Moto GP was a non exclusive property shared by three sports networks; Star India, Neo Sports and Ten Sports. But with the new deal coming in place and the two partners reaching a fine print, Ten Sports has gained an exclusive deal with Moto GP beginning from 1 February 2015.

     

    If multiple sources are to be believed, there will also be a set of new programming and races wrapped around it including studio produced shows to propel the sport’s popularity in India. What’s more, the network is also looking to foray into introducing a new racing league in the country.

     

    When contacted, Ten Sports officials denied the development. 

     

    On the other hand, the network is in a celebratory mood with the success of another property-World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). “The response has been fantastic as we have reached out to a mass audience via Facebook, Twitter Google Hangouts etc. When India was playing against Australia in Oz and we declaring we were going live with RAW, we were trending much above India playing with Australia on Twitter,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi. Ten Sports had decided to go live with flagship properties like RAW and specials like Royal Rumble during the early morning slot at 6:30 am. 

     

    “We thought we were not going to do well but received more than 900 emails with regards to it. I am happy the way our ad revenues are shaping too,” adds Sethi.

     

    The network is also looking at the prospect of airing WWE in regional languages. Besides, with the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and the network having the rights of Pakistan cricket, it is busy promoting the mega event in the neighbouring country and will be announcing its plans soon.

  • Farhan Akhtar sets your pulse racing with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

    Farhan Akhtar sets your pulse racing with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

    MUMBAI: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a marathon account of an Indian sprint runner, Milkha Singh, also known as the Flying Sikh, who failed to win the 1960 Olympic Bronze Medal by a whisker. It is a marathon because the film has a running time of three hours seven minutes and 48 seconds. They make two films in this kind of duration nowadays. This is bound to happen when the editor is also the director; utterly in love with all the footage he has shot.

    Milkha is a young Sikh child in united India enjoying the love and affection of his family elders. Along with a friend, he travels miles and crosses a river to go to school. They are handed punishments when late. The happiness comes to an end as India is partitioned and people are slaughtered on both sides. Milkha watches his family members being killed while he manages to run. He arrives in Delhi at a refugee camp where after a few days he finds his sister, Divya Dutta, and her husband.

    Milkha soon learns that to survive in this camp, he will have to become tough. There are hooligans around, ready to use muscle power and push people around. Milkha is welcomed to a gang and soon becomes a full time criminal, wielding a knife and stealing coal from train engines. His aimless life finds a purpose when he comes across Sonam Kapoor. Chasing her becomes part of his daily routine until one day he proposes to her and she taunts him about his illegal ways. Milkha promises her that he will mend his ways and requests her to wait for him till he becomes worthy of her.

    Milkha succeeds in joining an army training centre in Secunderabad and qualifies for the Services. Thanks to the lure of an extra ration of milk and two eggs as well as exemption from fatigue drill, Milkha volunteers for athletic qualification. This is where his potential is gradually realised by the Services coach Pawan Malhotra and honed to perfection. Milkha has a dream of wearing the blazer with the Ashok Chakra emblem and for that he needs to qualify for the national team. As Milkha gets better with each passing day, his rivals in the field attack him and hurt him so as to end his running career. The attack only makes Milkha more determined; Milkha breaks the national record even while he is running heats with injured legs.

    Milkha‘s training is now passed over to the athletics national coach, Yograj Singh, and the training becomes more rigorous. Milkha finally earns his national blazer. He is now ready to surprise his sister and Sonam; instead he is the one who is surprised. Sonam has long been married off with no forwarding address.

    Milkha is on his way to Melbourne as part of the Indian contingent to participate in the 1956 Olympics. Here, he indulges in a fling which, coupled with his inexperience, costs him the race. He loses the race as well as face. He swears to shatter the world record and again the tougher routine of training starts. Milkha does manage to break the record and wins Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medals in 1958 and 1962. But when it comes to the crunch, in the 1960 Rome Olympics, Milkha disappoints.

    Despite winning all heats and starting off very well, he loses out on the bronze medal in a photo finish, coming in fourth. Dramatically, in the film this is equated with his escape run from killers chasing him during the partition massacre which plays in his mind as he runs and he makes the mistake of looking behind which costs him a medal.

    The film begins with Milkha losing the Rome Olympics and goes into flashback, emerging into the current event of sending a team to Pakistan on a goodwill gesture. The Pakistan part is the masterstroke of the maker as to an Indian mindset, it does not matter if Milkha has lost to anybody as long as he wins over a Pakistani rival. He outruns the Pakistani champion by lengths and earns the title ‘The Flying Sikh‘ from the then Pakistani President, Ayub Khan.

    Biopics are a format that does not go well with Indian film lovers. Best of our leaders‘ stories have failed at the box office and Milkha Singh was a sports hero from the distant past with whom few can identify today. The problem with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is that Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has turned this biopic into a documentary; it stops being the story of his life and gets into the rigours of training, which is never-ending and tedious for the viewer. There is little of human interest (as in Paan Singh Tomar) and romance is just namesake. Richard Attenborough‘s Gandhi should be an example to follow for anyone wishing to make a biopic. It could have been a film about Milkha‘s sports life with a sprinkling of personal life that is relevant to sports. After all, sport is what he is known for.

    Mehra has gone into details of the period painstakingly, no doubt. If only he knew when to stop, as a lot of stuff feels exaggerated. The space for songs has been forced in most cases as the story offers little scope. Dialogue is effective. Editing is missing. Camerawork is impressive. The film, to whatever degree it is watchable, is thanks to an outstanding performance by Farhan Akhtar. His dedication and honesty brings Milkha alive on screen. Equally impressive is Jabtej Singh as the young Milkha. Pawan Arora is excellent. Yograj Singh is good. Prakash Raj is a bit too paunchy for the army instructor. Sonam Kapoor has nothing to do and has a very brief role. Divya Dutta is cut out for the role she plays and is good as usual.

    Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a slow moving account of Milkha Singh, a sprinter, which will have limited box office as all sports and biopic films have a limited range. While the appreciation will be ample along with awards, it won‘t translate into rewards. 

     

    Sixteen… Is no longer sweet

     

    Producers: Shailesh R Singh, Vishwas Joshi.
    Director: Raj Purohit.
    Cast: Izabelle Liette, Wamiqa Gabbi, Mehak, Highphil Methew.

    Being a girl in Delhi is considered a bit dicey. So Sixteen is about three girls and a boy from Delhi of the contemporary age and era who are still in school but get into all kinds of trouble adults would not dare to. The film has only negative stories that happen in the life of all four characters. Why isn‘t there a single positive story, a single beacon with a guiding example?

    The girls are lead by the prettiest and boldest of the three, Izabelle Liette, who leads by example in that she does not think much of sleeping around. She keeps goading her friends, Mehak and Wamiqa, to go ahead and not make much ado about preserving their virginity. Mehak wants to but at the right time with the right guy. Wamiqa has a problem in that the boy she loves does not care for her while the one who loves her, Highphil Methews, does not excite her; she considers him as only her best friend.

    Methews has a father, Zakir Husain, who drives him hard. He wants his son to become an IAS officer. The son is always on the receiving end of his violent moods. Liette has rich parents and is granted all the freedom and a credit card but not the attention and the ears of her parents. Mehak adores her father and would never do anything to let him down. He in turn trusts her totally and gives her the freedom a teenage girl would seek. Wamiqa has only an aunt as her family, her parents having been among the victims of a city cinema hall fire.

    While generally the girls have a good time as and when they can, each faces a phase in which they let down not only their folks but also themselves. Liette sees her father at a disco getting intimate with a woman. On questioning, she is told that her mother too is in a relationship with someone else and that theirs is an open marriage! Liette is shocked at the revelation. Wamiqa has fallen in love with the paying guest in her house, Keith Sequiera, who is twice her age. But she soon learns that her aunt too has fallen for him. She is shattered. Mehak finally sleeps with the boy she loves from her school only to become pregnant and must have an abortion, which gets complicated. Methews comes home dejected when he is told by Wamiqa that she only considers him a friend while he loved her deeply. But he is welcomed home by his angry father who has just found nudes on his computer. It proves a wrong day for Husain to pick on his son; Methews ends up killing him. He runs away and gets into more crimes.

    All four survive the turmoil in their lives to emerge more confident of themselves and caring for their peers.

    Sixteen is bleak in most parts. The girls, Wamiqa, Liette, Mehak and the boy, Methews are all natural. Seqiuera and Prableen Kaur are good. Husain, as usual, is good. Music is okay.

    Released at limited screens, Sixteen will, in all probability, go unnoticed.