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Chennai Lad Aditya Patel aims at Formula BMW Asia 2006 Scholarship

All eyes will be on 17 year old Indian car racer Aditya Patel as he gets set to race in the BMW Junior Scholarship Trials at Bahrain International Circuit from January 24 to 26. Three Formula BMW Scholarships, each worth US$ 50 000 in financial assistance towards the 2006 Formula BMW Asia season plus a full year of the comprehensive Education & Coaching Programme, will be up for grabs.

Aditya Patel has been a exceptional performer on the National Racing Circuit having won several karting titles. He also drove 4 races in the JK Tyre National Racing Championship 2005. Driving a Formula LGB vehicle, Aditya finished 1st in just his second race ahead of racing champions like Rayomand Banajee. Sarosh Hataria and Gaurav Gill.

Becoming a BMW Junior driver means far more than just financial assistance. Aimed at upcoming young racers aged 16 to 21 - with no international experience - looking to make the step from karting to a formula racing career, the season-long, intensive Education & Coaching Programme ensures that drivers receive the benefit of the valuable expertise BMW has gained through its long and highly-successful involvement in motorsports. The programme covers driving and technical tuition, physical training and dietary education, sports management, and media training – everything in fact to groom a youngster for a career at the very top level of the sport. In 2005, Formula BMW was staged five times as part of the Formula One support programme. All the series offer a multifaceted Education and Coaching Programme as well as sponsorship for promising racing talents. The best-known alumni of this talent hothouse are Formula One drivers Ralf Schumacher, Christian Klien and Nico Rosberg.

Introduced in 2003, Formula BMW Asia has already launched the careers of many drivers across the region, several of whom are now progressing up the international motor sport ladder. Inaugural champion Hopin Tung is now competing in Formula 3 in Europe, 16-year-old Armaan Ebrahim, a scholarship recipient in 2005, is already racing for India in the A1 Grand Prix series, and Taiwan’s Hanss Lin Po Heng recently clinched the 2005 Asian Formula Renault title.