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Sureshwaran confident of doing well

India's teenage sensation Parthiva Sureshwaran, who did exceptionally well by finishing second in two races in the first round of the Formula Asia Championship, exudes confidence of doing well in the remaining six rounds to fine tune himself for the more competitive national class Formula Three championship.

Parthiva, a product of the Advanced Driving Academy of renowned cricketer-turned-motor racing expert Akbar Ebrahim - - India's first Formula 3 and Formula 2 driver - - is geared up for the further rounds, with J K Tyres deciding to consolidate the sponsorship amount for him to complete the entire Formula Asia circuit with sufficient amount of testing that would give him a realistic chance of winning the championship.

"Though he is running short of Rs three million to complete the circuit, we hope that some corporate companies, including Tatas and Ford will come forward to help him," Akbar Ebrahim told newsmen in Madras on Monday, when he introduced four new drivers into the ADA fold.

Parthiva started his racing career in 1998 and won the national championship for the Esteem category before winning the Formula Maruti class (Indian made formulas) title in 1999.

The major break he got was in the British Formula Ford Winter series, consisting of four races in November last. Amidst a tough and competitive field with at least 30 to 40 cars in the starting grid and the final time differnece being just less than a second, Parthiva finished a creditable 10th and 12th.

Having honed his skills at learning how to drive under pressure, Parthiva moved into the bigger league and got an entry for the Formula Asia Championship, where he finished second in two races in the first round after qualifying for the pole position.

Akbar Ebrahim has drawn up a tough coaching schedule to improve the physical and mental fitness of Parthiva for the remaining rounds.

The second round of races would be held at Shah Alam track in Malaysia on July 8 and 9 and the circuit goes on till November. The third round will be held at Sepang, the fourth at Thailand, the fifth and sixth rounds in China before the circuit ends with the seventh and the final round at Macau in Malaysia.

Stating that there was not much difference as far as general racing conditions are concerned, Parthiva said the field in Malaysia was not as competitive as the British Formula Ford winter series. He attributed his good showing in the Formula Asia championship to the experience he had gained at the Formula Ford series. "It really helped me a lot," he added.

"Having raced at the highest level internationally, Parthiva possesses the speed, skill, talent, discipline and mental aptitude to reach the pinnacle of motor sport - - Formula-1," Akbar said.

Akbar Ebrahim also announced that Kaushik Harita, 19-year-old motor sport enthusiast from Madras, Raphael Luther from Delhi, Sarosh Hataria from Madras and Sanket from Satara in Maharashtra would be the new entrants for the five-leg JK Tyre Formula Maruti national championship, commencing at the modern race track at Irungattukottai from June 25.

He said the ADA would be formally launched on July 16. The ADA has been phased into four divisions viz., safety school (to teach safety driving for preventing accidents in highways which has been increasing at an alarming rate), high performance driving (how to drive fast and properly and to take corners at emergency situations), racing school (to tune those aspiring to take motor sport as a career) and corporate entertainment programme (to bring top executives to the track and teach them the art of motor racing).

UNI