Merc opens a new avenue for racing talents in the country!

Mercedes-Benz India has scripted a new chapter in the search of racing talents in India, by giving India its first ever ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’. In a scintillating racing event which tested the true racing mettle of the twelve finalists; ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ becomes one-of-its-kind initiative in India which provided the winners a dream come true opportunity of giving wings to their racing careers. The race for the title of ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ was flagged off by Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India and Vicky Chandok, President, Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) at Buddh International Circuit.

Mercedes-Benz India launched India’s most comprehensive driving events platform: ‘Mercedes-Benz Performance Drive’ (MBPD), which is a vital pillar for its ‘2013 Year of Offensive’ strategy. One of the most important pillars of MBPD is the ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ which was launched in January 2013 and received an overwhelming response from motorsports aspirants having true racing acumen across the country. ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ received close to 3200 applications from 48 Indian cities. 

Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented on this unique initiative, “Motorsports has been the DNA of brand Mercedes-Benz and we are proud of our long and successful association with different forms of motorsports across the globe and our unsurpassable racetrack achievements. It was Mercedes-Benz vision to identify and nurture motorsports talents in India and ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ programme is yet another 

Kern further elaborated, “Winners of the ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ will gain invaluable exposure in working with the best talents from international racing circuit and also have the rare opportunity of being trained to improve their racing skills on international racing tracks under the guidance of the globally acclaimed trainers. This will act as a great fillip for these youngsters in embarking into the world of professional motor racing and will inspire others who want to opt for a racing career and achieve international exposure.”

With ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’, Mercedes-Benz India created an exclusive platform to spot, nurture and launch young talents who can become future race champions. The programme was open for racing aspirants between 15 years to 25 years, is conducted in association with the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). After a nationwide evaluation process based on different criterions like racing acumen, racing aptitude and accomplishment, 

Mercedes-Benz India received over 3200 applications from aspiring young racing stars from across 48 Indian cities and towns. Youngsters from metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Pune applied for the coveted ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ title along with their counterparts from non-metro cities and smaller towns like Aurangabad,

Jabalpur, Thrissur, Baroda, Patiala, Mysore, Kottayam, Kanpur, Udaipur, Cochin and more. The overwhelming response for this programme from across Indian geography reiterates Mercedes-Benz’s belief that India has rich potential racing talents that need to be spotted, nurtured and given the right exposure. ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ programme will be a major step for the winners in shaping their racing career.

The winner of ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ gets a dream come true opportunity of interning with Mercedes AMG PETRONAS team for one race weekend and also winning a coveted seat in the AMG Driving Academy Basic & Advanced course in India, and also for the next level PRO-Training in Germany. The winner of First runners up wins a seat for the AMG Driving Academy Basic and Advanced course both, while the Second runners-up wins a seat for the Basic course and gets trained under professional trainers.

Vicky Chandok, President, FMSCI commented, “There has been an increasing awareness about motorsports in India and young talents from across the country are opting for a career in motorsports. FMSCI is glad to collaborate with Mercedes-Benz India in identifying and nurturing these motorsports talents and providing a promising opportunity for them to make it big in racing circuits. The process of identifying and shortlisting the racing talents for ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ has been immensely engaging and satisfying and we are extremely glad to present the twelve of the best racing talents from across India.”

The twelve finalists of ‘Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver’ title will be competing with each other for clocking the best lap time in the powerful AMG cars, at India’s best racing track, the Buddh International Circuit. The twelve racing talents who will compete for the coveted title are: Inesh Singh (Haryana), Trishula Sanjeev (Hyderabad), Ishan Bharadwaj (New Delhi), Prashanth Krishnamoorthi (Chennai), Rohit Sharma (Noida), Karan Sharma (New Delhi), Tarun Agarwal (Haryana), Abha Mankar (Pune), Sneha Sharma (Mumbai), Mezaan Anees (Bengaluru), Niranjan B Todkari ( Aurangabad) and Diljith (Thrissur).

Mercedes-Benz India’s ‘Performance Drive’ initiatives have received very impressive response for each of its categories. Most of these initiatives like StarDrive Experience, Star Off-Road Experience, AMG Academy Experience are sold out owing to encouraging response from customers and enthusiasts alike. Mercedes-Benz India has been adjudged as ‘India’s Most Admired Company’ and ‘Most Exciting Brand’ in recent reputed surveys.

Commenting on his win Niranjan B Todkari said, "Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver Program trained me to become an expert racer from an amateur motorsports enthusiast. I got this once in a lifetime opportunity to learn the different aspects involved in racing on international track like the Buddh International Circuit. It is a dream come true to get a chance to learn from one of the world’s greatest motorsports team, the Mercedes AMG Petronas. Racing has been my childhood passion and I would like to thank Mercedes-Benz India for organizing such a platform for motorsports enthusiasts like us waiting for an opportunity to learn and enter the world of motorsports. I am extremely thrilled and excited on this win and feel motivated to enter the arena of professional racing. Motorsports in India is steadily being recognized and holds a bright future. I wish the best to all the aspiring racers and motorsports enthusiasts and hope that the Mercedes-Benz Young Star Driver Program will bring in more such exciting opportunities."