• From over 1500 registrations, 96 drivers were shortlisted who attended the Drivers Selection programme in Pune on 27 – 28 January 2018
• 19 new drivers to take their places on the race track in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup 2018 along with some of the previous season’s drivers
• The new set of drivers also include two female drivers from Bangalore and Davanagere

The new set of drivers for the Volkswagen Ameo Cup 2018 series were recently finalised by Volkswagen Motorsport India. 19 new drivers made the cut for the Cup this season including two female drivers. The Drivers Selection process was held at Indi Karting Track in Kharadi, Pune on 27^th and 28^th January 2018 with Volkswagen Motorsport India’s Driver Coach Rayomand Banajee being the chief selector.

Mr. Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India said, “We have had a record turn-out in terms of online registrations as well as the ones who came in for the Drivers Selection process. Our programme for selecting the top drivers is one of the most thorough and efficient processes. The participating drivers are judged on a wide range of parameters like physical fitness, driving technique and the ability to follow-up instructions in tough situations.” He further added, “I would like to congratulate all the 19 drivers who have made it this far but now the true competition begins as the drivers prepare to race each other in Ameo Cup Race cars in the second half of 2018. Our one make series will continue to provide young racing talent in India a platform to display and nurture their racing skills at a professional level.”

The first day of the driving selection process consisted of three karting sessions which helped the participants get comfortable with their karts. The first session consisted of slalom course to understand the handling characteristics of the karts, followed by cornering drills, which helped extract the raw potential of the participating drivers, as they had to get as close to the apex as possible as they made their turn. The third session was a timed lap, which helped the selectors to group drivers with similar lap times together for the next day. These lap times were not considered in the evaluation process.

The next day started off with fitness sessions wherein, all participating drivers were required to run three timed laps of the track. Post running, the participants had to prove their muscle strength through push-ups in 60 seconds. Post the fitness sessions, the participants took to the karts once again and were judged on their racing line and driving technique. This was also followed by a timed lap in the kart, which helped to tally the final score.

The format of the Volkswagen Ameo Cup 2018 will remain the same as the recently concluded Volkswagen Ameo Cup 2017. There would be in total 10 races throughout the season and the drivers would be classified in Pro and Junior category based on their experience in racing. At the end of the season, the winner of the Ameo Cup Pro category would get a sponsored seat in a higher series of racing while the winner of the Ameo Cup Junior category would get a sponsored seat in the Ameo Cup for one more year to get developed further.

The youngest driver selected this season is a 19 year old from Lucknow and the only international participant is from Bangladesh.

List of the selected 19 new Drivers