Sailesh Bolisetti set for British GT debut

Oulton Park (Britain), April 4 (IANS) Indian saloon car racer Sailesh Bolisetti is all set to make his British GT series debut with the Lotus Sport UK team here this weekend.

The seven-round 2012 season of the premier British Sportscar Championship is shaping up to be one of the most fiercely competitive in recent times, thanks to a strong 35-car grid featuring several manufacturer-backed entries.

Bolisetti will be piloting the Lotus Evora in the GT4 category that also includes cars like the Nissan 370Z, BMW M3, Aston Martin N24, Ginetta G50 and Mazda MX5 GT.

However, he is well-prepared for the weekend which at best will be a trial by fire given the number of experienced drivers on the grid. Having got some track time in the Evora GT4 last month, the Vizag lad concedes that it is going to be a steep learning curve.

'My first experience in the Evora was overwhelming; it was a completely different beast to anything else I had driven before. Having raced front-wheel drive cars throughout my career, I had to make considerable changes to my driving style to adapt to the 360 bhp race car.

'Maybe, it didn't help that it was my first time in a rear-wheel drive, but after a few sessions I was reasonably comfortable with its behaviour and I am looking forward to carry the momentum into my first race weekend,' said Bolisetti.

The Lotus team was satisfied with Bolisetti's progress at the test, with his experienced teammate Phil Glew acting as the benchmark throughout.

The weekend at Oulton Park comprises of two practice sessions, two qualifying sessions and two one-hour races. Harbouring the ambition to drive Le Mans-style endurance events, the format finds favour with the 2010 Volkswagen Polo Cup India champion.

'To me, long, endurance-style racing appeals more rather than 30-minute sprints. In that sense, I think this is the right first step as the races are an hour long minimum, we have a couple of two-hour events and even a three-hour event on calendar later in the season,' Bolisetti said.

Despite being only in his second year of international racing, Sailesh is aiming to push hard from the get-go, even though the whole setup of the championship and machinery may take some time getting used to.

'There is no time to waste really. I know the car reasonably well and have the full support of my team behind me. So I'll be pushing hard from the very first practice session,' he added.