paddock is an overt statement of intent by the sport's youngest team,
Force India," says the New York Times. Owned by Vijay Mallya, he says
to NYT that his Force India team and auto racing can appeal to a
growing segment of young and affluent Indians.
The Times reports that Force India's hospitality suite is airy, easy
to move around in and full of smiling team members and visitors, and
Mallya says to the Times, "I am very proud of my new motor home, but
this motor home with a slow car means nothing," said Vijay Mallya, the
Indian billionaire who owns the racing team, as well as Kingfisher
Airlines, Kingfisher beer and other companies. "The car is performing,
the motor home is adding to it all, and I think that the message is
that on the track and off the track, we are serious in this business."
Anotehr excerpt from the article --
"Cricket, which is a religion in India, is for everyone," Mallya said.
"It's for your staff, for your chauffeur, for your boss, for your
maid, for everyone. But there is this breed of youngsters in India who
are proud of their success — we call them upwardly mobile and
aspirational Indians — they are earning well, they want to show their
wealth, they want to show that they are different."
The way they do that, he said, is by dressing differently, eating
differently and having different sporting interests.
"And that is where we felt, and research showed, that F1 could be
absolutely the ideal platform," he added.
But for the plan to succeed, Mallya said, the team must succeed.
Mallaya's who attends all of the teams races says to the Times, "The
leader of the team has to be leading the team," Mallya said. "The fact
that I'm here in the same uniform as the guys, walking around in the
garage and being wherever else I need to be, it inspires confidence.
It shows I'm committed. If I am demanding commitment from others, I
need to show I'm committed myself."
Read the full article at--
http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?emc=tnt&tntget=2008/05/11/sports/othersports/11prix.html&tntemail0=y
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