Mercedes Young Star Driver Season II Winners Announced

In search of young racing talent from India, Mercedes-Benz entered into the second season of the Young Star Driver Program that to the discovery of budding motorsport aspirants, received nearly twice the amount of registrations compared to the first season. The Young Star Driver Programme aims to inspire new aspirants and budding racers thereby encouraging motorsports in the country. Mercedes states that around 60 percent of the applicants for this season hailed from the smaller towns of Indore, Bhiwandi, Kota, Nashik, Kanpur, Jodhpur, Jalandhar, Udaipur, Cochin and the likes across the country.

Much like last year, the participants were judged by Mr. Vicky Chandhok and his team that trailed to all corners of the land to find the budding aspirants in the world of Indian motorsports. 24 finalists were shortlisted among 5970 aspirants that participated from over 100 cities and towns across India, out of which 6 participants reached the final round and had to compete against each other in the newly launched CLA45 AMG at the Buddh International F1 Circuit, near Delhi. In the final race, the podium finish was captured by Raj Bharath (Bangalore), followed by G Vikash Anand (Chennai) and Ali Yawar Hayat (Bangalore) for the third position.

With the conclusion of Season II, the winners will now embark on their journey into the world of professional motorsports and will be given an opportunity to showcase and develop their skills on international race tracks. The winner gets a seat in the AMG Driving Academy PRO-Training in Germany; whereas the runners-up get the AMG Driving Academy Basic and Advanced course in India. The winner also gets to meet Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula One team drivers Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg at the Singapore Grand Prix this year.