Zayn Khan elected FMSCI President

Bangalore: Zayn Khan was on Tuesday unanimously elected as the new president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India at the council meeting here.

Khan was elected to replace R Bharath Raj, who passed away while serving as president on August 15. The meeting was chaired by FMSCI Chairman Vijay Mallya and was attended by all councillors.

Khan is a resident of Hyderabad and represents the Western India Automobile Association. He has years of hands-on experience in the sport and has contributed a lot for the technical side of the sport in India.

As head of the stewards development, training and deployment, Khan has extensive knowledge about rallying. He also has experience in officiating at the international level and is hence a true administrator.

"It is overwhelming. I hope to bring unity to the FMSCI. Bharath was a good friend and I would like to take forward his tenure on a high note," Khan said.

"My immediate priorities would be to visit a lot of the clubs and promote the sport. We are at the absolute peak of motorsport in the country. Promotion of motorsport, publicity, getting more eyeballs to the sport and generally pushing the sport to the forefront in India are things I would like to strive at with the help of the team," he said in a release.

"There are three rounds left in the rallying season this year. Rallying will be in focus in Chikmagalur in December since the town is hosting the Asia Cup round. If all goes well, we could see an Asia-Pacific Rally Championship round in 2016.

"We would like to interact with the media at more regular intervals. We seek the support of the media in spreading the sport in the country. I would say this is the golden period for the sport in India. With the way things are in Europe and China, Indian can become the centre of motorsport if we play our cards right," he added.