Vinayak eagerly waits to see what will become of the plans to build three new racetracks in India, and hopes that the pitfalls of yesteryear can be avoided.
India’s small, but committed, motorsport community of drivers, officials and journalists have long felt that the country’s aspirations in the sport are ill-served by only three dedicated racetracks doing duty in a haphazard fashion.
While the crumbling Kari Motor Speedway resembles a slightly overgrown karting circuit, the Madras Motor Race Track’s (MMRT) bid to upgrade its facilities keeps hitting snags. Resurfacing issues, and the main straight getting flooded come to mind. However, due to a lack of options, the two venues continue to do duty.
The Buddh International Circuit (BIC), near Greater Noida, was the ultimate attention grabber when it hosted three consecutive rounds of the Formula 1 World Championship. The absence of India from the F1 calendar in years since was felt hard, but national racing series hosting races there kept the circuit active – aside from a host of other non-motorsport related activities. The latter serve as a means for the Jaypee Group to try and recover some fraction of the money it spent to bring F1 to India. The hiring rates are not affordable for anyone beyond OEMs and well-heeled petrol heads with fancy cars in the NCR.
So it’s definitely good news that three new racetracks, which will be of the much more affordable FIA Grade 2, 3 and 4 specification are potentially being built by a private entity in parts of the country that are expected to attract a lot of serious motorsport aficionados.
Hosur, in Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, and somewhere between Mumbai and Pune are being looked at as the sites of these brand-new circuits.
The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the nation’s sanctioning body for motorsport, has been in touch with this corporation as per media reports, and is willing to offer help in terms of the requirements of homologation as per the grade to which the circuit is being built.
Details are being kept under wraps until plans get firmed up to start the work, and as both a motorsport follower and motorsport journalist, the news definitely has me excited.
However, I can only hope that these new circuits don’t go down the same slippery slope of politics and favouritism based on the clout of a particular racing club or a manufacturer.
It’s no secret that the three major corporations involved in various types of motorsport – JK Tyre, MRF and TVS – have long tried to shut out each other and other auto companies by siding with the various factions that fight to control motorsport in India.
There’s a reason why JK Tyre never visits the MMRT for any of its racing rounds, and why the MMSC-affiliated MRF has previously kept its racing activities restricted to the MMRT.
The MMRT, with the help of MRF and MMSC, has often tried to promote itself as the cradle of Indian motorsport, and it does host a lot of series – but there’s been inadequate investment in infrastructure and promotion beyond the local media. When the circuit received Grade 2 certification, it proudly stated that it could host – among other series – Indycar racing too, but that’s just a pipe dream. Work is currently underway to upgrade the circuit, along with a new pit complex and safety upgrades too, but work has been slow and there have been numerous public setbacks.
If this new private player can avoid taking sides and just make some world-class facilities available to those wanting to get their feet wet, such pitfalls may well be avoided. And I sincerely hope that’s the case.
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