Greater Noida, Oct 31 The Buddh International Circuit (BI) on Saturday hosted FIA-level racing for the first time in 13 years with the staging of Indian Racing League and F4 Indian Championship.
While the drivers competing at the venue as part of the Indian Racing Festival rated the circuit highly, organisers of the event believe that 30-40 per cent of the track needs to be revamped before it can host Formula 1 race again.
The Adani Group-owned circuit last hosted a Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix in 2013, before the event was dropped from the calendar amid taxation and regulatory disputes.
India has since made several attempts to revive the F1 race, with infrastructure and policy requirements among the issues that need to be addressed.
The chairman of Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL), the organisers of the Indian Racing Festival, Akhilesh Reddy said the extent of the work required should not be a major obstacle, but any revamp would depend on confirmation from Formula 1 and FIA — motorsport’s international governing body.
“Firstly, you have to take confirmation from Formula 1 that when they are available to come to India and when they can get it. So, you got to get in touch with FIA and then Formula 1 and then get the dates, and then accordingly, they can start revamping the track according to the requirements,” Reddy told PTI on the sidelines of the race.
“Because it’s not that you have to demolish the whole track and build a new one, I think hardly 30 to 40% of the track has to be revamped, so it’s not a big deal and it can be done very easily. So, all the possibilities are there provided once the confirmation from the FIA and Formula 1 comes out.”
The government has also begun examining the feasibility of bringing Formula 1 back to India, with a task force expected to assess infrastructure, operational requirements and other challenges associated with hosting major international motorsport events.
Recently, the Sports Ministry provisionally granted National Sports Federation (NSF) status to the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), but motorsport continues to seek greater government support.
“The amount of support that all the other sports are getting from the government, I think I would say that hardly 1 or 2% of that support is getting for motorsports. For example, in Khelo India, there’s no block called motorsports at all when we thought of registering it. I think this is high time now because we have a lot of talented kids,” Reddy said.
PTI has earlier reported that Formula 1 will need absolute clarity on tax rebates before advancing the discussions for the race to return in India while the local promoters, Adani Group, will need to shell out anything between Rs 300 crore and Rs 500 crore annually as hosting fees.
Additionally, the circuit needs a major upgrade which is likely to cost between Rs 150 crore and Rs 200 crore. Then there are substantial logistics and safety costs involved.
The drivers, however, felt the circuit was already in good condition, with its layout, corners and run-off areas drawing praise.
“It’s like a perfect track, perfect run-off, perfect corners. The facilities are perfect. There was MotoGP race here recently, so I think that just shows the level of of this track. Yeah, I think F1 should definitely make a comeback,” Nitiyiso Mabunda, who competed in Round 4 of the F4 Indian Championship, said after his race.
Raoul Hyman, who represents Goa Aces in the Indian Racing League, also backed the circuit’s readiness to host faster cars.
“For me it was perfect, no problems. I think the tarmac is great, no issues there. I mean honestly, I think it’s pretty ready to have some quicker cars go around as well. So the level of the circuit honestly is just as high as the circuits that F1 races on. In the sense of the layout, the corners, the gravel, where it is, the amount of runoff,” Hyman said after his race.
The South African also felt India has the audience to support more international motorsport events.
“So for me, I personally think it’s a shame that there’s not more top-flight racing championships that are coming here like F1, MotoGP. I think India is ripe for more motorsport to be here because the fan base is there. And yeah, I just hope that we maybe, as Indian Racing Festival, obviously with us but also the Indian F4 here as well,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hyman of Goa Aces JA Racing and Mabunda of Speed Demons Delhi registered contrasting wins to take pole position in IRL and F4 Indian Championship category races respectively on Day 1 of the Indian Racing Festival.
Hyman dominated from start to finish to take the pole position in Race 1 of the Indian Racing League – Round 2, with a time of 27 minutes 40.759 seconds. Sai Shiva Sankaran of Kolkata Royal Tigers produced an impressive performance with 27:55.806 to clinch the second spot right at the end while Jemma Moore (27:56.070) of Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru finished third.
Later in the day, Mabunda of Speed Demons Delhi clocked 32:21.842 to win Race 1 of the F4 Indian Championship – Round 4, less than a second ahead of fellow South African Luviwe Sambudla (32:22.757) of Goa Aces JA Racing. Aryan Narola, also of Goa Aces JA Racing, finished third with 32:22.896.
(PTI News)
