Team TVS Racing Aravind K P becomes first Indian to win a motocross championship abroad.

Aravind K P of Team TVS Racing became the first Indian rider to win a motocross championship abroad when he recently won this year’s Sri Lanka Association of Racing Drivers and Riders (SLARDAR) Championship 2011. Championship winner, Aravind K P of Team TVS Racing, who finished with a total of 73 points, along with TVS Racing, Advisor Racing – R&D, Arvind Pangaonkar were felicitated at a glittering ceremony held recently.  

Aravind competed along with 21 riders including teammates Santosh CS, HL Pradeep and 2010 UAM Asian champion from Japan Tomoya Suzuki for the title.

Aravind praised the SLARDAR Championship for its organized event and the track with brings the best of both the rider and their machines.

Such tracks compel riders to push harder and excel. Our say, Congratulations on making India proud.

 

 

Team TVS Racing Aravind K P becomes first Indian to win a motocross championship abroad.

Aravind K P of Team TVS Racing became the first Indian rider to win a motocross championship abroad when he recently won this year’s Sri Lanka Association of Racing Drivers and Riders (SLARDAR) Championship 2011. Championship winner, Aravind K P of Team TVS Racing, who finished with a total of 73 points, along with TVS Racing, Advisor Racing – R&D, Arvind Pangaonkar were felicitated at a glittering ceremony held recently.  

Aravind competed along with 21 riders including teammates Santosh CS, HL Pradeep and 2010 UAM Asian champion from Japan Tomoya Suzuki for the title.

Aravind praised the SLARDAR Championship for its organized event and the track with brings the best of both the rider and their machines.

Such tracks compel riders to push harder and excel. Our say, Congratulations on making India proud.

 

 

MotoGP loses its young lion

Marco Simoncelli’s arrival in MotoGP’s lead pack earlier this year was a much-needed boost for the series. Here was a man who didn’t care about the status quo, who wasn’t interested in merely taking his place in the dreary follow-my-leader processions that had become the norm in what is supposed to be bike racing’s greatest championship. Here was a real racer, and a real racer with a lion’s mane of hair.
Of course, Simoncelli’s graduation to the premier class in 2010 wasn’t greeted with delight by some of his rivals who feared his reputation for fearsome riding. Simoncelli didn’t know how not to have a go. If he saw the slightest chink of daylight between a rival and the kerb, then he went for the gap. His childhood hero was Kevin Schwantz, so it’s no surprise he raced thus.

That’s why Simoncelli was becoming hugely popular, just as Schwantz had been. He was one of those riders you always looked forward to watching, because you knew that he was never going to just find his place in the pack and circulate. He was a fighter, who would do whatever he could to hunt down the rider in front of him. He loved racing motorcycles but he lived for the battle.

It is a horrible irony that the crash that killed him should have been an innocuous front-end lose in a 65mph corner, the result of which would normally have been nothing more than a helmet-full of Italian curses and a scuffed set of leathers. Usually, that crash would have sent Simoncelli sliding out of harm’s way. But when he went down the tyres kept gripping, continuing the arc of the corner. That’s what brought him into the path of two riders behind him. At least he never knew anything about what happened next.

---

Simoncelli was a racing throwback: scruffy and wild, like racers of 20 or 30 years ago. The lanky, hirsute Italian reinforced that link to the good ol’ days by assuming a Jimi Hendrix persona with his crazily unkempt mop of hair. When he won the 250 title in 2008 he celebrated with a Hendrix-style T-shirt, but in fact he couldn’t name a single Hendrix song! He wasn’t embarrassed by that and indeed he was one of those people who never seemed embarrassed because he was never trying to be anything but himself. He was funny and a bit eccentric and he made a virtue of his goofiness. If he messed up or did something stupid, he’d shrug his shoulders to suggest that no one is perfect, which of course is entirely true.

Simoncelli was just as fearless in the paddock. He was a great interview – not at all guarded in what he said, obviously excited about going racing and a delight to watch as he talked with his hands, those big arms always flailing around to emphasise every point. His honesty was always refreshing, especially in a paddock where too many people try too hard to toe the corporate line.

Simoncelli liked to live large and he would have made a great superstar. Asked to conjure up his dream dinner party, he named Valentino Rossi, Barry Sheene and Steve McQueen as his guests. You can only imagine how messy that would’ve got.

Rossi says Simoncelli was like his younger brother. They were born a few miles apart: Simoncelli in the beach resort of Cattolica, Rossi a short ride into the hills in Tavullia. They trained together and were often seen enjoying a beer and a pizza.

As a boy, Simoncelli didn’t only worship Schwantz, he also appreciated the talents of Eddie Lawson – the Americans who were once the yin and yang of GP racing. His aim was to become a rider who blended the Texan’s wildness with the Californian’s cool: “I try to become like both of them”. His recent form suggested he was on his way to achieving that dream.

He was stunningly fast at the start of 2011 but still had to learn how to run with MotoGP’s leading pack. The controversy that followed his Le Mans collision with Dani Pedrosa affected his results but by Brno he had put that behind him to score his first podium. He backed that up with a brilliant runner-up finish at Phillip Island, the weekend before his fatal crash. Phillip Island was surely the race that proved he had come of age, where he found some yin to go with all that yang. He was running a safe second when a squall of rain hit the track. Several other riders crashed but Simoncelli didn’t. He slowed down, had Andrea Dovizioso come past him, then counter-attacked to regain second place.

Like every racer, Simoncelli searched for that knife-edge between riding over the limit and not riding close enough to the limit. In Australia it seemed like he had finally found it. It’s a tragedy he’s gone and we will all miss him – he would have been a sight to behold on a 1000.

---

It started with a Christmas present
Like nearly all his MotoGP rivals, Simoncelli inherited his love of motorcycling from his father who ran an ice-cream business in their home town of Cattolica, a popular beach resort on Italy’s Adriatic coast. Paolo Simoncelli – who used the profits from his business to fund his son’s career – was a late starter on bikes by Italian standards. He was in his thirties when he bought his first motorcycle, and while he was visiting his local dealer, four-year-old Marco spotted a minicross bike. His father gave it to him for Christmas.

“I started riding the minicross bike around the garden, just for fun,” Simoncelli recalled. “Then four years later my father bought me a minimoto bike and I told my father I wanted to race. We went to my mother to ask her. At first she said, no, no, then after she said okay.”

From his earliest days racing minimotos around tracks in the Adriatic resorts – the crucible of Italian racing talent – he was well known for his willingness to rub elbows with rivals. During this time he began a bitter rivalry with Andrea Dovizioso that continued all the way into MotoGP.

After back-to-back victories in the 1999 and 2000 Italian minimoto championships, Simoncelli made the traditional step into 125s, winning the European championship just two years later in 2002.

---

Super Sic’s GP years
Simoncelli may only have been 24-years-old when he was cruelly struck down at Sepang, but he was already close to completing his ninth season in GPs. ‘Super Sic’ (the nickname came from his on-screen name abbreviation – ‘SIC’ – which was chosen because ‘SIM’ had already been taken by Julian Simon) started his full-time GP career in 2003 and took his first GP win the following year at Jerez. He only scored one more 125 GP in the next year and a half, his progress hampered by too many falls.

Nevertheless, his talent had been noted by Giampiero Sacchi, the man who had brought Valentino Rossi into the GP racing. Sacchi signed Simoncelli for the 250 Gilera team in 2006, but for a couple of years Sacchi wasn’t sure if he’d done the right thing. Simoncelli jumped off to often and didn’t score his first 250 podium until his third year in the class. The 2008 season was a massive turnaround: he scored his first top-three, took his first win and went on to claim the championship. He failed to retain the crown in 2009 after a couple of crashes late in the season.

Last year Simoncelli didn’t make the greatest of starts to his MotoGP career. “It was terrible,” he said. “I didn’t feel the bike and the Bridgestones were difficult to understand. I had some bad crashes, but we stayed calm and step by step we solved our problems.”

By the end of 2010 Simoncelli was on the pace: he scored his first front-row start at Valencia and battled for his first podium at Estoril. This year he took his first pole at Catalunya, but the first half of the season was spoiled by a number of mistakes.

---

Simoncelli’s GP career
2002    32nd 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2003    21st 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2004    11th 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2005    5th 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2006    10th 250 World Championship (Gilera)
2007    10th 250 World Championship (Gilera)
2008    250 World Champion (Gilera)
2009    3rd 250 World Championship (Gilera)
2010    8th MotoGP World Championship (Honda)

First GP: Brno, 2003 (125)
First GP win: Jerez, 2004 (125)
Total GP wins: 14 (12 x 250, 2 x 125)
Total GP podiums: 31 (2 x MotoGP, 22 x 250, 7 x 125)
Total GP poles: 15 (2 x MotoGP, 10 x 250, 3 x 125)

(Photography: DPPI)

MotoGP loses its young lion

Marco Simoncelli’s arrival in MotoGP’s lead pack earlier this year was a much-needed boost for the series. Here was a man who didn’t care about the status quo, who wasn’t interested in merely taking his place in the dreary follow-my-leader processions that had become the norm in what is supposed to be bike racing’s greatest championship. Here was a real racer, and a real racer with a lion’s mane of hair.
Of course, Simoncelli’s graduation to the premier class in 2010 wasn’t greeted with delight by some of his rivals who feared his reputation for fearsome riding. Simoncelli didn’t know how not to have a go. If he saw the slightest chink of daylight between a rival and the kerb, then he went for the gap. His childhood hero was Kevin Schwantz, so it’s no surprise he raced thus.

That’s why Simoncelli was becoming hugely popular, just as Schwantz had been. He was one of those riders you always looked forward to watching, because you knew that he was never going to just find his place in the pack and circulate. He was a fighter, who would do whatever he could to hunt down the rider in front of him. He loved racing motorcycles but he lived for the battle.

It is a horrible irony that the crash that killed him should have been an innocuous front-end lose in a 65mph corner, the result of which would normally have been nothing more than a helmet-full of Italian curses and a scuffed set of leathers. Usually, that crash would have sent Simoncelli sliding out of harm’s way. But when he went down the tyres kept gripping, continuing the arc of the corner. That’s what brought him into the path of two riders behind him. At least he never knew anything about what happened next.

---

Simoncelli was a racing throwback: scruffy and wild, like racers of 20 or 30 years ago. The lanky, hirsute Italian reinforced that link to the good ol’ days by assuming a Jimi Hendrix persona with his crazily unkempt mop of hair. When he won the 250 title in 2008 he celebrated with a Hendrix-style T-shirt, but in fact he couldn’t name a single Hendrix song! He wasn’t embarrassed by that and indeed he was one of those people who never seemed embarrassed because he was never trying to be anything but himself. He was funny and a bit eccentric and he made a virtue of his goofiness. If he messed up or did something stupid, he’d shrug his shoulders to suggest that no one is perfect, which of course is entirely true.

Simoncelli was just as fearless in the paddock. He was a great interview – not at all guarded in what he said, obviously excited about going racing and a delight to watch as he talked with his hands, those big arms always flailing around to emphasise every point. His honesty was always refreshing, especially in a paddock where too many people try too hard to toe the corporate line.

Simoncelli liked to live large and he would have made a great superstar. Asked to conjure up his dream dinner party, he named Valentino Rossi, Barry Sheene and Steve McQueen as his guests. You can only imagine how messy that would’ve got.

Rossi says Simoncelli was like his younger brother. They were born a few miles apart: Simoncelli in the beach resort of Cattolica, Rossi a short ride into the hills in Tavullia. They trained together and were often seen enjoying a beer and a pizza.

As a boy, Simoncelli didn’t only worship Schwantz, he also appreciated the talents of Eddie Lawson – the Americans who were once the yin and yang of GP racing. His aim was to become a rider who blended the Texan’s wildness with the Californian’s cool: “I try to become like both of them”. His recent form suggested he was on his way to achieving that dream.

He was stunningly fast at the start of 2011 but still had to learn how to run with MotoGP’s leading pack. The controversy that followed his Le Mans collision with Dani Pedrosa affected his results but by Brno he had put that behind him to score his first podium. He backed that up with a brilliant runner-up finish at Phillip Island, the weekend before his fatal crash. Phillip Island was surely the race that proved he had come of age, where he found some yin to go with all that yang. He was running a safe second when a squall of rain hit the track. Several other riders crashed but Simoncelli didn’t. He slowed down, had Andrea Dovizioso come past him, then counter-attacked to regain second place.

Like every racer, Simoncelli searched for that knife-edge between riding over the limit and not riding close enough to the limit. In Australia it seemed like he had finally found it. It’s a tragedy he’s gone and we will all miss him – he would have been a sight to behold on a 1000.

---

It started with a Christmas present
Like nearly all his MotoGP rivals, Simoncelli inherited his love of motorcycling from his father who ran an ice-cream business in their home town of Cattolica, a popular beach resort on Italy’s Adriatic coast. Paolo Simoncelli – who used the profits from his business to fund his son’s career – was a late starter on bikes by Italian standards. He was in his thirties when he bought his first motorcycle, and while he was visiting his local dealer, four-year-old Marco spotted a minicross bike. His father gave it to him for Christmas.

“I started riding the minicross bike around the garden, just for fun,” Simoncelli recalled. “Then four years later my father bought me a minimoto bike and I told my father I wanted to race. We went to my mother to ask her. At first she said, no, no, then after she said okay.”

From his earliest days racing minimotos around tracks in the Adriatic resorts – the crucible of Italian racing talent – he was well known for his willingness to rub elbows with rivals. During this time he began a bitter rivalry with Andrea Dovizioso that continued all the way into MotoGP.

After back-to-back victories in the 1999 and 2000 Italian minimoto championships, Simoncelli made the traditional step into 125s, winning the European championship just two years later in 2002.

---

Super Sic’s GP years
Simoncelli may only have been 24-years-old when he was cruelly struck down at Sepang, but he was already close to completing his ninth season in GPs. ‘Super Sic’ (the nickname came from his on-screen name abbreviation – ‘SIC’ – which was chosen because ‘SIM’ had already been taken by Julian Simon) started his full-time GP career in 2003 and took his first GP win the following year at Jerez. He only scored one more 125 GP in the next year and a half, his progress hampered by too many falls.

Nevertheless, his talent had been noted by Giampiero Sacchi, the man who had brought Valentino Rossi into the GP racing. Sacchi signed Simoncelli for the 250 Gilera team in 2006, but for a couple of years Sacchi wasn’t sure if he’d done the right thing. Simoncelli jumped off to often and didn’t score his first 250 podium until his third year in the class. The 2008 season was a massive turnaround: he scored his first top-three, took his first win and went on to claim the championship. He failed to retain the crown in 2009 after a couple of crashes late in the season.

Last year Simoncelli didn’t make the greatest of starts to his MotoGP career. “It was terrible,” he said. “I didn’t feel the bike and the Bridgestones were difficult to understand. I had some bad crashes, but we stayed calm and step by step we solved our problems.”

By the end of 2010 Simoncelli was on the pace: he scored his first front-row start at Valencia and battled for his first podium at Estoril. This year he took his first pole at Catalunya, but the first half of the season was spoiled by a number of mistakes.

---

Simoncelli’s GP career
2002    32nd 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2003    21st 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2004    11th 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2005    5th 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2006    10th 250 World Championship (Gilera)
2007    10th 250 World Championship (Gilera)
2008    250 World Champion (Gilera)
2009    3rd 250 World Championship (Gilera)
2010    8th MotoGP World Championship (Honda)

First GP: Brno, 2003 (125)
First GP win: Jerez, 2004 (125)
Total GP wins: 14 (12 x 250, 2 x 125)
Total GP podiums: 31 (2 x MotoGP, 22 x 250, 7 x 125)
Total GP poles: 15 (2 x MotoGP, 10 x 250, 3 x 125)

(Photography: DPPI)

Hero Moto to sponsor Narain Karthikeyan for Indian GP

Hero Moto is gearing for its entry into the world of top-level motor racing. The company recently announced that they will be sponsoring Narain Karthikeyan and his team for the Formula One Grand Prix to be held in India next month. As per the deal, the Hero Moto logo will be prominently displayed on Narain’s HRT-Cosworth F111 car, giving the brand huge coverage and publicity in what is unarguably the country’s largest sporting event of the year. 

Speaking on the ocassion, Narain Karthikeyan stated ,“Hero is one of the oldest and most prominent Indian brands and I am pleased to be associated with it. Today is a very important step in the right direction for motor sports in the country. The sport has come a long way since the day I started racing. Viewership has gone up a lot, and corporate support is now more forthcoming. Formula One is in its nascent stage in India with great potential waiting to be explored. I hope with the support from Hero Motors we will be able to scale new milestones in the times to come”. 

Commenting on the association with Narain Karthikeyan, Mr. Pankaj Munjal, Managing Director, Hero Motors said,“Hero Motors is committed to be amongst the first Indian corporate houses to compete in the Indian Grand Prix and we are indeed very proud to be associated with Narain Karthikeyan and Hispania Racing Team (HRT). The alliance with the HRT will provide a unique platform for the group to communicate its extensive of competencies to a global audience. The association with Narain Karthikeyan and HRT team has lot of synergies in our core values for which we are known for and truly reflects our commitment towards excellence, speed, growth & innovation.”

The Indian Grand Prix will be held in Greater Noida, India from October 28th – 30th October 2011. 

Hero Moto to sponsor Narain Karthikeyan for Indian GP

Hero Moto is gearing for its entry into the world of top-level motor racing. The company recently announced that they will be sponsoring Narain Karthikeyan and his team for the Formula One Grand Prix to be held in India next month. As per the deal, the Hero Moto logo will be prominently displayed on Narain’s HRT-Cosworth F111 car, giving the brand huge coverage and publicity in what is unarguably the country’s largest sporting event of the year. 

Speaking on the ocassion, Narain Karthikeyan stated ,“Hero is one of the oldest and most prominent Indian brands and I am pleased to be associated with it. Today is a very important step in the right direction for motor sports in the country. The sport has come a long way since the day I started racing. Viewership has gone up a lot, and corporate support is now more forthcoming. Formula One is in its nascent stage in India with great potential waiting to be explored. I hope with the support from Hero Motors we will be able to scale new milestones in the times to come”. 

Commenting on the association with Narain Karthikeyan, Mr. Pankaj Munjal, Managing Director, Hero Motors said,“Hero Motors is committed to be amongst the first Indian corporate houses to compete in the Indian Grand Prix and we are indeed very proud to be associated with Narain Karthikeyan and Hispania Racing Team (HRT). The alliance with the HRT will provide a unique platform for the group to communicate its extensive of competencies to a global audience. The association with Narain Karthikeyan and HRT team has lot of synergies in our core values for which we are known for and truly reflects our commitment towards excellence, speed, growth & innovation.”

The Indian Grand Prix will be held in Greater Noida, India from October 28th – 30th October 2011. 

 

‘pit stop’ motor sports organised its second event, ‘2W Rally of Nashik 2011’, flagged off on 21st August 2011

 

from village Paste near Sinner in Nashik district. The 125 km route of the rally consisted of 2 special stages ‘Alfa’& ‘Beta’ stretching 7.5 kms each and both the SS were repeated adding up to 39 kms of adventurous and challenging trail each. This was a treat for motor sports lovers as well as spectators. A total of 40 participants from the region participated in the event.

The first bike was flagged off at 0801 hours and defending champion Ganeash Lokhande (J.A.W.S. Racing team) was 1.03 minutes ahead of Parvinderingh Hunjan. The third position saw a tough fight between Kaustubh Macche and Shahsank Shevale, however Macche managed to grab the position by a margin of 8 seconds.

The scooter class had veteran rider Shamim Khan on his Mahindra rodeo racing to an easy win over the rest in the scooter class. Khan was 5 minutes ahead of Harshal Kadbhane while Babuddin Ansari finished third.

---

The rally had a special Bullet class for Royal Enfield riders with 10 entries from Nashik and Pune. This gave the spectators a very unusual experience, watching the bullets going flat out on the dirt terrain. In this class, Arvind Singh had a comfortable win over Sushil Kakad with an advantage of 2 minutes. Riding 19 seconds behind was third position holder Anand Bansode.

 

The motorcycle classes too had some interesting competition. In the Class 2 (Group “C”: Above 130 cc up to 165 cc) Amit Suryavanshi emerged as the winner, followed by Maansingh Thakur and Vikram Singh Rajput. The winners of Class 7 (Group “B”: Above 210 cc up to 260 cc) were Ganesh Lokhande followed by Kautubh Macche and the third position was taken by Kanhay Athley who even won the Best First Timers award.

Class 8(Group “B”: up to 130 cc) positions were taken by Parvinder Singh Hunjan, Suraj Kute and Akshay Patil. Suraj Kute had a lead of more than 7 minutes over the third position holder. Class 9 (Group “B”: Above 130 cc up to 165 cc) had young Shashank Shevale win the class followed by Kalyan Jambhekar and Mohan Pawar.

Sujeet Kalsekar, Ganesh Lokhande’s tuner was awarded the Tuners Trophy for motocycles and Balu Bendale, Shamim Khans tuner got the tuners trophy in scooters while Baljeet Singh Kochhar, got the tuner’s Trophy in Bullet class for tuning Arvind Singh’s motorcycle.

Pictures: Chetan Save & ‘pit stop’ motor sports

 

‘pit stop’ motor sports organised its second event, ‘2W Rally of Nashik 2011’, flagged off on 21st August 2011

 

from village Paste near Sinner in Nashik district. The 125 km route of the rally consisted of 2 special stages ‘Alfa’& ‘Beta’ stretching 7.5 kms each and both the SS were repeated adding up to 39 kms of adventurous and challenging trail each. This was a treat for motor sports lovers as well as spectators. A total of 40 participants from the region participated in the event.

The first bike was flagged off at 0801 hours and defending champion Ganeash Lokhande (J.A.W.S. Racing team) was 1.03 minutes ahead of Parvinderingh Hunjan. The third position saw a tough fight between Kaustubh Macche and Shahsank Shevale, however Macche managed to grab the position by a margin of 8 seconds.

The scooter class had veteran rider Shamim Khan on his Mahindra rodeo racing to an easy win over the rest in the scooter class. Khan was 5 minutes ahead of Harshal Kadbhane while Babuddin Ansari finished third.

---

The rally had a special Bullet class for Royal Enfield riders with 10 entries from Nashik and Pune. This gave the spectators a very unusual experience, watching the bullets going flat out on the dirt terrain. In this class, Arvind Singh had a comfortable win over Sushil Kakad with an advantage of 2 minutes. Riding 19 seconds behind was third position holder Anand Bansode.

 

The motorcycle classes too had some interesting competition. In the Class 2 (Group “C”: Above 130 cc up to 165 cc) Amit Suryavanshi emerged as the winner, followed by Maansingh Thakur and Vikram Singh Rajput. The winners of Class 7 (Group “B”: Above 210 cc up to 260 cc) were Ganesh Lokhande followed by Kautubh Macche and the third position was taken by Kanhay Athley who even won the Best First Timers award.

Class 8(Group “B”: up to 130 cc) positions were taken by Parvinder Singh Hunjan, Suraj Kute and Akshay Patil. Suraj Kute had a lead of more than 7 minutes over the third position holder. Class 9 (Group “B”: Above 130 cc up to 165 cc) had young Shashank Shevale win the class followed by Kalyan Jambhekar and Mohan Pawar.

Sujeet Kalsekar, Ganesh Lokhande’s tuner was awarded the Tuners Trophy for motocycles and Balu Bendale, Shamim Khans tuner got the tuners trophy in scooters while Baljeet Singh Kochhar, got the tuner’s Trophy in Bullet class for tuning Arvind Singh’s motorcycle.

Pictures: Chetan Save & ‘pit stop’ motor sports

The Madras Motor Sports Club track in Irungattukottai is being redesigned to make it a viable option to host a MotoGP race in the future, confirmed Amit Arora, the general manager of MMSC operations.

The track would be upgraded from its current Grade-4 status to a Grade-2 status which will make it the country’s second most advanced track once the F1 track at Noida opens up.

 

MMSC is already in talks with MotoGP promoters, Dorna and racing circuit designers Apex, from UK. The sports club is getting vital information to design a racetrack suited for MotoGP and Formula 2 races.

Racers have been asking for several improvements to be made to the 21 year old circuit for a long time and it seems they will now be getting more than they hoped for in a time as short as 3 years. MMSC will also be making efforts to make sure there is minimum interference with the day-to-day activities of the circuit during this time.

“The plan is to create a multi-use venue for motorsport, alongside an entertainment area. It will have shopping malls, hotels and restaurants. There will be new paddock buildings and garages. The length of the main straight will be increased and corners will be worked to improve speed.” Arora added.

Meanwhile, the construction of the Greater Noida Formula 1 racetrack is progressing at a reasonable pace and the track should be able to host its first Grand Prix at the end of this year. A second, smaller racetrack for Go-Kart racing is also being constructed alongside. With Indians Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok getting their hands on a F1 steering this year, looks like motor racing in India has finally come to life 🙂

The Madras Motor Sports Club track in Irungattukottai is being redesigned to make it a viable option to host a MotoGP race in the future, confirmed Amit Arora, the general manager of MMSC operations.

The track would be upgraded from its current Grade-4 status to a Grade-2 status which will make it the country’s second most advanced track once the F1 track at Noida opens up.

 

MMSC is already in talks with MotoGP promoters, Dorna and racing circuit designers Apex, from UK. The sports club is getting vital information to design a racetrack suited for MotoGP and Formula 2 races.

Racers have been asking for several improvements to be made to the 21 year old circuit for a long time and it seems they will now be getting more than they hoped for in a time as short as 3 years. MMSC will also be making efforts to make sure there is minimum interference with the day-to-day activities of the circuit during this time.

“The plan is to create a multi-use venue for motorsport, alongside an entertainment area. It will have shopping malls, hotels and restaurants. There will be new paddock buildings and garages. The length of the main straight will be increased and corners will be worked to improve speed.” Arora added.

Meanwhile, the construction of the Greater Noida Formula 1 racetrack is progressing at a reasonable pace and the track should be able to host its first Grand Prix at the end of this year. A second, smaller racetrack for Go-Kart racing is also being constructed alongside. With Indians Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok getting their hands on a F1 steering this year, looks like motor racing in India has finally come to life 🙂