NEW DELHI: There is now official confirmation that MotoGP, the pinnacle of two-wheel racing, is coming to India within the next two years. MotoGP commercial rights holder Dorna Sports and Noida-based Fairstreet Sports on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for seven years to bring the championship here.
While the organisers are hopeful that the inaugural “Grand Prix of Bharat” will be a part of the 2023 MotoGP calendar and are currently in talks with the Uttar Pradesh government and Sports Ministry to make this happen, Dorna MD Carlos Ezpeleta has been on record telling motorsport.com, “In 2023 it is totally out of the question”. So a more more realistic option for the India leg of the FIM MotoGP World Championship looks to be 2024.
Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and his team was in India on Wednesday to meet with authorities and “potential event promoter” (as per the official statement issued by the MotoGP organisers) Fairstreet Sports.
Ezpeleta’s visit began at the Buddh International Circuit (host to the Formula I Indian Grand Prix from 2011-2013) outside New Delhi – the “target” venue to host the “possible” MotoGP event. For
The careful phrasing in the official release is a clear pointer to the fact that while the MoU might be in place, beginning with the FIM homologation of the track, there are still financial, tax and bureaucratic clearances that are still to be signed, sealed and delivered. Clearly, the well documented discontinuation of Formula I in India after a troubled three-year run has been factored into the wording of the official statement.
Coming back to Ezpeleta’s visit, the Dorna delegation also travelled to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, in which the circuit is located, to meet with the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal “Nandi”.
Finally the visit ended with a presentation in New Delhi to local media and representatives of the motorcycling industry, which showcased the “great expectation the country has for MotoGP”.
At the media conference, Ezpeleta said: “India is a huge country and market, and an especially important one for the two-wheeled industry and MotoGP as a sport. The Championship has a huge fan base there and being able to hold a MotoGP event in India would be both an incredible spectacle for our fans at the same time as allowing us to continue to grow the sport in the region, which is hugely important for our all our partners and the manufacturers in particular given the hundreds of millions of two-wheeled vehicles on its roads. We would love to be able to see this project through and bring these incredible MotoGP bikes to race in front of the Indian fans.
“At MotoGP we are committed to our fans and aim to make the sport accessible to all, regardless of where they are, who they are or their economic status. Motorcycles are an incredible tool for transportation and in many areas of the world they drive society, providing economic mobility and powering families around the world. Racing in India would be a reflection of our commitment to open the doors to the sport as widely as we can, and would be and an important achievement for the Championship.”
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, during the meeting with Fairstreet Sports team, noted: “India could potentially be one of MotoGP’s biggest markets in terms of viewership as well as revenue.
“MotoGP is a critical asset thanks to the viewer loyalty that the sport enjoys and the competitive nature it embodies, already reaching nearly half a billion homes around the world. Dorna Sports, the sole commercial and television rights holder, produces the world feed television coverage of each Grand Prix throughout the season, from acquisition to distribution, as part of a 360 degree event management philosophy.”
The UP administration, meanwhile, has promised “all the necessary support”. Adityanath stated: “It is a matter of great pride for Uttar Pradesh to host such a globally prestigious mega sports event. Not only will the event boost the hospitality and tourism sectors, but it will also put UP on the global platform. Our government will provide all the necessary support to make this event a huge success.”
Speaking to PTI earlier, Fairstreet Sports COO Pushkar Nath said they have done their homework for the organisation of the high-profile race, taking into consideration what went wrong with Formula 1 nine years ago.
“We have taken all the precautionary steps for the India round. We ave taken all the steps to ensure we can race in India for a long period,” Nath told PTI.
Nath said the race is not possible without the support of government and he is thankful to both the state and Centre for their help in getting the event to India.
“It is like hosting the Commonwealth Games with 5,000 people working on the race itself leaving aside the fans and everyone else. The BJP government both at state and Centre have been really helpful.
“They also want to boost tourism in India. People will be coming from Europe and other parts of the world and it would be shown live in 200 countries,” said Nath.
Fairstreet Sports will be paying millions of dollars to Dorna for the race every year. It wasn’t sustainable for the Jaypee Group when it hosted Formula 1 but Nath said his company has factored in the huge costs involved.
“Not just readying the race track, the biggest challenge will be to create the infrastructure for the race,” he said.
Besides taxation, custom clearance emerged as a big issue during the Formula 1 days and the concerned stakeholders can’t afford to go wrong on this front again.
Former FMSCI president Vicky Chandhok, who was at the helm when Formula 1 came to India, said seamless entry of the equipment is a must for the success of the event.
“The arrival of the equipment has to be seamless. If that happens, the word will spread that India has changed and it has become feasible to organise races here, then it could also lead to return of Formula 1. It is a massive market at the end of the day. NASCAR too may come in.
“We have already hosted the Asian Road Racing Championship in the past. So MotoGP has to be the next step,” he added.
The all-electric Formula E race is also coming to Hyderabad next February and if MotoGP can go ahead as planned, Indian motorsport will finally get what it’s desperately waiting for.
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