CHENNAI: In a first, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday launched the Chennai Formula Racing Circuit that will host India’s first-night street circuit races – Formula 4 Indian Championship and the Indian Racing League – on December 9-10 later this year.
The state government has partnered with Racing Promotions Private Limited (RRPL) for the project. RRPL is also the promoter of the Indian Racing League and F4 Indian Championship.
Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development of Tamil Nadu, Udhayanidhi Stalin, launched the circuit.
As for the track, it is a 3.5km layout, located around the Island Grounds that resides in the heart of the city.
Also, it would become the first-ever street circuit in India and South Asia that will be hosting a night race.
Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu (SDAT) has roped in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), the two crucial partners, to collaborate with RPPL.
The government will fund Rs 42 crores for the event while Rs 200 crores will be invested by RPPL, according to an SDAT press release.
“We’ll start the initial work by this month and it will be in full-fledged force by the end of September,” Sportstar quotes Akhilesh Reddy, chairman and managing director of RPPL, as having said.
“We started working on the ground two-and-a-half months earlier, and work for lights and the safety aspects will begin a month-and-a-half before the race,” Reddy added.
The 3.5 km layout will be the longest street circuit in India and South Asia that will host a night race, stretching across Island Grounds, Victory War Memorial and the Napier Bridge in the city.
F4 Indian Championship
The F4 Indian Championship is an FIA-certified championship intended for aspiring and up-and-coming racing drivers and the Indian Racing League, which is India’s only motorsports league with men and women drivers competing in a team-based championship. Drivers will be from India and overseas in both the championships,” the SDAT release further read.
“We have multiple simulations that we’ll go through at various different levels. Only post those simulations which are assessed by the FIA will we be able to go ahead with the race itself. We went through this during Hyderabad last year, so we have a bit of experience,” Armaan Ibrahim, one of the directors of RPPL, told Sportstar.
Indian Racing League
The league will be a team-based format with four drivers per team – two Indians and as many internationals including one mandatory female driver.
“Even last year, we had one female out of four drivers, and this time as well, we’ll have six female drivers and there might be a couple of drivers in the Formula 4 racing as well,” Reddy said.
Reddy said that they will be coming up with Formula 3 as well next year on this circuit.
