Racing has been a passion for mankind after the invention of the wheel. Man always liked to race with each other in every aspect of life but when it came to automotive racing, man loved it the most as an automobile race is where man and machine are together put to a test.
We all know the fever of F1 and MotoGP. The addiction is so maddening that finally India has made its first racing track in Greater Noida. But F1 was not only the reason this track was made. India is a developing nation and there are lot of expectations from India no matter what.
Indian cricket fever is known to the whole world which gave birth to the famous IPL series. The same concept has been applied in motorsport industry to make it big and to take over the Indian market. The name of the series will be called I1 Super Series. Radical SR3 cars will be used for these races. There will be nine teams which will compete in these races which span through the circuits across Asia. India only has two tracks which are capable for this race, The Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida and MMSC, Chennai so the pilot race and the finals are held on these circuits.
Indian cricket legend, SachinTendulkar will be an advisor and brand ambassador of these races. He and YuvrajSingh are approached to buy one team each out of the nine teams. Sachin Tendulkar who is a fan of F1 races will be seen as an I1 team owner soon. The team or the drivers are not auctioned but will be available only by invitation.
"It's true that the format has been inspired by IPL, but our business model is different. The base price of $5 million to own a team is available only by invitation and not auction," said Anjana Reddy, director, Machdar Motorsports. Courtesy: ET
The series will be run by Machdar Motorsports. There will be 18 drivers; two driver per team out of which one will be an Indian and one international. The race format is two races every weekend in sprint format, a total 14 races. The maximum speed of a Radical SR3 is 250 kmph. The winner per race will earn a whooping sum of $2 million.
The calendar for these races is given below,
Date
|
Circuit
|
City
|
December 18, 2011
|
Buddh International Circuit
|
Delhi
|
January 08, 2012
|
Yas Marina
|
Abu Dhabi
|
January 15, 2012
|
Losail International Circuit
|
Doha
|
January 22, 2012
|
Dubai Autodrome
|
Dubai
|
February 05, 2012
|
Sepang International Circuit
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
February 12, 2012
|
Bira
|
Pattaya
|
February 25, 2012
|
MMSC
|
Chennai
|
Well, this is not all that the racing industry is expecting from India. Machdar Motorsport has tied up with SMC University and is starting a certificate course in India which will be focusing on,
- Background & History: Motorsport, Formula 1, the Triple Crown
- Principles of race team operations - the performance organization
- Leadership & Management - the hunt for talent
- Sponsorship Acquisition, -Management, and -Activation
- Principles of Marketing & PR
- Transformation & globalization in motorsport
- Logistics in Motorsport
- Business lessons
You can also opt for an e-learning course and if you enroll before 31s August, 2011, you’ll receive a bundle of gifts with your admission for the course.
With all these things happening in India, we have proved once again that we are not behind anyone in any form of race. I can see a bright future of Indians who want to study race engineering and can get the course in our homeland. Hoping for a bright future for everyone.
