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Now that sports stars like Sachin Tendulkar are getting linked to the racing franchise concept, India’s mostly under-rated motor racing fraternity is making most out of the arrival of Formula One to spark a heavy flow in domestic interest in their sport.

The workers are putting extra efforts to get the Buddh International Circuit into shape. Officials are already confident about the October 30 Indian F1 Grand Prix which will probably change the face of motor racing in a country like India where only cricket is considered a game of all time.

Vicky Chandhok, President, Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India said, “It’s a dream come true as it’s fantastic to get F1 on home soil.”

Chandhok also rubbed the rumors of delay in completion of the $215 million track of about 40 kilometers from New Delhi in the town of Greater Noida.

The 5.14 km track is a part of a sports city which is being developed by Jaypee group, which has vast interest in real estate. This group has rights since 10 years for the Indian F1 race. The venue is being designed by the German architect Hermann Tilke who is specially known for sports architecture.

In order to capitalize due to this recent boom, a motor sport management company has announced a launch regarding city-based franchise competition in December 2011, though using cricket star Tendulkar as its brand ambassador.

The i1 super series, which has sought clearance from the motorsport’s governing body, FIA (the Federation Internationale de I’Automobie). It will feature teams from nine big cities of India competing in seven Asian cities: New Delhi, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Pattaya, Kuala Lumpur and Thailand.

M Darshan, Machdar Motorsports chief executive told press in Mumbai, “Cricket and Bollywood stars as well as some top industrialists have shown a keen interest to own teams.”

It is said that to increase the hype regarding this sport as initially evoked by 2005 champ Narain Karthikeyan who was the first Indian to race in such high profiled series for Jordan.

Karthikeyan, who drove for Hispania in the early stages of his career in F1 championship, thinks that the Indian Grand Prix is sure to make motor racing a mainstream sport.

Karthikeyan said, “I’m absolutely sure that its success will be the starting point for a big surge in Indian motorsport. We’ve been on the threshold for a few years now and this should give us a shot in the arm.”

Karun Chandhok, Vicky Chandhok’s son who followed the footsteps of Karthikeyan since he did his debut with Hispania last year and then switched to Lotus, thinks that business support is important.

Parth Ghorpade, 17 year old Kolhapur lad, India, recently completed his participation in Round 5 of the Renault F4 Championship at the legendary F1 circuit at Spa, Belgium, an honor which only few racing drivers of his age have.

With a high spirit of acquiring a worthy grid position in the qualifying session of the fifth round, Parth was bit unlucky as his car got hit from the rear during the practice sessions itself following to handling problems. It hampered his chances of making it to top ten on the starting line. He was way back on 18^th position in the grid; his car did see some important setup changes at the 1^st race eve.

At first it seemed like a promising start for him as he moved steadily from P18 to P15 within 2 laps of race 1 and an excellent double over taking maneuver. But gradually while attempting a pass over the next at the “Les Combes” - chicane on Lap 3, the car which was ahead of his lost control and thus in an attempt to avoid a collision, Parth was hit from behind by Spanish drive Suarez. It led to losing his rear wing once again, that led to his first DNF (Did Not Finish) in the series. Continue Reading »