PNS | Hyderabad
The inaugural edition of the Indian Racing League began on Saturday at India’s first street circuit on the banks of the Hussainsagar Lake here.The race was flagged off by KT Rama Rao, the Minister for IT, Industries, MA&UD.
The racing event, organised by the Indian Motorsports Company and Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd (RPPL), brought 24 prominent foreign and Indian drivers to the country for four consecutive weekends. After the next two rounds in Chennai, Hyderabad will host the finale on December 10 and 11.
Six city teams, Hyderabad Blackbirds, Speed Demons Delhi, Bangalore Speedsters, Chennai Turbo Riders, GodSpeed Kochi and Goa Aces, consisting of Indian and foreign drivers (both male and female) will compete in the state-of-the-art racing tracks in Hyderabad and Chennai during the league.
The Hyderabad Blackbirds include the city’s very own driver Anindith Reddy, with an experience of seven years and multiple championship wins.The Hyderabad team also features renowned drivers like Neel Jani, a Swiss-Indian professional Porsche factory driver, who won 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016, and Akhil Rabindra, selected as the Aston Martin Racing Academy Driver and female F4 racing driver Lola Lovinsfosse.
“It was good to drive on the street circuit. The track was rugged today, and we hope it will get better tomorrow and look forward to racing tomorrow here,” said Hyderabad Blackbirds driver Anindith.
As per the organisers, the racing league aims to give a major push to promote the motorsports segment in the country.“It’s really a proud moment for Hyderabad to host the first-ever street circuit event and it’s a perfect start for taking the city on to the global stage of motorsports. The Telangana government has done excellent work in developing this track and we are grateful for all the support extended to us,” said Akhilesh Reddy, the Director of MEIL and Chairman, RPPL (Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd).
“We are making all efforts to promote motorsports and hope these races will build a connection with audiences and inspire the sport’s talent to achieve greater success,” he added.
The Wolf racing team is operating all the competing cars, because of RPPL’s unique and innovative idea, both men and women have an equal chance to compete on a fair playing field, with the objective of making India a popular motorsports destination worldwide.
Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar said, “The trial testing for Formula-E scheduled in Feb 2023 started today with the IRL’s Wolf GB08 racing-Aprilia 1100 CC engine reaching 240 kmph. Today’s learning is to increase the green cover and to minimise traffic inconvenience.”
KTR and his son Himanshu watched the races after they started. While everyone was cheering, the VIP gallery next to IMAX collapsed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as no one was hurt. For fans who had come to watch the car race, two galleries and protective measures using tyres were arranged in the corners of the track.
