Indian Racing League to kick off on Nov 19 in Hyderabad

The Indian Racing League, which will bring together drivers from across the country and abroad, will begin with the first round at Hyderabad on Nov 19 and 20.

Two of the four rounds will be held at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) at Irungattukottai, while the others will be held at the Hyderabad street circuit.

"The Indian Racing League is the ultimate push to bring the Indian motorsports segment to a global stage and provide young racers a platform to compete with international motorsports drivers," said Akhilesh Reddy, Chairman, RPPL (Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd).

"With state-of-the-art infrastructure for motorsports and racing enthusiasts, Indian Racing League will be a gamechanger for how motorsports is perceived in our nation," he claimed during a media interaction at the MIC on Monday.

As many as 24 foreign and Indian drivers would be taking part in the league, Reddy said, adding that there would be a woman driver in each of the six teams.

"The concept is to show that the Indian drivers are good. We have a lot of Indian drivers. We have mixed and matched the Indian and international drivers and we have put one woman driver in each team, to show that we are gender neutral," he added.

Reddy said the street race concept has been introduced so that it has maximum reach.

"We have a street race as well. We would like to have maximum reach. The street circuit in Hyderabad is ready; the final part of the work is going on. It is three kilometres long. We just have to close the road," he added.

About the cars, he said, "Yes, the cars are different" but did not reveal the format. "We have Wolf cars. They are more powerful than the F4 cars."

The six city-based teams are: Chennai Turbo Riders. Speed Demons Delhi, Bangalore Speedsters, Hyderabad Blackbirds, GodSpeed Kochi and Goa Aces.

The Chennai Turbo Riders team includes the city's Vishnu Prasad, a 13-time national champion. It also features Parth Ghorpade, a professional driver hailing from Maharashtra and five-time winner of the national championship; Jon Lancaster, a veteran British driver and winner of European Le Mans Series amongst other championships; and Formula racing driver Nicole Havrda.

After the first round at Hyderabad over this weekend, the others will be in Chennai (November 25 to 27 and December 2 to 4) and Hyderabad (December 10 and 11). The league will be telecast live on Star Sports.