After chess, cricket, Chennai now revving up for a car carnival

Chennai could well earn the sobriquet of the sportiest host in the country. After the Chess Olympiad, the IPL 2024 cricket final, the city is gearing up for a motorsports extravaganza as it plays host to the Indian Racing Festival 2024.

It will kick off with the Indian Racing League (IRL) at the Madras International Circuit at Irungattukottai on August 24-25 followed by India’s first-ever night race on August 30-September 1. Six teams will zip around a 3.5-km stretch with 19 turns and corners starting from the Island Grounds and passing the Marina Beach, Napier Bridge, Flagstaff Road and looping back to Island Grounds.

The six teams in the fray are Kolkata Royal Tigers, Speed Demons Delhi, Goa Aces JA Racing, Hyderabad Blackbirds, Bangalore Speedsters and Chennai Turbo Riders. With celebrity backers like Sourav Ganguly, John Abraham, and Arjun Kapoor behind some of the teams, the franchises are already creating a buzz.

Each of the team will feature two Indian and two foreign racers, including one women making it a gender-inclusive event. Fans can look forward to seeing Indian aces Akhil Rabindra and Nikhil Bohra alongside Swiss sensation Neel Jani and British-South African driver Raoul Hyman.

Indian Racer Akhil Rabindra and Swiss racer Neel Jani

Boosting infra

Among the six women racers whizzing around in their rapid Wold Thunder GB08s, the single seater cars that can rev up to 240 kmph, will be Fabienne Wolhwend, Gabriel Jilkova and Laura Camps.

The Tamil Nadu government, which is supporting the event, is speeding ahead with the infrastructure laying the track for the Formula 4 street circuit. VIP lounges and grandstands are being put up along the track for around 9,000 spectators to enjoy the spectacle. There will be fan zones, interactive experiences and a carnival-like atmosphere promise the organisers.

Tickets start at ₹1,199 for the MIC event and at ₹1,699 for the street circuit and are already on sale on Paytm Insider, while live broadcasting deals have been done with Star Sports and Fancode.

Putting behind the heartache of last year when the races had to be cancelled, Akhilesh Reddy , Director of Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd and the co-founder of Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd, which is behind the event, is throwing all his energies into sewing up the logistics to host a memorable event.

And these are huge when you consider that a lot of the engineers, mechanics and technical staff so integral to motosports are being flown in from the Netherlands and Italy.

“Our technical partners are MD Motor Sports and JDA Motor Sports and almost 80 people will come from the Netherlands and another 70 odd from Italy,” says Reddy.

Although Chennai is the cradle of motosports, there are some speed-breakers in the form of opposition to the event over the possible inconvenience and the costs. But with the Tamil Nadu government throwing its weight behind the event, the bumps should be overcome.