India ready to embrace the first race on its soil
The Indians are happy and jubilant as they proceed in the construction of their circuit. The Indian soil is expected to host the first ever Grand Prix on its soil in the 2011 season. Now the organizers of the event are eager to collect the maximum opinions and views as well as feedbeck from all the Formula One teams and the crew members so that they can keep improving the track. The planners of the track wish to design the new circuit in a way that will make it the most challenging and exciting one on the F1 calendar.
Hermann Tilke, the German architect and designer who is behind many of the recent new circuits like Turkey and Abu Dhabi, charted the basic layout of the Indian track however the management was eager to consult other teams of the sport as well before they began the construction work.
“We have shared the design with some of the Formula One teams to put it into their simulators,” explained Mark Hughes who is the vice president of JPSK Sports and has the experience of several other F1 projects. He told that the teams came back with some very beneficial recommendations and ways to improve and modify the track to let it be more exciting and thrilling for the sport.
While talking to the Formula One Official website, Hughes told that he feels himself fortunate for having worked in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi before having started this venture in India. He further told that this has helped him develop some good relationships with most of the teams under the FIA umbrella which helped him immensely while carrying the work of the new track as he went to some of them and asked for their input and the feedback which he thinks had been invaluable for the entire team working on the new track.
The track had been made with much devotion and hard slog by all the people who were involved as this is the first racing track of its type on the Indian soil ever. The estimate of the hard work could be derived from the fact that four million cubic tons of earth was shifted in order to give a rise of 14 meters only between the Turns 1 and 3. While designing the track, inspiration was taken from the infamous Turn Eight of Istanbul, Turkey, adding a double-apex corner which is slightly banked. This part forms a ‘mini-arena’ which has the capacity to seat 13,000 viewers.
“I think the drivers are going to find it a good challenge,” Hughes told while he explained the track. “The track is quite unique, and hopefully the drivers and teams will not complain as they have given their own input. I don’t think that as a promoter and venue owner this has been done before.”
India is to host a Grand Prix before the monsoon season of next year in the country. At the moment the final dates have not been announced yet it is expected to be somewhere in July or August. The earthworks for the circuit have already been completed as Hughes predicts that the track will be ready for its first race right before the July of next year though the race organisers are still anticipating for getting a late-season slot in the 2011 calendar.
The race circuit lies 50 km from Delhi and it roughly covers a distance of 5.5 kilometers. Well, the country is ready to host the race in all zeal and zest in the upcoming season. So far there is one team, Force India, in the Formula One squad owned by the Indian business conglomerate, Vijay Mallya and one Indian driver, Karun Chandhok who currently races for Hispania Racing.
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