JK series moved out of Buddh Circuit

JPSI says BIC closed due to maintenance work; events shifted to Chennai, Malaysia

Organisers of the country’s inaugural Indian Grand Prix and track owners Jaypee Group have closed the circuit for maintenance, and as a result the championship now moves to other venues — the National Racing Championship to Chennai and the Racing Asia Series to Malaysia.

The NRC and the RAS were both scheduled at the BIC on November 26-27. Mercedes, who signed up with the JPSI to conduct a drivers’ academy at the BIC, was tipped to run an event there on November 20. JPSI vice-president Askari H Zaidi, however, said even that might not take place because of the maintenance work.

“A lot of work needs to be done. The drivers had some complaints about the track and we are working to sort that out. Some of the glass windows around the circuit have also cracked, and we are going to fix it. So we thought we should close the track for a while,” said Zaidi.

“See... we never promised JK Tyre anything. We only told them that we would sit and work things out after the GP. It’s not like we promised and backed out at the last moment,” Zaidi added.

The shifting of the events poses more problems with the car containers locked up at the BIC. 

“The NRC can be handled but it’s very hard to move the cars out of the BIC to a new location for the RAS. The cars are in containers that are locked up, but the problem is they (cars) are not latched on (on to a crate). So we have to wait for teams, who have gone back home, to bring their container keys and open it. Once they open it, we can latch the cars and then move it out,” said a source from the JK Racing division.

“We cannot be cribbing. It’s our priority to run the event, and given that it is a FIA approved series, we need to make sure it is done in time. I’m very disappointed but what can we do. For RAS, Malaysia seems the best choice.”

Meanwhile, Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India president Vicky Chandhok said the federation has no role to play and it was JPSI’s decision to close the circuit.