Nagarjuna buys Hyderabad franchise of i1 Super Series

Businessmen Arjun Baljee and Rudra Dalmia bought the franchise for Bangalore, making it the fourth franchise city. Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan and management guru Arindam Chaudhuri have already bagged the franchise for Mumbai and Delhi. Five cities are still up for grabs.

Darshan M, chief executive of the i1 Super Series, confirmed that Bangalore and Hyderabad are the two new franchisees.

"I am very pleased to announce that we have finalised on two team owners, Bangalore and Hyderabad, for the upcoming i1 Super Series to take place in January 2012. We look forward to more cooperation as people not officially associated with the sport are now coming forward. We are nearing the start of the season and are very excited, as, I am sure, are the people associated with it," he said in a statement.

Nagarjuna said he was keenly looking forward to the race.

"I am eagerly looking forward to the i1 Super Series, India's first major motorsport league. I am confident this league promoted by Machdar Sports will prove to be the platform to showcase India as a powerful entity in the world of motorsports and entertain the young new generation of India," he said.

Baljee, a hotelier, hoped that i1 Super Series would make motorsports popular in India.

"I am confident that the i1 Super Series will take motorsports to a new level. I have been a motorsports fan for a long time and have been following all the races closely. The idea behind the i1 Super Series is fantastic and the team will work hard to put the Bangalore franchisee on the top step of the podium. I know the i1 Super Series will help in the development of motorsport in India and I am excited to be a part of this mega event," he said.

The i1 Super Series will have nine teams representing nine Indian cities, with each team having a driver of Indian origin and an international driver.

The inaugural season will begin in January 2012 and races will be held in India, the UAE, Malaysia, Bahrain and Qatar. The teams will race the Radical Sports cars' SR3 roadster.