JOIN USRace to Redemption
Had India not gotten a fleeting whiff of Formula One a decade ago, the impending arrival of Moto GP would have been a novelty to revel in. Instead, those three years of the Formula One circus and their eventual exodus from these red tape-riddled shores have left the motor sport community treating the news of the two-wheeler big-wigs’ entry with an irrational dose of pessimism.
A sense of pride and a dash of relief, perhaps even redemption, coddled the lips of industry experts as they spoke of the seven-year MoU signed between Moto GP promoter Dorna and race organiser Fairstreet Sports earlier this week to host the race at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida. But that the race is not likely to happen in 2023 despite all efforts to ensure the same.
Fairstreet Sports, besides striking a good rapport with the government and doing the primary recce with the help of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, will need to get the track homologated by FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme). For that, the track needs to be refurbished since it has not been in use for a few years, save for testing of vehicles by manufacturers, and will also need to be tweaked to accommodate Moto GP track standards.
So, 2024 is a better bet for the race, but a ‘postponement’ this close to the actual announcement does rekindle the anxiety of a lost race.
“A lot of things need to go right here on for the event to happen,” FIM vice-president S Sujith Kumar tells DH. “… still, we’re further along than we have ever been, and given that the Government is behind the race, and is doing a lot to ensure a seamless event, it raises our hopes. All this gives us reason to believe what happened with Formula One won’t happen again.”
What Sujith is referring to is Formula One’s infamous exit in 2013 after fulfilling three years of the five-year contract signed between Formula One Management (FOM) and organisers Jaypee Sports International Limited.
At the time, FIA promised that Indian Grand Prix would return in 2015 after a break in 2014, but in the face of several bureaucratic hurdles, FOM eventually decided it best to leave the Indian market altogether.
FIA were fully aware of the losses they would incur leaving these shores what with the population and growing tribe of motorsport enthusiasts, but the effort of staging a race in Greater Noida was becoming so cumbersome, they subsequently positioned themselves in Russia, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar instead.
It all came down to the archaic taxation laws of the local government, helped little by then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s misunderstanding of the hullabaloo in her backyard. Despite Jaypee Group’s best efforts, the local government ended up classing Formula One as ‘entertainment’ and not 'sport'. This distinction is crucial because the percentage of tax goes up significantly (65 per cent) when an entity comes under the ‘entertainment’ category.
Insiders reveal that Formula One had to fork out close to $15 million each year to run the race. Understandably, FIA washed their hands off, but Jaypee Group, who had invested close to $500 million in the venue, were left for broke. In fact, Jaypee Group subsequently went through bankruptcy proceedings.
Vicky Chandhok, who was the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India president during the Formula One stint, recalled those ‘wonderful but harrowing’ years in detail.
“… besides all the taxation, they (promotors) had to pay close to Rs 10 crore as a donation to the Sports Authority of India towards the sports development fund,” he remembers. “We were so proud to have the premier motor sport event on earth in India, but it was tough. Any and all problems we could have faced we had to.
“How did we muck that up?! I still wonder because a race like that raises the profile of the entire country. In those three years alone we saw a massive spike in tourism and revenue. Anyway, I think Moto GP’s arrival can fix that, but a lot has to fall in place, and I just hope what happened to Formula One doesn’t happen again.”
When asked about the things needed to ensure a sustainable future for Moto GP, Chandhok spells them out. “Immigration should be made easy. You should grant permissions quickly. These permissions, with notifications, should go to the Ministry of Finance. Visas should come through in a hurry with an approved list to accompany them. That should be forwarded to the local police and the local government. Around 5000 visas will need to be issued so they will have to have special entry lines for Moto GP personnel, a single-window clearance must be done too… basically, everything has to be seamless”
Chandhok maintains that a ‘seamless’ Moto GP raises not only the possibility of Formula One’s return to India but also the arrival of the FIM Superbike World Championship besides a host of other top-tier motor sport events.
Coincidentally, there were talks of the WSBK coming to India in the mid-2010s. Sadly, those exchanges turned dry with the government standing ground on tax impositions, unwilling to learn from their mishandling of Formula One. And thus, the biggest two-wheeler event held in India to date remains the three seasons of the Asia Road Racing Championships.
“We had been planning this for around two-and-a-half years, but we dove into fully a few months ago,” says Amit Sandill, Director Racing for Fairstreet Sports. “Having seen what we had during Formula One, we knew the direction we needed to go in. That learning was crucial for us. But once we had our plans in place, it was as simple as a mail to Dorna, and they approved it almost immediately.”
Sandall reveals that work is on to get the race ready for 2023, but remained cautious. “A lot remains to be done, but everyone - the FMSCI, the government and others - are all in. They want international racing in India as badly as we do. That, I think, is the trick: symbiosis.”
Akbar Ebrahim, the current FMSCI president, couldn’t help but speak of the future as if recalling a distant dream. Ebrahim says Moto GP has the potential to change the dynamic of the two-wheeler industry in the country. “This is a big step for motor sport in India because now that the perception has changed we can grow," he says. "It was looked at as ‘entertainment’ or an ‘adventure’, but never as a sport. Now that that has changed, it will interesting to see how the sport is consumed.”
“But it would be ideal to have an Indian racer in one of the categories,” he adds.
Alas.
S Sarath Kumar, a racer by day and a cab driver by night, got the opportunity to ride in the 125cc class of Moto GP in 2011 for WTR Racing. "I wish this happened when I was at that level," says Sarath. "But it doesn't matter, this is bigger than any single racer. This makes racing accessible to young Indians and they can get sponsors and it'll all be a bit easier. It wasn't like that before."
While Sarath's stint was enough to get him to survive a precarious monetary situation at home, it was barely more than that. And that was the last time any rider from India came close to racing in an elite two-wheeler championship.
Ten-time national champion Rajni Krishnan hoped to remedy that statistic. “By the time the race comes to India, it would be nice if an Indian rider was part of it,” says Rajni, who has an impressive track record riding outside of India too.
“But even getting a wildcard entry into Moto 2 is so expensive. I was talking to some people about it and they said it would cost me close to Rs 1 crore for one race to get a wildcard entry, and this was three years ago so I am sure it has gone up now. I have been trying to get into Moto GP for seven years now and it hasn’t happened. Maybe, my luck will change now.”
Well, with Formula E confirming a street race in Hyderabad in February 2023, and now this from Dorna, perhaps the luck of the entire Indian motor sport fraternity has changed after all.