This Indian city will host country's first street circuit race at night
The race will be on the lines of night races being held in Singapore and Saudi Arabia
The southern Indian metropolis of Chennai will be hosting what is being dubbed India's first night street race. The car racing event will take place from August 30thto September 1st, along a 3.5-kilometre stretch, part of which lies along the city's scenic Marina Beach Road and adjoining arterial roads. The Chennai night race is being supported by the Tamil Nadu government.
According to the event hosts, the race will be on the lines of night races being held in Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
Narain Karthikeyan, India's first racer to compete in Formula One, said that street racing in urban settings requires a great amount of skill and risk-taking. He said that this is a highly unpredictable format, as the racers won't have any experience on such tracks that are created in a metropolitan city. He recalled how street racing played a major role in popularising motorsports in the US, and expressed hope that the same would happen in India.
Queried about the safety measures in place for the racing event on city roads, the organisers from Racing Promotions Pvt. Limited said that it would be conducted as per the norms of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), which has established consistent governance and safety standards in the realm of motorsport.
They said that the event would be conducted only following the safety audit by the FIA officials. They added that the safety measures would be put in place at a higher standard, owing to the night races that are to be conducted.
In the hope of promoting motorsports in Chennai city and the state, the Tamil Nadu government has laid racing-standard tracks along the 3.5-kilometer stretch in the city, to ensure the smooth conduct of the event. The state government has spent more than ₹30 crore on facilitating the racing event and making related arrangements.
According to the event organisers, the top speeds of the race cars being used would be in the F4 standard, which is 240kmph. When queried about the resultant noise pollution and high decibel levels, the organisers claimed that the sound levels would be comparable to a routine day's traffic. Those conducting the event did not offer specific responses to the sound decibel levels in the vicinity of the racetrack.
This initiative to conduct a night race in a metropolitan city by spending public money has been met with considerable criticism. The Madras High Court had strictly instructed the organisers to keep the noise levels well within the safe limits and ensure utmost safety. It must be noted that there are government hospitals and a government medical college in the vicinity of the race track, and there are concerns about the high noise pollution levels that the event would cause.
The use of crores of public funds for promoting an elite private event was also taken up by the Supreme Court, said the IAS officials (Tamil Nadu government secretaries) connected with facilitating this event.
The racing event is being held under the banner of "The Indian Racing Festival (IRF)". It offers two championships: the FIA Formula 4 Indian Championship (F4IC) and the Indian Racing League (IRL).
F4IC is an FIA-certified open-wheel, single-seater racing event for young drivers and the first step for a driver from karting to single-seater racing.
The IRL, approved by FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India), is India’s only four-wheel racing league and the world’s first gender-neutral racing championship series.
