New street circuit to join 2023 Indian Racing League, F4 India calendar

An all-new Indian street circuit is set to debut as part of the 2023 Indian Racing League later this year, revealed Akhil Reddy – chairman and MD of Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) – in conversation with Autocar India. After several delays, the F4 Indian Championship is also set to launch this year. However, we may have to wait a bit longer for the debut of the Formula Regional Indian Championship.

• Goa, Pondicherry and Chennai being evaluated for new street circuit
• F4 India debut confirmed; Formula Regional could be postponed
• New RPPL karting series to start in end-April

F4 India to debut in 2023; Formula Regional India being evaluated

Plans for Formula Regional India – the country’s first FIA-graded F3 championship – were announced in 2021. Together with F4 India and the Indian Regional Championship, this would put into place a ladder for young racers to break into international racing. Even more crucially, both Formula Regional and F4 India promised to offer Super Licence points, which are necessary to qualify to race in F1. However, the pandemic and supply-related delays forced both championships to be postponed.

Reddy confirms that F4 India will finally debut this year, but organisers are still evaluating whether Formula Regional India should be pushed to 2024 instead. “We are a little sceptical about Formula Regional because without F3 itself, we will be transporting almost 40 cars every weekend from one venue to the other,” Reddy explained. “I want to make sure what we are doing is a success. So, I am personally thinking of going stage-wise. Last year, we did the street circuit and Indian Racing League; so now as a second step we are going with F4.”

The F4 Indian championship will use the FIA-homologated Gen 2 Mygale F4 car, which is used in the French F4 championship. The cars are powered by an Alpine 1.3-litre turbocharged engine.

The Indian Racing League is also set to return for a second season and will continue to use the Wolf GB08 Thunder single-seater. The same format will carry on, with six city-based teams fielding a mix of international and Indian drivers. Each team will also have one female driver. The inaugural edition was won by GodSpeed Kochi, while Hyderabad Blackbirds’ Akhil Rabindra won the drivers’ title.

MP Motorsport replaces Prema as the series’ new technical partner.

New India street race

Reddy also revealed that organisers are planning to add a new street circuit to the calendar. Goa, Pondicherry and Chennai have been shortlisted and one of these will be finalised by end of this month. Explaining why RPPL is focusing on street races, Reddy pointed out that the current permanent circuits in the country – like the Madras International Circuit and Buddh International Circuit – are all situated quite far away from city centres.

While motorsport is on a growing trajectory in India, there’s still a long way to go for widespread adoption. Street races bring the sport to the people, giving many of them their first taste of motorsport. “I want to bring it to the doorstep of people to create awareness for motorsport and at the same time to create interest amongst people,” Reddy said.

While the official calendar will be revealed soon, organisers are targeting for the 2023 season to run from mid-October to mid-December. The Hyderabad Street Circuit, which recently hosted India’s first Formula E race, is unlikely to be part of this new calendar since Telangana elections will be underway during that period.

Due to all the delays, last year’s inaugural Indian Racing League season was condensed to four back-to-back rounds. This posed a big challenge as teams and organisers rushed to ensure everything was packed and transported on time. To avoid a repeat of this, the 2023 calendar will be spaced out a bit more.

Lessons learned from inaugural Indian Racing League

The Indian Racing League got off to a rocky start last year. The season-opening round in Hyderabad was cancelled after a crash in the practice session. Activities on the opening day were significantly delayed, with organisers at the time revealing they didn’t anticipate the incoming crowd.

After ironing out some of the issues, the series did return to Hyderabad for its finale. “The biggest learning is crowd control,” revealed Reddy. “I personally did not expect so many people to turn up. But when we came back to Hyderabad, it was much better organised, and everything went to schedule.”

New RPPL karting series to start end-April

Since its very inception, RPPL has been vocal in building a racing ecosystem in India from the grassroots. In line with that, the company is launching a new four-stroke karting series. Starting from April 29, a total of six rounds will be held across India – in Chennai, Bengaluru, Thrissur, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad. Those who are 15 years old and above can participate.

The top six drivers from each city will progress to the finale in Hyderabad on June 4. The winner will earn a scholarship for the FMSCI National Karting Championship, which starts in July 2023. This scholarship will cover training, a new kart, mechanic and engineer, as well as the entry fee.

Top finishers in the FMSCI National Karting Championship will get to compete for a chance to earn a free seat in F4 India. From there on, there’s a clear ladder up to international racing. The F4 India winner will move up to the Formula Regional Indian Championship the following year, the Formula Regional winner will in turn get to race in F3 Asia.

With the latest MP Motorsport partnership (the same team that Jehan Daruvala is racing for in F2), Reddy is also hoping to build a ladder all the way up to Formula 2 in the future with a partial scholarship.

And this path isn’t limited to just the drivers. In all the cities where this new RPPL karting series will be held, some students from engineering colleges and mechanics will also be selected to intern during the 2023 season of the Indian Racing League and F4 India. Working with the MP Motorsport crew will help them gain some valuable experience and will also open the door for some of them to potentially progress to international racing series like F2. As Reddy puts it, “The main motto is to create the ecosystem.”

RPPL karting series calendar

Also see:

India key to growing motorsport globally: FIA President Ben Sulayem