Within a day of our report that North East India is getting its first racetrack in Mizoram comes the news of South India adding another circuit to its kitty. The Valley Speedway in Chitradurga, which is about 180km from Bengaluru, is a 2.4km track that's backed by Infratech Developers, with big plans in store.
This means that in total, we have six new tracks that are currently under development across the country.
- 2.4km circuit located in Chitradurga
- Being developed with circuit designer Hermann Tilke’s firm
- 900m CIK Grade B karting track planned, too
The Valley Speedway project is still in early stages, but we’ve got our hands on some key details:
Valley Speedway details: targeting FIA Grade 3
The Valley Speedway will feature a 2.4km long track and be built to follow the natural contours of the land, featuring roughly 18m of natural elevation, with Infratech Developers already acquiring 52 acres land.
While the company was initially working on the layout itself, it brought in prominent circuit designer Hermann Tilke’s firm (Tilke Engineers & Architects) around eight months ago to further refine the layout. Tilke has worked on the Buddh International Circuit (BIC), Circuit of the Americas, Red Bull Ring and the Bahrain International Circuit, to name a few.
The renders shared with us give us an early idea of what the track will look like, but you can expect some changes as the design still needs to be finalised. Speaking with Autocar India, Amogh Kandari, managing director of Infratech Developers, revealed that the company was initially targeting an FIA Grade 4 certification. However, after the progress made since Tilke came onboard, they’re now looking to go in for Grade 3 certification – same as Pune’s Nanoli Speedway.
Work on the project had started in January 2020 and organisers are hoping to finalise the design by May 2022. The target is to have the venue ready by end-2023.
Motorsport club
Kandari also revealed that the main goal of the venue is to serve as a motorsport club, but he’s not ruling out hosting official racing events in the future. Think of it along the lines of the Dubai Motor Park, where auto enthusiasts can stay for a few days and get a taste of driving on a professional racetrack.
In line with this, there are also plans to build a 900m CIK Grade B track at the venue, along with villas and a members’ clubhouse. Kandari is also hoping to add an off-road track in the future to make this a well-rounded motorsport hub.
Racetracks in India: a boost at the grassroots
It’s exciting times for motorsport enthusiasts in India, with a spate of new circuits coming up. The Valley Speedway won’t be the only track near Bengaluru; there’s also the Marque One Motor Club in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district – a two-hour drive from Bengaluru Airport – that promises to be India’s longest racetrack.
As for the rest of the country, we have the Nanoli Speedway near Pune, Pista Motor Speedway near Hyderabad, Coimbatore’s CoASTT High Performance Centre and the new racetrack coming up in Mizoram, which are all under development.
India currently has three major tracks that are already operational – the Buddh International Circuit (BIC), Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) and Coimbatore’s Kari Motor Speedway. While all these upcoming circuits aren’t quite at the level of BIC, which remains India’s only F1-spec track, it’s a great boost for the racing scene, nonetheless. After all, you need the smaller circuits to give motorsport talent the chance to train and develop at the grassroots. That is how you foster a racing culture.
Dipan Sur
