Indian racers Aditya Patel and Armaan Ebrahim have teamed-up to launch a franchise-based sports car racing league in India which set to flag-off next year. Dubbed the Xtreme1 Racing League (or the X1 Racing League), the championship will feature eight city-based franchise teams, each fielding two cars and four drivers.
According to a press release issued on Thursday, the League is backed by the FMSCI and will run on a mix of city and permanent tracks. Its international racing season – slated to start in the first quarter of 2019 – comprises of 12 races across four weekends.
Women drivers will race alongside their male peers as a part of each team's four-driver line-ups. Each line-up will comprise of one international male driver, one international female driver, one Indian international driver and one Indian domestic driver across the two cars.
The statement was thin on details with respect to who will be driving. However, it did say that talks with former Formula One, Formula E, Indy 500, Le Mans and NASCAR drivers were underway. It also refrained to go into detail about the specifications of participating cars.
“The X1 Racing League is a great product and the team of Aditya and Armaan are very well-equipped to execute a successful motorsports league,” said FMSCI chairman Gautam Singhania in the statement. “The league's ethos of providing equal opportunities to upcoming race drivers and gender neutrality through the inclusion of women drivers is quite a headline and I fully support their vision.”
The X1 Racing League will also run a separate year-long domestic season. Unlike the main league, there will be another 12 races for Indian drivers with a ‘patron seat’ concept, which will allow team owners to race for their squad or nominate someone to slot-in behind the wheel, on their behalf.
This is not the first time the concept of a franchise-based motorsport league has been mooted. The i1 Super Series was conceived along similar lines as the X1 Racing League, with high profile names throwing their weight behind the concept; but, set for a 2012 debut, it was first postponed to 2013, but then ultimately failed to get off the ground.
Unnatee Gidithuri
