Hyderabad hosts India's first street circuit race

The race of the petrol engine car started at 4 pm and was wrapped up in 20 minutes where six teams of four drivers each raced on a 2.7 Kms long track here around NTR Gardens with a spectator panel of around 7,500 people.

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Street Circuit on Saturday hosted India's first street circuit race, 'Indian Racing League (IRL)' subsequently another race is scheduled for Sunday and then the fourth round will be held on December 10 and 11 on the banks of Hussainsagar lake much to the delight of motor-sport fans. The race of the petrol engine car started at 4 pm and was wrapped up in 20 minutes where six teams of four drivers each raced on a 2.7 Kms long track here around NTR Gardens with a spectator panel of around 7,500 people. All six teams consisted of 50 per cent home and 50 per cent foreign drivers and each team had one female driver. Italian car manufacturer Wolf Racing had overseen the IRL cars and technology.

The car can travel at a maximum speed of 250 km per hour with 1.1 litre engine capacity. The weight of the car is 380 kg. A Formula One car can reach a maximum speed of 400 km per hour. Hyderabad Growth Corridor MD Santosh announced the progress in the arrangements for the Indian Racing League. Chennai will host the second and third-round races from 25 to 27 November and from December 2 to 4 respectively.

The latest circuit will be a precursor to the first FIA Formula E race to be held in Hyderabad in February next year. Formula One is the ultimate race in motorsports. Most drivers do not compete directly in a Formula One race. To reach there, they start with F4, go down to F3, and reach F2 to get a chance to compete in Formula One.

IRL was established for the talented players in India as a parallel to IndyCar in America and Super Formula in Japan. In the IRL, each round will have two sprints and one future race. The first sprint race on Saturday determined the pole position for Sunday's sprint. Two cars from each team compete in the sprint race.

Points were awarded to the respective teams based on the number of laps completed within the allotted time. The next race will be held on Sunday where 12 cars will race for 40 minutes with two drivers in each car with a provision to change the driver in between. After four rounds in Hyderabad and Chennai, the team with the most points will be declared the winner. While there is a 3.7 km track (one lap) in Chennai and tickets for the upcoming races can be booked online. The IRL will be held under the auspices of Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL).