Flamboyant Kapil Dev, fastest Indian Karthikeyan star in glittering launch

Mumbai, 19 August 2021: A whiff of fresh air is expected to make Indian motorsports vibrant with the arrival of Formula Regional Indian Championship and Formula 4 Indian Championship announced through a glittering launch with promises to bring brand new Formula cars.

The good news, in these difficult times of COVID, can pump some high-octane upgrades into the dying motorsport machines in India. That requires loads of money and Indian motorsport should be thankful that the two ace Indian racing stars, Aditya Patel and Armaan Ebrahim, found and roped in two other Good Samaritans. The arrival of these goodies from Europe as promised would be a historic milestone and a turning point in the history of Indian motorsports. We fervently hope, this partnership lasts long… without any hiccups and the duo seem keen to sort out the flaws that cropped up earlier.

INDIAinF1.com would like to present a simple gist of points given by respected senior motorsport journalist Vinayak Pande. The official press release follows:

Vinayak Pande (Instgram) post: Oh I’m going to post more about this, you can take that to the bank. But for the time being, salient points which many would already know of.

– FIA (global motorsport’s governing body) sanctioned Regional F3 (not the same spec as FIA F3) and F4 championships to be held in India over five rounds from late February to late March of 2022.

– An FIA superlicense is the golden ticket for a driver to be eligible to race in Formula 1 (no guarantee of it). These two championships will give drivers the chance to score points towards that goal. Forty points over a period of three years gets you that FIA superlicense.

– Indian F4 superlicense points spread over the top seven places in the final points standings: 12, 10, 7, 5, 3, 2, 1.

– Formula Regional India superlicense points across the top nine places in the final points standings: 18, 14, 12, 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.

– Cars for both championships built to FIA global standards for Formula Regional and Formula 4.

– F4 India champion gets free seat in Formula Regional India and F-Regional India champion gets a free seat in F3 Asia (same spec car as F-Regional India).

– Pre-season testing at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) near Greater Noida on February 23-24, 2022. Five round season starts on February 25-27 at the BIC, concludes at an FIA grade 2 street circuit in Hyderabad on 25-27 March.

– The majority of the drivers in Formula Regional India will be foreign drivers including from Europe while the majority of the grid in Formula 4 India will feature Indian drivers.

– More details to come soon, but so far it can be confirmed that the budget for Formula Regional India will be around 150,000 euros. (INR 1.3 crore)

– Akhilesh Reddy and Navjeet Ghadoke are equal partners in Racing Promotions Private Limited, which will be promoter of the two series. Reddy said the commitment to the two series is for five years at least. Would be cool if it lasts even that long.

Official Press Release

Promoted by Navjeet Gadhoke of Roadway Solutions India Infra Ltd and Akhilesh Reddy of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd, RPPL plans to invest towards manufacturing cars, assets and street circuit infrastructure, along with the operational cost of the formula regional Indian championship and formula 4 Indian championship, and relaunching the city-based league as Indian Racing League.

The new innings of Racing Promotions herald the new era of long-term racing culture in India with races planned across the country. In the coming months, Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd would host Formula Regional Indian Championship and Formula 4 Indian Championship, certified by the FIA. RPPL is also looking forward to relaunching the city-based league as the “Indian Racing League” in Q1 2022. Also on the schedule is India’s First-Ever FIA Graded Street Circuit in Hyderabad!

With Navjeet Gadhoke and Akhilesh Reddy committed to investing in the long-term development of motorsports and creating a platform for aspiring racing drivers in India, the first season of racing would kick off on Feb-March 22 in New Delhi, Chennai, Coimbatore and Hyderabad, and attract global racing talents as well.

Speaking about the Racing Promotions current endeavours Mr Akhilesh Reddy, Chairman, Racing Promotions stated “Monaco being a sovereign city-state has produced F1 drivers, and we as a country of a billion-plus now have the platform to give aspiring racing drivers the opportunity to compete with the best in the world and potentially a stepping stone to the apex of motorsports which is F1”

While Mr Navjeet Gadoke, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, RPPL added “Our investment will revolutionize Indian motorsports, and the objective is to build a world-class, holistic ecosystem for motorsports which will become a force to reckon with, not just for this sport, but Indian sports in general.”

Present on the launch, Joint MD, RPPL, Armaan Ebrahim reflected “It is great to finally have world-class equipment and race cars on our home soil. We welcome Akhilesh and Navjeet to our company, and look forward to building a series of championships that enable Indian drivers to compete at the highest level globally and will make Indians a force to reckon with in the motorsport world.”

Commenting on the launch FMSCI, President said “The introduction of the Formula Regional India certified by the FIA to be followed by the F4 India certified by the FIA is certainly a landmark moment for Indian Motorsport, the FMSCI and the promoters, Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd. (RPPL). The FIA Single Seater Commission and the FIA World Motorsport Council approved the two championships last month. Not only will both these championships provide a truly International platform for Indian drivers who can now race at the International level competing against International drivers in their own country, but it also comes with a huge bonus package which is the FIA Driver points. The FMSCI would like to congratulate Mr. Akhilesh Reddy, Chairman RPPL, Mr Navjeet Gadhoke, Vice Chairman, RPPL and the entire Racing Promotions team for putting together such a phenomenal package which will take Indian Motorsport to much higher echelons.”

Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd
(MEIL) is a 30-year behemoth in manufacturing and infrastructure, headquartered in Hyderabad, and operating in 8 other countries outside India. MEIL has an order book of ~$15Bn and net revenue of $3Bn. The organization has diversified to five other verticals namely Irrigation, Drinking Water, Power, Hydrocarbons, Transportation and General Infrastructure.

Roadway Solution India Infra Ltd (RSIPL) is part of the Gadhoke Group, an infrastructure conglomerate with over 50 years of experience and $1.5Bn Enterprise Value.

Racing Promotions Private Limited is the exclusive rights holder of 4W motorsports in India and launched a city-based league in 2019.