[Rtech]

Seem's like every few months there are talks of a new circuit coming up somewhere in India. And no sooner than it starts does it die down again.

Lets hope this one is real. God knows the western region of India needs a circuit. And if it does come up in Panvel, it is sure to be a success. What makes this bid seem a little more real is that they are not talking of Formula 1 and things like that. They are focussing on a F3 circuit first, as they realise that the ball needs to be set rolling and there is a desperate need for grassroots motorsports to begin in force.

Source: Indian Express

State leads India’s Formula race with F3 track plan

Panvel most likely among three short-listed plots

Micky Aigner
Pune, October 23: MAHARASHTRA’S Formula One plans may have gone off-track, but it has not yet let up on its bid to host Formula racing cars. And if things go according to plan, then racing fans would be able to watch at least Formula 3 cars vrooming along the Mumbai-Pune expressway, on Panvel tracks.

‘‘We have a meeting with the Maharashtra government officials after Diwali and hopefully things will begin to gather pace,’’ Western India Automobile Association (WIAA) executive chairman Nitin Dossa told Newsline.

The WIAA has short-listed three plots — Panvel, admeasuring 75 acres, is the ‘‘most likely plot’’ — and submitted them to special projects officer Sanjay Ubale. Incidentally, Ubale was the nodal officer for the Formula One project too.

‘‘We have made our submission,’’ Dossa said adding, he was confident that the government would hand over the plot by year-end.

Why an F3 track? ‘‘It’s necessary to make some headway towards India’s Formula goal, and I feel this is enough to kick start the interest,’’ Dossa explained. The difference between an F1 and an F3 track is the total area to house it. ‘‘F1 is a different ball game and needs about 500 acres,’’ Dossa said, while F3 tracks could be built on 75 acres at a cost of Rs 35-40 crore.

‘‘We have got that aspect under control and all in place,’’ he said. Besides, the F1 top drivers salary — $20-30 million per annum — is the total annual budget of F3 teams!

For Dossa, an F3 track would be laying the foundation of bigger things to come. ‘‘The ultimate aim is surely hosting a Formula One track. The F3 track, once given the go ahead, is expected to be ready in three years. Everything is in place,’’ Dossa said.

‘‘In fact, a verbal assurance or perhaps a Letter of Intent of the demarcated plot for the purpose would be enough to call a Federation International de l’Automobile (FIA) observer to evaluate the project.’’

With Motor Sports Association of India president Nazir Hossein — an FIA chief steward — recently inducted on the WIAA board, the talk of having an F3 track was initiated during the FIA General Assembly in Paris last year. Says Dossa, the president of Alliance Internationale de Tourisme, a subsidy of FIA, ‘‘We had talks with FIA president Max Mosley about our intentions, who in turn was quite keen for India to get on the racing map which led to the plan.’’

Though the final go ahead would have to come through MAI, Dossa adds, ‘‘Hossein is aware of our intentions, it’s just that we need to receive the go ahead from the government before officially writing to MAI.’’

Meanwhile, there are also rumours that Malaysia-based construction giant WCT Engineering Berhad, that was responsible in putting up F1 tracks at Sepang and Sakhir, are in line for the F3 track project in the State.

[Mpower]

F3s have already been raced for many years successfully at the Sriperambudur road course.

[SPEED_DEMON82]

Dear God,

Its time for my Diwali gift .... and all i ask for is this or any race track to come up on the Mumbai-Pune belt. Please start working on my wish.

Thanking You

P

[Deeps]

My feeling is that if we are going to have a track, we might as well go all the way and build an F1 standard track. But the latest news is just another in the chain of rumours, IMO.

[adya33]

Although it would be really good to have F3 track but it might take some time
When I had came across similar article (about F3) they said that races will be held from 2010

oh & by the way we are still waiting for that international airport at panvel aren't we?
which was suppose to be done by now I guess

[Rtech]

Originally Posted by Deep

My feeling is that if we are going to have a track, we might as well go all the way and build an F1 standard track.

There is a H-U-G-E difference between a F1 spec track and a F3 spec track. If we keep sitting around waiting for an F1 track, nothing will ever happen. Plus, you can only really have 1 F1 track in a country like India. But, we need a whole lot of smaller tracks to encourage the lower formula and get people into the sport.

This, IMO, is the right way to go about it.

Originally Posted by Mpower

F3s have already been raced for many years successfully at the Sriperambudur road course.

Not sure what your point is here?!? You mean we should just stop at one track in India? Which BTW is in a bad state right now.

[Rishi]

They shuld plan a F3 circuit using kharghar roads a.k.a Monte Carlo

i bet i can give a tough time to the rookies then!. Practice makes one perfect! LOL

[Deeps]

Seems like Vicky Chandok favours my advice more than yours RTech http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=102128

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Rtech

Not sure what your point is here?!? You mean we should just stop at one track in India? Which BTW is in a bad state right now.

My point is........ there is an F3 track today but nobody races F3 over there anymore or even turned up to watch when they did race a few years ago. Much easier to resurface the track than build a new one to try the experiment again. So why would things be different in Panvel?

PS: I'm not sure but Kari Speedway may also be approved to handle F3s

[GrimReaper]

At this point I dont care as much if they open up an F1 or an F3 circuit.

But open up a track like this to the public and damn will it work! Bombay is full of rich people who just can't wait to rip their cars to its full potential. It would be a great way to make money and would also encourage safe driving as otherwise such races would take place on the streets.

[heavy_foot]

Originally Posted by Mpower

My point is........ there is an F3 track today but nobody races F3 over there anymore or even turned up to watch when they did race a few years ago. Much easier to resurface the track than build a new one to try the experiment again. So why would things be different in Panvel?

PS: I'm not sure but Kari Speedway may also be approved to handle F3s

if they open it in panvel which is so close to mumbai and pune, more will surely turn up to watch the races maybe more racers too and there will be more sponsors also.

[adya33]

besides track there need to be other facilities too
like airport for all teams to bring their machinary (mumbai intl airport is small)
roads for the trailors to carry machinery to event venue - expressway fine, but mumbi intl airport to expressway not fine

huge number of hotel rooms (for accomodating team members, drivers, FIA officials, press and also spectators)
which means atleast couple of 5 star hotels
& lots of small (3star) hotels

considering whole picture it seems difficult

[Mpower]

As long as the track is less than 2 hours driving distance from a major metro, it should be fine. How long does it take to drive from Bandra to Panvel on a Sunday morning?

[Rtech]

Originally Posted by Deeps

Seems like Vicky Chandok favours my advice more than yours RTech http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=102128

hey deeps, that one liner from Vicky has been doing the rounds for years now. Its politics you see. He can't stand it that his arch rival has been in the news for a circuit, so he add's in his 2 cents.

Remember Calcutta, Hyderabad then Bangalore. The difference is, this time the Panvel plan is actually realistic.

MPower: The circuit near Chennai was homologated years ago, but due to the absolute lack of foresight by the trustee's, that circuit has deteriorated and would now require a lot of money to be brought upto current standards. Plus, it doesn't help that the current caretakers are less interested in racing and more in other activities.

At times like this, its best to start fresh and leave behind all the ego's. It may cost more right now, but its best in the long term.

[Deeps]

And what do you think of his claim that we can have an F1 facility up and running in $60M?