Nidhi Marque One Motors Pvt. Ltd. is setting up a new race track in Andhra Pradesh. The FIA Grade 3 certified circuit will also house vehicle testing facilities.

The new circuit will be built at Kotapalli village in the Ananthapuram district of Andhra Pradesh. The facility will be spread over 219 acres, with an expected circuit length of 3.4 km and elevation changes of up to 40 m. The track will be certified to run cars with a power-to-weight ratio of 1 HP per 2-3 kg. Apart from the tarmac circuit, there are plans to build a drag strip, an off-road track with a rock-crawling section, skid pad and wet surface track.

Other facilities will include a 40-room 3-star resort and a 5-hole golf course, a sports complex and an automotive theme park. The circuit will offer club memberships where members can avail of private access, secure garage parking and preferential rates on rooms and track hire. The project is expected to be completed in 90 months and employ 360 people.

Source: Autocar India

Gautam Singhania has been elected to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC). The chairman and managing director of the Raymond Group, garnered 82 votes and was among the 14 members elected during the FIA Annual General Assembly held on December 8, 2017 in Paris. 

Akbar Ebrahim, President of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) was named as the Deputy Titular and will also represent India at WMSC. Additionally, 17 out of 20 nominees from India were co-opted in various FIA Sporting Commissions. Earlier this year, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) had elected Gautam Singhania to represent India at the FIA's World Motor Sport Council (WMSC). He replaces Vijay Mallya, who resigned as the representative of India to FIA in July 2017.

WMSC consists of 14 members in addition to the 7 vice-presidents and a deputy president. Members are elected for a term of 4 years. The council oversees all international sporting matters related to motorsport disciplines that fall under the FIA.

Jean Todt has been re-elected for the third consecutive term as the President of the Formula One's governing body - FIA.

Jean Todt began his motorsports career back in the 1960s, first as a rally co-driver before moving into management roles. He led Peugeot to World Rally Championship and Park-Dakar victories in the 1982-1993. Todt then moved to Ferrari as team principal for the F1 team. He lead the Scuderia Ferrari motor racing team to six drivers’ and seven constructors’ titles between 1999 and 2007.

The Frenchman was first elected in 2009 as a replacement of Max Mosley. He was voted unanimously at the General Assembly in Paris, unopposed. Todt will continue to head the organization till the end of 2021.

Jean Todt, President of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) - the world's governing body for motorsports, will be visiting India for the World Roads Meeting (WRM) 2017 to be held in India for the first time from November 14-17, 2017.

The International Road Federation (IRF) is organizing the 18th World Road Meeting titled 'Crossroads-WRM 2017'. The IRF is a global body working in the field of road safety. About 2,500 road safety experts, professionals, companies and government organizations from various parts of the world will be attending the 3-day event.

Jean Todt, who is also the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety will be addressing the gathering and will be meeting with various stakeholders to share road safety instruments laid out by the United Nations. 

He will also be participating in a Transport Minister's Forum on Road Safety to be held in New Delhi. Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Transport, Highways and shipping Transport will inaugurate the gathering, which will be attended by ministers from Canada, Russia, Finland, Luxembourg, Czech republic, Burundi, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) has elected the chairman and managing director of the Raymond Group, Gautam Singhania to represent India at the FIA's World Motor Sport Council (WMSC). Mr. Singhania confirmed this through twitter on October 15, 2017 and he was elected with 7 out 8 members voting in his favour. 

Singhania replaces Vijay Mallya who was asked to step down from the post earlier this year. The owner of the Force India F1 team and Kingfisher Airlines is wanted on charges of tax evasion and fraud. He had resigned in July 2017. Following Mallya's resignation, former FMSCI president Vicky Chandhok was deputed for the job.

Meanwhile, Akbar Ebrahim has been nominated for the deputy post. Both Singhania and Ebrahim now need to get elected for the positions in WMSC. Elections for positions in WMSC are scheduled to be held in Paris in December 2017. 

Source: Deccan Chronicle 

In July 2017, the Formula 1 management had confirmed the inclusion of the Secondary Roll Structure (Halo) for the 2018 season. Now, the FIA has made the necessary changes to the Formula 1 regulations and announced the specifications and testing parameters of the halo.

The changes to the Formula 1 regulations were approved by World Motor Sport Council. Originally stated for the 2017 season, the move was delayed due to very few test laps by the cars equipped with a halo. The technical specifications released by the FIA not only mention the positioning and size of the halo, but also the load tests that it must pass.

A change has also been made to the driver extraction rules - the time taken by the driver to get out of a car without assistance. Due to the inclusion of the halo, this time has now been increased from 5 seconds to 7 seconds. The overall time for the driver to remove the steering wheel, get out and replace the wheel has also been increased from 10 seconds to 12 seconds. The council also approved strengthening of the chassis as well as improvements in the wheel retention system.

The deaths of drivers Jules Bianchi and Dan Wheldon were speculated to be preventable if there had been more protection.