Speedway

India's top race tracks

Here's all you need to know about the Indian racetracks that nurture Indian motorsports.

Written by Darshan Chokhani

6 min readPublished on 06.05.2017 · 15:23 UTC

India is among the very few nations to have a world class Formula 1 circuit and a prestigious Grand Prix event. Together with the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and the upcoming FIFA U-17 Football World Cup, the country has all kinds of basic infrastructure to hone the talented sportsperson to excel in the sport it wishes to.

Along with the Buddh International Circuit in Uttar Pradesh, the two most widely used race tracks are the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai and the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. These tracks allow talented racers to perfect their skills and prove their mettle against the best in the country.

Here’s all you need to know about the three race tracks and a few other honorable mentions.

1. Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida

India’s only Formula 1 circuit is located in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It was officially inaugurated on October 18, 2011, and hosted the first-ever Indian Grand Prix on October 30, 2011.

The 5.125 kilometers track staged the F1 race for two more years in 2012 and 2013. All the three events were won by the current Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, who was with Red Bull Racing during that period. In 2013, it was at the BIC where Vettel clinched his fourth world title.

Sebastian Vettel receives plaudits for his big win
© Red Bull Content Pool

The whole facility is owned by one of India’s largest conglomerates Jaypee Group. It has a seating capacity of about 120,000 people and was designed by German architect and Formula One Management’s racetrack designer, Hermann Tilke.

After racing on the 16-corners circuit, a majority of the F1 drivers heaped praise on its design and termed it as "one of the best modern circuits built in the world". The FIA also recognised the efforts of the grand prix promoters and awarded it with the ‘Best Promoter Trophy’ in its annual prize-gala event for two years in 2011 and 2012.

MRF Challenge Series at Buddh
© MRF Racing

Apart from hosting the F1 races, the circuit has staged numerous other series including JK Tyre’s National Racing Series, the MRF F1600, as well as the MRF Challenge, the Volkswagen one-make, the Tata Prima T1 Truck Racing Series, the National Motorcycle one-make series and most recently the Asia Road Racing Championship, which saw the return of an international racing event at the circuit since the last Indian GP.

The track is also open for Track Days, where several of the leading manufacturers utilise the circuit for testing and promotional events. Other facilities include Arrive and Drive, the BIC Tour and Taxi Rides, which is available for the public. Various auto award shows, coupled with music concerts have also been hosted in the premises of the huge facility built inside the Japyee Sports Complex.

2. Madras Motor Race Track, Chennai

The full length 3.74 kilometers permanent race track located in Irungattukottai, Chennai, is India’s first circuit. Built in the late 1980s, it was subsequently inaugurated in 1990. The circuit runs clockwise and it has 12 turns in all, whereas the short club track, which is only 2.1 kilometers, has seven turns.

The FIA and FIM certified race track, formerly known as the Irungattukotai Race Track, was also awarded the Grade 2 license in 2015 to host bikes races in all categories and cars races in multiple categories including GT, sportscar, touring car racing and also competitions like IndyCar, except Formula 1.

Main Straight
© Madras Motor Sports Club

The track was resurfaced twice, first in 2007 and again in 2016 with more work on-going to provide international standards facility in India. Recently, work was completed to attain its own dragstrip, whereby the main straight was extended to match with the drag requirements in order for the circuit to host the National Drag Championship. With the heavy schedule all-around the year, the Madras Motor Sports Club, which overlooks the track, is also building a new testing facility in the area.

The track has hosted events of international recognition with the FIM-backed Asia Road Racing taking place between the years 2009-2011 and again in 2013. In the single-seaters side, the MRF Challenge (F2000) has been a regular feature, together with the MRF F1600 series, the LGB F1300, the Volkswagen one-make, along with the National Touring Cars, the National Motorcycle and the one-make Motorcycle championships. The track also boasts of an area dedicated for off-road Supercross events.

The National Motorcycle Champsionship happens here
© Madras Motor Sports Club

Outside the usual racing events, the track is used for car and bike testing, not only by the manufacturers, but also by the leading automotive magazines, newspapers and websites in order to get a better understanding of each vehicle. The various championship organisers also test their cars and bikes all-round the racing season.

3. Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore

The 2.1 kilometers purpose built racetrack located in Chettipalayam, Coimbatore, was inaugurated in 2003 and named after the late Sundaram Karivardhan, a racer and designer himself.

Looking back at its history, part of the current racing track was used as a runway for power gliders and as a part of the aviation manufacturing company owned by Karivardhan.

Drag racing events were held on the track in the late 1990s and subsequently the land was purchased by B. Vijay Kumar in 2002 to host national racing events and a year later it was inaugurated by Karivardhan’s father, G.K Sundaran. The track is a CIK-FIA standard approved 14-corners circuit and it can hold races up to the international Formula 3 category.

Like Madras Motor Race Track, the Kari Motor Speedway has hosted various motor racing events from single-seater championships of JK Tyre, MRF to National Touring cars to one-make series of Volkswagen and the National Motorcycle championships. The track also hosts the National Karting Championship races.

Volkswagen Vento Cup takes place here
© Volkswagen Motorsport India

Indian automotive parts manufacturer Jayem Automotives, which aids MRF in running the Formula 1600 and Formula 2000 (MRF Challenge) series, also hires the track for testing purposes. Various leading car manufacturers in India use this as a test track as well. Much like the Madras Motor Race Track, this track is also utilised by many Indian automobile magazines and websites for testing and ranking vehicles. Several Indian racing academies, be it four-wheel or two-wheel, are also based out of Kari Motor Speedway.

Other Tracks

Raceday at Meco Kartopia
© Meco Motorsports

Outside of the major race tracks, there are many prominent kart tracks, which host the Indian National Karting Championship. Some of them are Mohite Racing Academy in Kolhapur, Chicane Circuit in Hyderabad and Meco Kartopia in Bangalore. Apart from these race-standard karting circuits, there are plenty of other karting tracks like Kartainment Go Kart in Hyderabad, Marina Kart Arena in Chennai, IndiKarting in Pune and many more all across the country.

For off-roading enthusiasts, India’s only Dakar finisher CS Santosh owns the Big Rock Motopark located in the outskirts of Bangalore. It is the largest off-road training facility in the country.

Mahindra Adventure also has its own off-road programme with a facility situated in the lush and wild hillsides of Igatpuri, Maharashtra.