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How many international racing series has India hosted?
Darshan Chokhani lists for us all the international racing competitions that have had a round or a race on Indian circuits.
India has become a destination for many prestigious international sporting events in recent years. Of course, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2016 ICC World T20 have been among the top spectacles, but the 2010 Commonwealth Games has also been a major tournament for which India has held hosting rights.
While big tournaments for most sports are organised on a single-location format, motorsports are commonly held on a caravan calendar system where multiple hosts are selected for a single racing series. And India has often been among the list of illustrious hosting nations for a few major international racing competitions.
Here is a list of major international motorsport events to have taken place in India over the years.
Read: Indian racers competing in international series in 2018 – part 1
Read: India's top racetracks
Formula 1: Indian Grand Prix
Without a doubt, the Indian Grand Prix has been the biggest motor racing event in the country. India is one of only 32 nations to have hosted a grand prix for multiple years.
Backed by the Jaypee Group, the races were held from 2011 to 2013 at the newly-built Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. All three races were won by then Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel, who now races for Ferrari. In fact, Vettel clinched his fourth world title during the 2013 Indian GP.
Read: Red Bull Racing's farewell to Sebastian Vettel
Read: India's exclusive one-on-one with Daniel Ricciardo
The race promoters also won the ‘Best Promoters Trophy’ in the annual FIA award gala twice. Because of various complications, the grand prix was dropped from the F1 calendar. However, there are still two years left on the original contract should it be added to the F1 season again.
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber on the podium at the 2012 Indian GP
© Getty Images | Red Bull Content Pool
Asia Pacific Rally Championship: Rally of India
The FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) has been held in India multiple times.
The first time APRC came to the country was for three years between 1988 and 1990, for the Himalayan Rally. As a domestic rally, the race was initiated in 1980, with international drivers, but it became a stop on the APRC circuit in 1988. It was won by Sinozuka Kenjiro in the first year, by Millen Rod in the second, and by Uhl Stefan in 1990.
Following that, India was dropped as a stop for the APRC season until the Rally of India was introduced for 2003 and 2004. Malaysian Karamjit Singh won both the events before APRC pulled out again.
India was back on the APRC map in 2015, with partial status, and with full status in 2016 when Chikmagalur, Karnataka, became the preferred destination for the rally. Top Indian rally driver Gaurav Gill took the honours in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The 2018 round is scheduled to take place during the 1st-2nd December weekend.
Rally of India at the Asia Pacific Rally Championship
© Asia Pacific Rally Championship
Asia Road Racing Championship
The FIM-backed Asia Road Racing Championship is a premier two-wheel racing series which was first held in India at Chennai’s Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) during the 2009 season, and again for two more seasons. It was withdrawn until it had a one-time return in 2013 at MMRT, was then held in 2016 at the Buddh International Circuit, and again at MMRT in 2017.
An idea for the racing series to have two Indian rounds hasn’t come to fruition so far. The 2018 round will take place at MMRT during the weekend of 3rd-5th August. This year, the series’ Asia Production 250cc class has two Indian riders, Rajiv Sethu and Anish Shetty, racing for the Bengaluru-based Honda Ten10 Racing team.
Asia Road Racing Championship
© Asia Road Racing Championship
Formula 4 South East Asia Championship
This year will feature the return of an FIA-backed series in India for the first time since F1 was held here. The Madras Motor Sports Club will host the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship over back-to-back weekends in September.
The rounds of the junior formulae are scheduled to take place on the weekends of 1st-2nd September and 8th-9th September at MMRT – which is an FIA Grade 2 circuit, capable of hosting races up till the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
MRF Challenge
Another junior series to take place in India is the MRF Challenge winter championship; which is run by MRF Tyres along with JA Motorsport. While the championship isn’t listed on the FIA calendar, the races are conducted under the regulations set by the governing body.
It is an Indian-owned international series which usually takes place on Middle Eastern circuits like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Qatar, with one round in India. The Buddh International Circuit has hosted the series since the 2012/13 season while MMRT hosted it in the 2017-18 season.
MRF Challenge
© MRF Racing
JK Racing Asia Series
Indian manufacturers JK Tyre held the JK Racing Asia Series (formerly known as Formula BMW Asia) in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The series was held across venues in Asia and Europe, with the Buddh International Circuit hosting the Indian rounds.
Other on-road racing series
In the late 1990s, India hosted multiple rounds of Formula Asia, Porsche Supercup, Formula Campus and the Asian Touring Car Championship at MMRT. Most recently, the Buddh International Circuit has hosted T1 Prima Truck Racing between 2014 and 2017.
T1 Prima Truck Racing at the Buddh International Circuit
© JK Tyre Motorsport
Other off-road racing events
One of the most prestigious international off-road events held in India was a round in the Dakar Challenge series called the India Baja. It was organised by Northern Motorsport and first held in 2017. The India Baja will take place from 17th to 19th August this year. Another off-road event to take place in the country is the RFC India round of the global Rainforest Challenge series hosted by Cougar Motorsport in Goa.
Apart from races, India has played host to several F1 demonstrations, including show runs with David Coulthard steering the Red Bull Racing car around Indian streets.
