Indian Racing League returns to Hyderabad for season finale

Hyderabad is all set to host the season finale of the Indian Racing League (IRL) as India’s first avenue race returns to town after two weeks for a weekend showdown.

Alongside the picturesque Necklace Street on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake, with the enduring statue of Gautam Buddha within the backdrop, drivers arrived in jumpsuits to get a really feel of the circuit with the race organisers finishing up closing inspection forward of the primary qualifying race on Saturday. 

The season opener that was held within the metropolis on November 19-20 was referred to as off attributable to technical failure and a number of logistical points. Nevertheless, Akhilesh Reddy, chairman of RPPL, the person in command of the race, is assured of internet hosting a profitable season finale.

“Firstly, I want to clarify that Formula E and Indian Racing League are not the same and there was a lot of confusion despite clarifications. In the first event, there were a couple of flaws as we could not get the gate closures as planned and we had to do a lot of things at the last minute. But this time we are well equipped and are confident of hosting a successful one,” Akhilesh informed  Sportstar in an unique chat on the race paddock on Friday.

Detailing the specifics that led to the cancellation of the season opener on November 20, the chairman stated, “On the pre-race day, we were supposed to start at 8:00 AM but the race qualification started at 2:30 PM. JK Tyre championship was there alongside as the supporting race and it was their 25th year, silver jubilee, so we had to give them full time for their races to finish so that shifted our schedule. On the race day we had a couple of issues, first with the brake fluid, so were sorting it out and that delayed us from hosting our race as JK had to finish their races as they were into their championship closing and we had to give them the track to run the race. That’s why we couldn’t complete the race on. But this time, no such thing will happen and we have already run through our checklists.”

Chaotic scenes have been witnessed throughout the inaugural race as many followers couldn’t witness the race regardless of having legitimate tickets as there was a communication breakdown between the organisers and the officers.

Acknowledging the lapses, Akhilesh stated, “There were too many invitees as the street circuit was happening for the first time in India. We thought the crowd wouldn’t be too interested but to our surprise, which is good for the sport, there were so many fans who turned up to watch the race and it was good to see so many motorsport fans in India. But, yes, we miscalculated the turnout and there was no bifurcation between the ticket buyers and the invitees and that made things hectic and it was a case of over-capacity. We refunded the amount within a day.

“But this time, we have bifurcated the invitees, ticket holders and the VVIP guests. We have made separate arenas and they are going to stick to their designated enclosures. We will make sure there is no trespassing and we have increased the security in order to keep the race more organised this time.”

Pandemonium reigned contained in the race observe additionally throughout the opener as the dearth of foot-over bridges compelled followers to cross the race observe and navigate adjoining to the pitlane part on their option to the designated seating enviornment. However, this time, the authorities have put in the foot-over bridges and cordoned off the race observe, preserving it strictly off-limits to most of the people. 

“We have constructed three foot-over bridges so that people don’t have to cross the track. Since the foot-over bridges were not there in place last time, we had to stop the race and then allow people inside but this time there won’t be any such issues,” he stated.

From a contemporary coat of paint to a sturdy tyre wall and flashy pit lane exit lights, the two.8 km stretch with 17 twists is able to check the drivers and thrill followers when the lights go inexperienced.