Formula FIASCO: Racing car crash spells IRL doom

Hyderabad: The crash of one of the racing cars on the second and final day of the first-ever Indian Racing League (IRL), a 2-day street circuit race held here on the banks of Hussain Sagar Lake, forced the organisers to call off the race on Sunday.

"There was an incident during practice session with one car, and as a matter of abundant precaution and advice from FMSCI stewards and FMSCI along with the RPPL technical team, we have postponed the races to further investigate the incident," an official statement said. However, the JK Tyre's LGB Formula 4 didn't leave the spectators disappointed. The Round 3 of JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship enthralled the spectators against all odds at the Hyderabad Street Circuit.

Viswas Vijayaraj from Ahura Racing bagged two podium finishes to top the race while Raghul Rangasamy makes it two top finishes in a row by wining race 2 in a last lap overtake and comes 2nd in Race 3 on an eventful day at the Hyderabad Street Circuit.

On the inaugural day too, lack of proper lighting on the racetrack and a tree branch falling on the race car led to the cancellation of final round. Lack of safety precautions, access of spectators to the venue through the racing track, uneven track surface and almost shoddy management of affairs has cast a shadow on an otherwise thrilling event.

The organisers have failed miserably in many aspects be it managing the spectators, media or the racetrack. With the Indian Racing League, which was a prelude to the first-ever Formula E race to be held in India, turning out to be a total failure and the onus lies on the organisers to rise above their mistakes to make the historic mega to be held next year a great success.

Ahead of playing host to Round 4 of the historic Formula E Championship on February 11, Indian Racing League will be conducting trial run for the track for Formula E in Hyderabad and Chennai.

The conduct of the first and fourth rounds on December 10 and 11 in Hyderabad will bring to fore how sincere the organizers are in their objective to give a major push to promote the motorsports segment in the country. The second round on November 25-27 and third round on December 2 and 4 will be held in Chennai.

The two-day event saw 24 drivers from six city teams - Hyderabad Blackbirds, Speed Demons Delhi, Bangalore Speedsters, Chennai Turbo Riders, GodSpeed Kochi and Goa Aces - consisting of Indian and foreign drivers (both male and female), compete at the state-of-the-art racing tracks in Hyderabad. Each team comprised of two Indian and two international drivers with one of them being a woman.

The teams competed with two drivers sharing one car and each team had two cars at their disposal.

The Hyderabad Street Circuit was designed by Driven International, and for the IRL, the circuit is now longer than its earlier 2.37-km length – now being 2.83-km long. The circuit now features more corners than before too, with the promise of providing more exciting action on track.