X1 league will help change India's motorsport profile: Ebrahim

Chennai : The franchise-based X1 Racing League will help change the profile of motorsport in India, X1 Racing co-founder Armaan Ebrahim, a former F2 driver, has said.

The X1 Racing league, founded by Ebrahim and international racer Aditya Patel, is scheduled to commence on November 30 and will feature former F1 racers Vitantonio Luizzi and Alex Yoong, among others.

"X1 is not only about racing, it has more to it," Ebrahim told PTI.

Apart from the racing, X1 would have eSports, a digital simulator-based racing competition, the Chennai leg of which saw enthusiastic participation and speed summit, an experience to select people from the corporate world, he said.

Ebrahim, son of former racer Akbar Ebrahim, said the aim was to make motorsport accessible to all.

"We are excited to partner with extremely passionate team owners who have a long-term vision to develop and build motorsports in India.... X1 will help change the profile of motorsport in India," he added.

X1 league will feature six teams and international drivers including female racers. The league will follow the 'eSports' competition and the inaugural leg will be staged in Greater Noida from November 30 to December 1 before it moves to the Madras Motor Race Trust track at nearby Sriperumbudur on December 7 and 8.

The Chennai team is to be owned by India's first F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, Armaan Ebrahim said. Ebrahim said the aim was to spread wings and grow organically and plans include street circuits and more venues.

"We are excited. The aim is to spread wings next year. We aim to grow organically. More venues including street circuits are part of our expansion plans," he added.

Aditya Patel said the league would provide an opportunity to local drivers to upgrade themselves as they would get to rub shoulders with those with experience at the highest level.

In the finals of the Chennai edition of X1 Racing eSports season 1 held recently, Abhishek Dwaraknath, Hari Krupanand and Vinesh Chand Gopalaswami emerged winners. They will represent the city in the grand finale to be held in November.

Around 5,000 motorsports enthusiasts from the city participated in the event. Aditya Patel said "Motorsports is expensive and requires a lot of infrastructure. Many dont take up the sport because of this reason.

Initiatives such as these have a wider reach and will help tap talent across cities in India," he said.