By IANS
New Delhi : India will soon have its own version of the highly popular NASCAR race, the Goodyear Top 1 Racing Challenge, to be held in Greater Noida from Dec 24-25.
The Top 1 Racing Challenge will be held on the lines of the NASCAR in the US. There will be 1400-1600cc saloon cars racing over 20 laps on a 2.7 km track.
Announcing this, Sales and Marketing director of Goodyear India, Mahesh Krishnan, said Wednesday, interest in motorsports is increasing in India and the Noida race will give a further boost to it.
“We have always been closely associated with the thrilling and adventurous world of motorsports. Goodyear has been associated NASCAR for over 50 years and I am happy that we will have India’s own version of NASCAR–the Goodyear Top 1 Racing Challenge,” said Krishnan.
The event would be jointly organised by the Government of India, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Uttar Pradesh Government, Greater Noida Authority, Federation of Motor Sports Club of India (FMSCI) and the Motor Sport Association of India (MAI).
The Challenge will be a four-race series and the organisers are still looking for possible venues for the three races to be held next year. Sports Management Group International (SMGI), a London-based sports media and marketing company will promote the event.
Managing Director of SMGI, South Asia, Manzar Khan, said they are looking for possible venues in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune to organise the next three races.
The race will be held in two categories allowing the racers to compete in professional and professional-amateur category. All the cars have to abide by the safety norms of the FMSCI and MAI and will also have be certified by these two bodies.
The inaugural edition of the race will have around 20 teams and 60 cars. All the cars will be checked for safety measures Dec 23 and will be followed by practice and qualifying rounds next day. The main race will be held on the Christmas Day.