Delhi to stage Formula One Grand Prix in 2009

[Bushroda]

Delhi to stage Formula One Grand Prix in 2009
AFP

NEW DELHI, June 14: India will host its first Formula One race, in 2009, the Indian Olympic Association said on Thursday.

A deal has been signed with the sport's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone to hold the race in the capital New Delhi, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi said.

"We have received a letter in this regard from Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One," Kalmadi told reporters.

"The IOA will be the promoter, the first event of which will be held in 2009."

Ecclestone has said in the past year that India was one of the future markets for motor sport after India's Narain Karthikeyan drove for Jordan in the 2005 season.

"India is a country that is probably going to grow quicker than China," Ecclestone said in London in November.

The IOA will build a F1 track and a brand new stadium in New Delhi in time to hold the race, Kalmadi said.

New Delhi is also due to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

There has been heightened interest in F1 racing in India after Karthikeyan hit the tracks backed by huge Indian sponsorship.

The 29-year-old did not race in 2006 but is signed up with Williams as a test driver.

Millions of Indians watch the Formula One season on television, often with the same passion they reserve for the country's most popular sport - cricket.

 

[Bushroda]

Formula One coming to India
Jun 14, 2007 09:26 AM
Associated Press

NEW DELHI – Indian officials have reached an agreement with Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone to stage a Grand Prix in New Delhi starting in 2009.

The agreement is preliminary and conditional on having a venue approved by F1, said Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi on Thursday.

"We have bagged a F1 championship for India," Kalmadi said.

New Delhi does not currently have a racetrack but Kalmadi said the IOA, together with the government, would build in or near the Indian capital. He ruled out a street race.

While F1 is not an Olympic event, Kalmadi said the organization was involved as part of its attempt to bring as many major sporting events as possible to New Delhi ahead of the city's staging of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

"Formula One may not be an Olympic sport, but we recognize and promote nearly 50 non-Olympic sports within the country," Kalmadi said after a IOA executive council meeting.

He said the executive council had ratified the preliminary memorandum of understanding with Formula One Management.

"We have an agreement in place, a formal contract will be signed once things move forward," Kalmadi said.

The letter from Formula One to Kalmadi stipulates the IOA must sign the contract and submit financial guarantees for the event by Sept. 30, 2007.

"They (F1) have been trying for 15 years to stage a Formula One event in India, but had not succeeded," Kalmadi said.

"The IOA will be a promoter of the event and it will be our responsibility to raise the necessary finances though government and private funds," he added. "It's a tough task, but we're hoping to meet the challenge."

Kalmadi said efforts to bring top international events to the Indian capital had already attracted the field hockey World Cup and the world badminton championships – both ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, of which Kalmadi is the chief organizer.

 

[Bushroda]

India added to 2009 formula one calendar

'We are planning to hold the race around New Delhi and we are looking to identify suitable land for a track'

Thursday June 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

New Delhi will host a grand prix in 2009 after the Indian Olympic Association announced a preliminary deal with with formula one boss Bernie Ecclestone.

IOA president Suresh Kalmadi confirmed at a news conference that the agreement was conditional on having a venue approved, and said they were looking for a suitable location in or around New Delhi to construct a brand-new facility, noting that the IOA had ruled out any possibility of using a street circuit.

"We have received a letter in this regard from Bernie Ecclestone. The IOA will be the promoter and the first event will be held in 2009," he said. "Once we move ahead (put all aspects in place), a regular contract would be signed. We are planning to hold the race around New Delhi and we are looking to identify suitable land for a track."
Kalmadi will now turn his attention to securing sustainable financing for the event through government and private funds, with Formula One Management (FOM) stipulating that financial guarantees must be presented by September 30 2007.

"We have an agreement in place, a formal contract will be signed once things move forward," Kalmadi added. "It's a tough task, but we're hoping to meet the challenge."

Should the Indian grand prix organisers meet FOM's demands, the race would become the fifth new venue to be added to the calendar in recent months. Valencia and Singapore will hold races for the first time in 2008, while Abu Dhabi will enter the fray in 2009 followed by South Korea a year later.

 

[Bull]

If Naidu was in power in AP we would have seen it happening in hderbad. Newdelhi is already very famous..we needed to have this in hyderbad or B'lore to let the world know there is more to India than just Mumbai and Delhi.

 

[Samudra]

Actually Coimbatore is the best place.....we're the home town of many motorsports personalities like Kari, Narain, Arjun Balu, Ram Kumar, Leelakrishnan.....

All happen to come from one big rich but generous PSG clan.

 

[Adux]

Actually Coimbatore is the best place.....we're the home town of many motorsports personalities like Kari, Narain, Arjun Balu, Ram Kumar, Leelakrishnan.....

All happen to come from one big rich but generous PSG clan.

oh you telegu's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hail GRD..for the gals
PSG is really bad

 

[Bull]

We shud have this is B'lore, Jaipur or Hyderbad..atleast that wud force the govt to change the logistics like have beter airports, better roads. Delhi is an easy way out.

Delhi already has commonwealth and see what all the govt is forced to do.

Missed oppurtunity.....

 

[Samudra]

GR.Damodaran, the man after whom GRD Edu. trust was named is buried in PSG.

All in the family.

One of the national rally drivers hailing from CBE was my senior in school and one of best mates dad used to be his navigator in the good ole days.

 

[Samudra]

We shud have this is B'lore, Jaipur or Hyderbad..atleast that wud force the govt to change the logistics like have beter airports, better roads. Delhi is an easy way out.

Delhi already has commonwealth and see what all the govt is forced to do.

Missed oppurtunity.....

Bring it to Coimbatore. We already have a proper racing track, not quite enough for an F1 though...and we need a better airport.

 

[Bull]

Bring it to Coimbatore. We already have a proper racing track, not quite enough for an F1 though...and we need a better airport.

There is nothing to showcase there...except for the L&T bypass road...lol...

B'lore, Hyd'bd and Jaipur could have used it much better. Imagine a race with the palaces in the back ground or the magnificiant lake.

 

[Adux]

GR.Damodaran, the man after whom GRD Edu. trust was named is buried in PSG.

All in the family.

One of the national rally drivers hailing from CBE was my senior in school and one of best mates dad used to be his navigator in the good ole days.

i know!!!!!my bro was a rally driver, sangeeth you might know him.. he is kerala motor sports president and also designs the route's for popular rally.

GRD owner Padmanabam, bugger is minting money!!! he buys a new car very 6 months.. I see my money in every car!!!!

 

[Adux]

There is nothing to showcase there...except for the L&T bypass road...lol...

B'lore, Hyd'bd and Jaipur could have used it much better. Imagine a race with the palaces in the back ground or the magnificiant lake.

you are lil bro, there is something called karpagam?(near karpagam college) race track!!! its god damn nice, i used to take my baleno there!!

Coimbatore's has a long race history!!!! but it is not a good place for a F1

 

[Samudra]

karpagam?(near karpagam college)

Its Kari Motorway/Raceway I think. It on the same side of the city as the mentioned college is - some 15 odd kms away from it.

but it is not a good place for a F1

We're good for rallies.

 

[Contrarian]

I agree, the race should be held in Hyderabad. I feel Delhi and Mumbai already have a lot of publicity. This would have been a wonderful thing to publicise Hyderabad.

If Chandrababu was indeed in power, Hyderbad would definitely have been the venue. He was already lobbying VERY hard for it.

 

[Bushroda]

Its been over a decade now that India has been trying to put itself on F1GP map. Finally it has all paid off. The good thing is that IOA has got all the resources needed to make it big(after all it has got all the government machienery at its disposal). But, the bad thing is they have just a little over two years time & the preparations have to start right now right at this moment. There isn't shortage of corporate sponsorship. Money is certainly no constraint. Although I am myself tired of everything going to Delhi but in a way I feel it is best at the moment since the construction & preparation isn't going to be delayed with government enclaves right next door. Ideally I would've preferred Hyderabad as the choice given the amount of preparation & ambition they had. It was Chandrababu Naidu who first floated the idea of getting F1 in 2003. But still, Best of Luck New Delhi. Make it big & next bring Olympics to India in 2020.

Hope to see this sight in New Delhi in 2020