With a clutch of innovative initiatives on the horizon, the third round of the MRF MMSC-FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship gets underway at the MMRT here on Friday, featuring 14 races.
The programme includes races in the two single-seater categories, the MRF F1600 and the Formula LGB 1300, besides the popular saloon cars — the premium Indian Touring Cars and Super Stock classes — and the Volkswagen Ameo Class which has been accorded National Championship status. Running concurrently will be four Formula 4 SEA races.
While even as the National Championship season is in full swing, promoters Madras Motor Sports Club is planning to initiate a slew of long-term plans that include night racing, the first of its kind in India.
Test session
Taking an overview of this weekend’s races, chairman of the championship Vicky Chandhok said, “Going forward, we at the MMSC, in keeping with our efforts to move with the changing times, plan to introduce night events with racing under lights. With a view to evaluate the possibilities of night racing, we have planned a test session on Wednesday, August 7, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
“Primarily, this first session will be only for saloons, with headlights mandatory. Depending on the testing, we will expand it to the 1300cc single seater cars as well. Further, for the next round (August 16-18), we plan to run the races in anti-clockwise direction. The response, thus far, has been tremendous.”
Proven platform
The MRF F1600, a proven platform for young aspirants looking to break into international arena, will be running to full grid with four races scheduled, while the Formula LGB 1300, an excellent option for those graduating to single-seater racing, has again attracted 20-plus entries.
The two categories in the saloon cars, ITC and Super Stock, will be run on combined grid, and as in the previous round in Coimbatore last month, competition is expected to be fierce with the factory-supported turbo-powered Volkswagen Vento cars likely to extend their domination.