'Kolhapur circuit among top 5 in Asia'

MUMBAI, December 6: The Mohite's Racing Academy Circuit (MRAC) in Kolhapur has got the thumbs up from the governing body for motorsport—the Motorsports Association of India (MAI).
Robin Shroff, who is administrator and president of the Karting Commission, India, says, "The layout of this track is very good. It mixes a lot of straights and corners, 90 degree turns, hair pins and no sweeping corners.And if you compare it to circuits internationally and Asia, it is not a tiring track. It is not that much of a technical circuit."
And Robin rates his very highly. "I would put it in the top 5 in Asia along with tracks in Malaysia, Thailand, Macau and Coimbatore. It is well equipped to run Asia Zone events," says Robin.
Robin reckons it has a good chance of holding even bigger events. "They (owners) are applying for the CIK (Commission Internationale de Karting) homologation of the track. But first, they want to be get everything, including the facilities, in place. They need to work on the paddock area, rooms for officials. They track surfacing also needs to be done. The run off areas are good enough," points out Robin.
"As of now, it has a National Grade A licence which means it can hold Asia Zone events. After the CIK homologation, it will be upgraded to a International Grade B licence which means they can hold all events upto but not including World Championship rounds," explains Robin.
With just a handful of exclusive go-karting tracks left in the country, the MRAC and the Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore are among the best on offer. "The track at Coimbatore is 1.1km but it is not an exclusive Karting track.
It is a racing circuit converted into a go kart track. Goa is not a proper Go Kart track in the sense that the first corner encourages accidents.
The first corner should be more than 90 degrees. Even the start/finish straight is not long enough. Nagpur has a pretty decent track which is 700 metres but maintenance was a problem," compares Robin.
Robin says to hold a big event, the minimum track length should be 900 metres. He plans to get a round of the Asian Kart Open Championship to Kolhapur and is in touch with the organisers.