Many laps to go for India's F1 race

BANGALORE: It is an idea whose timehas not yet come: a Formula One racing track in India may not actually befeasible now even as a number of states stake their claim to build a circuitthat will revel under the primeval roar of the world''s best engines.Space and money pose the biggest constraints. A cool Rs 450 crore($100 million) has to be invested on the circuit, which easily covers 500 acres.A racer has to complete 305 km in 65-70 laps, depending on the length of thetrack. Besides, maintenance of the track lies with the promotingcompany and not Formula One Management. Keeping the circuit racing fit will costabout Rs 90-135 crore ($20-30 million) a year. Incidentally, the Malaysiangovernment took a hit when the racing track came up there.Thepromoting company also does not have the rights to track advertising, whichrests with Formula One Management. But the TV rights may be given free and thecompany can sell ad time on local TV channels and recover somecosts.Says Vicky Chandok, race driver and now CEO of Wallace Sports,which holds the terrestrial rights to telecast F-1 races in India, "You need5,000 five-star rooms for the drivers, technicians, track crew, world media andforeign spectators. So, 8-10 five-star hotels are needed in the vicinity of thecircuit, because nobody would be willing to travel 15-30 km morning and night."Distance again comes into the picture because the track has to belocated near the international airport to get gear in record time. This includesrace cars, practice cars, huge number of parts and technical gear which includeselectronic gadgets, big and small, for testing various parts at different speedsand time. In most cases, the airport is far away. Sources close toBernie Ecclestone, FOM chief, insist that they need one or two hours to customclear all the stuff.And, when hundreds of acres are involved, landgrab issues crop up. In Kolkata, undesirable elements had snatched the landallotted by the government. India is not the only one in the race. Every year,16 races are held and with new venues coming up, Bahrain being the latest, Chinaalmost done, and Turkey and Dubai also lining up with track plans, India''schances seem bleak.The competition is hot even within the country.Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Delhi are lining up plansfor a Formula One racing track that will be the Indian temple of speed.The buzz is that Hyderabad is in pole position, but B S Patil,Karnataka chief secretary, says a team from here will be meeting BernieEcclestone in October. So, the winning lap is still far away.Buttalk to any Formula One racing fan and they are all for it, despite the factthat it might or might not materialise before 2010. Says Anand Mukati of Wipro,"It would be awesome having a track to watch the race live. And I don''t think itwould really matter if there are no Indian drivers performing on the F1 circuit-- nothing would stop me from cheering the other drivers."