Sport | Motorsport
i1 Supercar Series moved to 2013
Roll-over effect of Indian elections cited
- Gulf News Report
- Published: 00:00 February 14, 2012
- Image Credit: Gulf News archive
- Darshan M.
Dubai India's first motorsport league, the i1 Supercar Series, which was scheduled to host two legs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has been postponed until next year. The series was officially launched at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi in December.
The elections in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh played a big role in the postponement of the race scheduled at Buddh International Circuit in India and this had a roll-on effect on the availability of the other race tracks as well as some of the key drivers. The races scheduled in the UAE were in Abu Dhabi (March 9-10) and Dubai (March 16-17).
Hard decision
Darshan M., CEO, Machdar Motorsports, the owners of the event, said, "It is unfortunate that we have had to postpone the i1 Supercar Series to next year but in the long term we feel this will benefit not only the series but motorsports in the country as well.
"The change in the race calendar due to polling in Uttar Pradesh was already affecting availability of international circuits as well as participation of key drivers in the series."
"If the promoters took this important decision, I am sure that it has been done as an investment in the long term...," said Vitantonio Liuzzi, International Driver, i1 Supercar Series.
According to Arindam Chaudhuri, management guru and Delhi city team owner of i1 Supercar Series, "Marketing is the key to making any kind of activity successful. We thus mutually agreed that the time proposed for the race provided less scope to the team owners to hype the series' marketing initiatives."
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