India gets F1 Grand Prix slot, finally

India has finally been awarded a Formula One grand prix slot for the 2009
season. Suresh Kalmadi, president of the Indian Olympic Association said
here today that the association has received a letter in this regard from Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One.

The IOA will be the promoter and the first event will be held in 2009. The
IOA will raise the necessary funding through government or private sources and Kalmadi added, '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.'

India's F1 plans have been in the news over the past few years, with Andhra Pradesh and Chandrababu Naidu coming very close to a full deal.

Reports earlier has also said that UB chief Vijay Mallya who sponsors the Toyota F1 team with his flagship brand, Kingfisher, was working towards hosting a Monaco-style street F1 event in 2009. Mallya had said that the first event would likely be an exhibition event, but more serious races would evolve out of that.

However, it now seems that F1 supremo Bernie Eccelestone wants to take the world's fastest motorsport series to new heights and India is an important part of that plan. Just about a month ago, Formula One had announced the addition of Singapore to the 2008 calendar with the first of its kind night time street race. India, it appears, is the next, and now latest, addition.

South Korea, reports say, has also been promised a slot in 2010. India's
booming economy, young population makes it an attractive place for Formula One.

While a track within the Delhi metropolitan area is next to impossible, the
government is looking for suitable land. While F1 tracks range between 4.5 to 6 km long, which is not much, the actual layout of the track, including spectator facilities, pit garages, hospitality and parking space etc. take up a lot more space. The Sepang circuit in Malaysia, for instance, was constructed on 2300 acres (although it does include hotels, a golf course and other non-motorsport related facilities). The other recently
constructed racetrack, Shanghai International Circuit was constructed over
a 1000 acre area. However, these are very lavish facilities. Istanbul Park,
in Turkey, which has produces some fascinating racing is built on just under 500 acres of land.

Ecclestone had expressed concern earlier, that the problems of hosting F1
in India lay in the logistics. According to the official website,
formulaone.com, an average F1 team can requires as much as a 100 hotel
rooms. In addition, hotel rooms in the hundreds per day are needed to
service corporate guests, media, spectators etc. Also required are the
infrastructure facilities to transport the considerable amount of
equipment the teams and event staff require for hold each round of the
currently 18-round series.

The hurdles aside, Formula One's Indian GP in 2009 will satisfy the legions of Indian fans of the sport who are currently glued to the television on Sundays and turn up in droves at various venues where large viewing screen are put up. Having an Indian F1-spec track will also allow India to bid for other international race series, including the A1 GP, where a team represents India, Formula 3, GP2, motorcycle races (like MotoGP and World Superbikes). In addition, a number of Asian series' and local events can also now be hosted.