Before Vijay Mallya took up spiritualism, he worshipped the more tangible gods of speed.
While Mallya himself used to light up the Sriperumbudur test track near Chennai in the early 80s, he currently prefers to sit back and monitor Indian F1 aspirant Narain Karthikeyan's progress. The UB Group happens to be one of Narain's sponsors.
While Mallya is flamboyant and flaunts his wares, yet another industrialist, a low key one at that, is also striving to put Indian racers on the global map.
Filial affection and concern forced Pratap Sinh Gaekwad, chief executive officer, Baroda Rayon Corporation (BRC), to spend all of his teens as a spectator of various Formula races around the world.
Today, the 29-year-old Gaekwad, through the Maharaja Fatehsingrao Gaekwad Sports Foundation, is indulging in his passion in a surrogate manner.
Gaekwad is now behind the Gaekwad Racing Team (GRT) (part of the foundation) which seeks to assist youngsters in finding their footing in the cut-throat and expensive world of Formula racing.
The BRC's recast notwithstanding, the GRT is now doing splendidly in the single-seater Asian Formula 2000 season, with its driver Asif Nazir among the top contenders for the title.
With Asif Nazir attracting a lot of good press, Gaekwad hopes to soon tie up with a major fast-moving consumer goods or car manufacturer to kick-start Nazir's journey into Formula 1.
Apart from the sports foundation, Gaekwad is also looking to set up a school in Mumbai for racing aspirants. "There is a lot of interest in racing in our country today, but where are the schools? We will soon start a racing school where talented racers will be groomed."
Gaekwad is also in talks for the opening of a Formula 1 track. "The only problem here is of logistics. The customs rules and regulations are complex here and will have to be altered to handle the enormous inflow of F1 teams and their entourage. We have earmarked land near Panvel in New Mumbai and with an international airport set to come up there, have already started negotiations for the setting up of a F1 track."
He hopes to rope in well-connected racing enthusiasts in order to begin the process of setting up the F1 track. Gaekwad would be well advised to pay a visit to Mallya, whose UB Group is head quartered a couple of floors above the Gaekwad Sports Foundation office in south Mumbai.
