Chennai club to offer auto firms tracks for testing

After promoting motor sports in the country for over two decades, the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) is now in the process of reinventing itself and is wooing corporates in the automotive and automobile component industries to use its infrastructure for testing purposes.

The MMSC is now thinking out of the box to see how best its 216 acres of land can be used, apart from using it for motor sports. A two-phase plan involving around Rs 8 crore has been drawn up by the Madras Motor Sports Trust (MMSCT) that will see the development of new tracks for automobile companies to undertake professional testing of bikes, cars and tyres to be launched in future.

Corporates like TVS Group and JK Industries, after helping the MMSC tide over its debt burden, are now putting the act together for developing test track in Sriperumbadur (near Chennai). The location currently has two tracks, one of 3.76 km and a shorter one of 2.05 km that are mostly used for racing purposes.

According to Vicky Chandhok, trustee to the MMST and president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, efforts are now focused on building two or three more tracks that would provide different field conditions like rubble strips and wet track with sprinklers.

"The ARAI in Pune and VRDE in Ahmednagar are two exclusive test tracks available in the country. The ones we are developing would be a race-cum-test tracks which will be one of its kind in the country," said Chandhok.

Several automobile and ancillary companies in the region are already using the race track from time to time for testing purpose. The proximity of companies like Ford India, Hyundai Motor India, TVS Group and tyre major MRF is expected to make the MMSC's plans a viable business proposition, said Chandhok.

Clive Bowen, a consultant and track specialist is been retained to undertake this project. The second phase of the development work is expected to be more extensive. "The property of the MMSC is worth over Rs 40 crore. Some of the tracks would be moved towards the rear end of the location which is currently not used and the side adjacent to the highway could be used for commercial use" Chandhok said.