India is known for its multifaceted culture, regions, and cuisines. But today, the country also gets highly esteemed for a multitude of prestigious international sports events. Big tournaments get organized for a majority of sports on the single-location format. However, motorsports also get held on the caravan calendar system, whereby many hosts get selected for the single racing series. The country has become famous for being one of the illustrious hosting nations for significant racing competitions on international fronts.
Let's highlight the most noteworthy international racing series that got conducted in a rich and diverse country like India from the given pointers.
This FIM-backed championship is the premier racing series, including exclusively two wheels that first got held in the country at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai during 2009. But it got withdrawn till the time it got the one-time return at MMRT in the year in 2013. After that, it got conducted in 2016 (Buddh International Circuit), but 2017 witnessed the event at MMRT.
The APRC got conducted in India many a times. Initially, APRC arrive to this count for three years from 1988 to 1990. That was for Himalayan Rally. Being the domestic rally, this race got initiated in the year 1980 alongside international drivers. However, it transformed into a stop on APRC circuit in the year 1988. And Sinozuka Kenjiro won, followed by Uhl Stefan in the year 1990 and Millen Rod in the second year.
One more junior series that occurred in India happens to be the MRF Challenge championship. The series is run by the MRF Tyres alongside with JA Motorsport. When the championship does not get listed on FIA, races get hosted under the rules & regulations set by governing bodies.
JK Tyre introduced this series in the year 2011 & 2012. Formerly, it was regarded as the Formula BMW Asia. The series got held around venues in Europe and Asia, with Buddh International Circuit conducting the Indian rounds.
Fans witnessed the return of the FIA-backed series for the very first time ever since F1 got conducted in India in 2018. Madras Motor Club hosted the championship series over the back-to-back weekends in the month of September. The junior formula rounds got scheduled to occur on weekends of the first and second of September & the eighth and ninth of September at the MMRT. That's the FIA Grade 2 circuit, which can host races till the FIA 2 Championship.
During the 1990s, the country conducted many rounds of the Formula Asia, Formula Campus, Asian Touring Car Championship, and Porsche Super cup at MMRT. And before a few years, Buddh International Circuit hosted the T1 Prima Truck Race from 2014 to 2017.
The most reputable international off-road event conducted in the country was the round in Dakar Challenge series. It is also referred to as India Baja. The event got organized by Northern Motorsport and was initially conducted in the year 2017. India Baja, later on, occurred between the 17th and 19th of August the next year.
India is a land that has lots of potential as the region for motorsports. However, motorsports is a man-machine game, requiring solid financial support. So, that makes it evident that aspiring riders need to pursue it professionally. So, making the sport accessible for everyone will require considering key parameters. Some of them are cultivating talents, offering necessary infrastructure and facilities, and one enabling platform for young riders to upscale competitiveness. Thus, this post has compiled some of India's most prestigious international racing series.
