The Indian Grand Prix is Here!!

Buddh International Circuit, It may not be very familiar to many but in the near future it will be the talk of the town, not that it isnt at present as its just familiar with just the Motor sport enthusiasts. This circuit will host the 1st International Grand Prix on Indian soil, YES, you heard that right. India may not have the best drivers in the world indeed will host the most dangerous sport. Roaring at 307 km/hr it will indeed be a sight to watch for all the people who would have wanted to ride their machines at their machines provided the COPs a.k.a Mamu allows us to in the Indian Roads. This is indeed a stepping stone for all motor sport enthusiasts and youngsters looking to take this sport as their career in future.

28th October will stage the Practice session which will be followed by the Qualifying on the 29th and 'D' day which is the Race day on the 30th. I just cant wait to see the Green Signal at the starting Grid. All this excitement will only stick to me watching the race at home as from what i read from a few news articles, Its going to be very costly affair. Hotels are priced at almost INR 30,000 a night which is costlier for a person residing in Chennai, taking into considering the flight tickets to Delhi.. Singapore Grand Prix including the tickets would have cost me much lesser. So i have just scrapped the idea of watching the Grand Prix for this sole reason. And i am not that crazy a fan for Formula 1 as i have already experienced this great sport at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2004. But for a first timer, I would highly recommend to experience the roar of the Formula 1 engines which is terribly loud.

The Circuit will be 5.14 kms long and the race will be a 60 lap one which the drivers will be covering 308.4 kilometers which will be covered in an approximate time of 90 minutes. The circuit is spread in an area of 875 acres and will have a seating capacity of 150,000 people much more than what Eden Garden (For those people who dont know its the Cricket Stadium in Kolkata) and the Salt Lake Stadium (Once the 2nd biggest football stadium in the world, also in Kolkata) can accommodate.

A Proud moment for all Indians having this motor sports here in India. With the presence of this new sport here in India, there are many things India has to look at considering the worldwide viewer ship of this extreme sport. Its time the world see India as the super power and have all the attention of the world. As per a recent study its not just the Hotel and the Tourism industry which will get a boost but also the Country's profile also gets a lift. In-spite of not getting a direct funding for the Grand Prix from the Govt, the Private players have played a great part in getting things together. Credits should be given to Force India Team Principal and Baron Vijay Mallya who played a great role in getting this sport in the sub continent.

Please look at the link below to have a virtual tour of the circuit which will host the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNbMBuN0Uo

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!

F1’s Loss or Bahrain’s??

F1 Commercial Chief Bernie Ecclestone returned the multi-million Dollar Cheque to Bahrain in a refund of the license fees the Gulf State paid in hosting the annual event and this is what he said, “I want to be loyal to the King (Of Bahrain), because he is doing everything he can to put things right with his people. He doesn’t need people like me stabbing him in the back. Right from the start, we talked about the problems there, and he was straight with me. I am not there and I do not know properly what problems they are having. But the King was concerned about Formula One and our Safety, which is why he took the decision to call off the race”

This few lines are not something a die hard Formula 1 fan like me would want to hear and that too the host being my 2nd home “Bahrain”. It’s just too unfortunate that the event will not happen as scheduled but sources say that once the civil unrest in the Kingdom comes to an end the race will happen in the month of November provided the racers and the teams are agreeing to it. Formula1 governing body in its part is estimated to be loosing $100 million from the cancellation in revenues and being the season opener it’s considered to be a very important affair. The news came in the early hours on Monday, the 21st of February just 3 weeks before the green signal in the Sakhir Circuit was lit.

The last 10 days in Bahrain has not been the typical Bahrain I had known for years and it was reported that people came on to the streets and have gripped the country. Several protesters have been killed in the anti-government demonstrations. Some of the protesters has protested telling that the government was trying to defuse the situation only to ensure that the race can go ahead but the Crown Prince on behalf of the King cleared the allegations and announced the cancellation of the big event. The Crown Prince stressed on the importance of Political stability in the country and having the Sport a secondary concern.
The whole issue revolving Bahrain started in 1999 when the then Aamir of Bahrain Sk.Isa passed away and Sh Hamad took charge as the Aamir of Bahrain. A referendum poll was held the next year as to the need of Bahrain to be a Kingdom and Sh. Hamad became King Hamad of the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2001 with the referendum poll 97% YES in favor of the King. What I don’t understand is that very percentage of people are now against him putting charges that he has not been loyal to the Shia’s who comprise of the majority of the population of Bahrain.
How much Bahrain loses from the cancellation of the race depends on whether it can stage the race later in the year or not. If it can, presumably the race fee takes care of itself and the only expense Bahrain would have to incur the $20 million for the inconvenience of moving the calendar around. It is understood that the already issued tickets online and other media will be reimbursed by the organisers. (Its obvious that they have to do itas Formula1 being an expensive sport)
Now as far as tourism is concerned it could loose atleast $700m in revenues and this is because of the civil unrest in the Kingdom. Hotels, travel agents and toursim operators in the country stand to lose millions during this period and this is evident from the drastic drop in the number of foreigners coming into the country over the last 2 weeks and this will continue if the situation remains the same. The whole country’s economy is affected & Bahrain being a small country it cannot afford to loose this share of the Nations Income. Things get worse for small time vendors like restaurants where the weekend business is stopped from people coming from other neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The civil unrest has to stop and for the benefit of the country they need to come to terms and negotiations have to happen in full swing to keep the spirits of “Long Live Bahrain” alive.

Sakhir Fantasy

Date : 04/04/04 Venue : Sakhir International Circuit...For those who did not quite get what this is, its the day the world renowned sport "Formula1" set foot in the tiny little island in the Middle East 'Bahrain' also known as the Island of Pearls. Lucky me for that matter i happened to visit the extravaganza the year i was leaving that great country after my schooling. The reason i write this blog now is because of the extreme craze i have with this sport and it took me 6 years after the event to start blogging. Along with me was Mohsin Mohammed, my classmate right from childhood and a family friend. The event lasted only for a couple of hours but the excitement and the roar of the 2400CC cars was mind blowing and lucky me i happened to get the seats in the grand stand which was right across the 1st sharp turn wherein all the cars would decelerate from the 7th gear to the 1st and had a view of all the machines without having to turn your heads now and then. The circuit was built in the desert which was later evident with the hot desert breeze running in and around the circuit which further increased the temperature of the drivers with spectacular over takings and fights which finally the legend of all "Michael Schumacher" sprayed the specially made drink as The winner will not celebrate the victory with the traditional champagne, but with a non-alcoholic drink produced especially for the occasion!! All in all it was an awesome day wherein my dreams came true in witnessing an international event.

More on the Bahrain International Circuit : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain_Grand_Prix