Inaugural edition of Indian Racing League kicks off in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Nov 19 (IANS) The inaugural edition of Indian Racing League began on Saturday at India's first street circuit, here on the banks of Hussain Sagar Lake.

The race was flagged off by K.T Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Industries, MA & UD, Telangana Government.

The racing event, organised by the Indian Motorsports Company, Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd (RPPL), has brought 24 prominent foreign and Indian drivers to the country for a spectacle for racing enthusiasts over four consecutive weekends. After the next 2 rounds in Chennai, Hyderabad will host the finale on December 10 and 11.

Six city teams, Hyderabad Blackbirds, Speed Demons Delhi, Bangalore Speedsters, Chennai Turbo Riders, GodSpeed Kochi and Goa Aces, consisting of Indian and foreign drivers (both male and female) will compete at the state-of-the-art racing tracks in Hyderabad and Chennai during the league.

The Hyderabad Blackbirds include the city's very own driver Anindith Reddy, with an experience of 7 years and multiple championships wins. The Hyderabad team also features renowned drivers like Neel Jani, a Swiss Indian professional Porsche factory driver, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016, Akhil Rabindra, selected as the Aston Martin Racing Academy Driver and female F4 racing driver Lola Lovinsfosse.

"It was good to drive on the Street circuit, the track was rugged today, and we hope it will get better tomorrow and look forward to racing tomorrow as well here," said Hyderabad Blackbirds driver Anindith.

As per the organisers, the racing league aims to give a major push to promote the motorsports segment in the country.

"It's really a proud moment for the city of Hyderabad, to host the first-ever street circuit event and it's a perfect start of taking the city on a global stage of motorsports. Telangana government has done excellent work in developing this track and we are grateful for all the support extended to us," said Akhilesh Reddy, Director MEIL and Chairman, RPPL (Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd).

"We are making all efforts to grow motorsports in the country and hope these races will build a connection with audiences and inspire the talent of the sport to achieve greater success," he added.

The Wolf racing team is operating all the competing cars, because of RPPL's unique and innovative idea, both men and women have an equal chance to compete on a fair playing field, with the objective of making India a popular motorsports destination worldwide.