Hyderabad witnesses first taste of formula cars

Hyderabad witnessed the first taste of the Formula cars when the Wolf Racing’s GB08 Thunder race cars vroomed on India’s first street circuit

Hyderabad: The city of Hyderabad witnessed the first taste of the Formula cars when the Wolf Racing’s GB08 Thunder race cars vroomed on India’s first street circuit – Hyderabad Street Circuit on the banks of Hussain Sagar Lake, on Saturday.

The first day of the inaugural edition of the Indian Racing League saw only the drivers taking out the car for practice races unlike scheduled qualifying races. This being the newly-laid track, the drivers were skeptical initially that forced the qualifying races to the morning of Sunday.

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However, the cars enthralled the crowd who gathered to witness the mean machines speed past them. The drivers were cautious in their approach and they didn’t hit the full throttle. While the cars have the capacity to touch 250kmph, they chose to not stretch the beast touching around 140 to 150kmph during the practice races.

“The track is very new and a few foreign drivers were skeptical. We are not used to this track. Drivers’ safety is paramount so the whole session was used for practice races postponing the qualifying races tomorrow,” said Akhilesh Reddy, the chairman of Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd. He also admitted that there were a few lapses on the opening day that will be sorted out before the race day.

“The drivers first should get used to this track and then they can feel confident. So the whole day was used as practice for the drivers. The infrastructure is very good. But they were cautious regarding the barricades. This is the first street circuit in the country. There were a few lapses regarding the crowd management and lack of communication to them. There will be more people tomorrow (Sunday),” he added.

When asked about the experience of racing for the first time on the new track in Hyderabad, local driver Anindith Reddy, who is part of Hyderabad Black Birds team, said, “There is no issue with the track. But the drivers are new to this track and this is the first time many are racing in a street circuit. After the practice we will give our feedback to the officials. Safety is our priority.”

When quizzed whether the race was pushed too early since the trace was completed very recently, the 32-year-old said, “The concern is genuine. This is a newly-laid track and there are a few issues with the brakes. So the track looked rugged today. But we hope it will get better tomorrow,” he added.

Earlier, State Minister for IT, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, KT Rama Rao flagged off the event. The league is a six-city based franchise with four drives each in the team.