Indian Racing League: Hyderabad’s Anindith excited to race on home turf

Hyderabad racer Anindith Reddy is eager to show his prowess behind the wheel in front of his home fans

Hyderabad: Hyderabad racer Anindith Reddy is eager to show his prowess behind the wheel in front of his home fans when the inaugural edition of the Indian Racing League kicks off at the Hyderabad Street Circuit on the banks of the Hussain Sagar Lake on Saturday.

Anindith will be racing for Hyderabad Blackbirds team in the competition that will also have teams from Goa, Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi. This league is also a precursor to the Formula E race scheduled to be held in the city in February next year.

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The race also assumes importance as it is the only street circuit in the country. The Indian Racing League, which is a five-city based race, is the first-of-its-kind event in the world and Hyderabad is hosting the race for the first time.

The 32-year-old racer is excited for the event. “It is fantastic that the motorsport is coming back to Hyderabad in a big way. This is definitely a step in the right direction. This being a street circuit makes it more exciting. I would like to see a full circuit built in Hyderabad,” he said.

“It is a first-of-its-kind format in the world. Especially for a country like India where racing is not popular, it is very important. The league involves fans, cities and everyone,” he said.

Anindith, who began racing professionally in 2013, has emerged winner of the Indian touring car race last year, and competed in X1 racing league in 2019 as well as Lamborghini Super Trofeo series in 2018.

In 2017, he became the only racer to win the MRF F1600 and Euro JK17 that got him the Motorsport Person of the Year award in 2017. He has five championship wins with over 100 race starts, over 70 podiums and more than 25 wins.

“The journey has been fantastic so far. I have gone to a higher level with each year. My goal right now is to do well in this league as it is an important one. It gives us a chance to race against the best drivers in the world and see where we stand. I would like to go into GT car racing next. And also it would be nice to race at the Le Mans,” he revealed.

He also felt that Hyderabad hosting India’s first Formula E race will encourage the people to take up the sport. “Formula E racing coming to India, especially to Hyderabad, is a big boost. It definitely will have a big impact on the game in the country. It makes the sport more popular here,” he added.