Visibility and funding woes continue to hinder motorsports in India

A warning board mdash Motorsports Is Dangerous mdash greets the visitors at virtually every racing circuit It is an adrenalinefilled beast that can devour you in more ways than one or give you the ride of your lifeIn India there are hundreds of starryeyed youngsters who are into motorsports pumped up by their exposure to the outwardly glamourous Formula One or MotoGP or the World Rally Championship They keep coming generation after generation For most their dreams remain just thatKush MainiIn fact the most populous country in the world has produced just two F1 drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok while Gaurav Gill made a few forays into the WRC It is not a reflection on the dearth of talent but of a sport that is languishing as it struggles for visibility and funding Never mind the F1 India Grand Prix or the MotoGP or Formula E that were held in the country These global events merely reflected their huge fan base but made no significant contribution to the development of sport in IndiaAt the other end of the spectrum we have cashrich cricket with a system that makes the sport a career option The BCCI ploughs back revenues generated from various sources notably the Indian Premier League IPL into the sport while retaining the rights for all its propertiesGeoffrey EmmanuelIn contrast the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India FMSCI the governing body auctions its properties the various National Championships to promoters who buy the rights for several crores The competitors must purchase a Competition License as opposed to a Driving License issued by the RTO from FMSCI to participate in any event The onus is then on the promoters teams and competitors to raise the funds Bank balance dictates their progress or the lack of itBack in 2014 inspired by the IPL a young man from Chennai Rasheed Khan launched a franchisebased league for motorcycles Labelled Indian Motorcycle League it comprised eight owners who agreed to purchase the teams for Rs 10 lakh each and three rounds of racing during the preseason months The ambitious project ran out of gas after just two roundsAlso Read Formula 2 Indias Kush Maini survives terrifying collision faces postrace penaltyldquoI managed to secure eight team owners Riders were identified and everything else was in place But after two rounds the IML had to be discontinued due to various reasons The IML had potential and scope for expansion but the promised investments did not happen and I went out of pocket for about R20 Lakhsrdquo rued Khan This sorry episode holds a mirror to motorsport in IndialdquoIn terms of sheer talent some of our riders are comparable to those racing in major global competitions The differentiating factor is fundsrdquo said former multiple National motorcycle racing champion Emmanuel Jebaraj whose elder son Geoffrey plans to move up to FIM Moto2 Junior World ChampionshipldquoYou are looking at Rs 35 crore Sponsorship is hard to secure but somehow I am raising funds including mortgaging our home in Chennai to help my son to pursue his dreamsrdquo said Jebaraj who also runs a team in the National Racing ChampionshipFamilies cough up fundsJebarajrsquos story is not unique Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok went through similar grids They managed to secure some sponsorship through TATA Motors and JK Tyre but most of the funds were coughed up by their families On their heels were the likes of Armaan Ebrahim and Aditya Patel whose racing careers ended when the funds ran dry after a few seasons abroadAmong the next generation of talented drivers Jehan Daruvala promised much with splendid showing in Formula 2 but again yet to find a way to the next level The Maini brothers Arjun and Kush face similar hurdles Of the siblings Kush is a step away from F1 after some fine performances in F2 but bigger battles are ahead of him in terms of generating more funds In their wake teenagers Ruhaan Alva and Jaden Pariat two of the hottest drivers on the domestic circuit made a few attempts abroad but are nowhere close to realising their dreamsldquoRuhaan has done 11 years of karting At the entry level it costs about R85 lakh per season When you move to bigger teams and higher age group the budgets escalate to about Rs 20 lakh and then R3035 lakh per season The outflows go through the roof when you race abroad and unless you have strong financial support there is no way uprdquo said Ruhaanrsquos father Umakanth Alva himself a former National Rally Championship participantRajini Krishnan another multiple National motorcycle racing champion who runs a team noted that many talented riders give up due to lack of funds ldquoIt costs about R35 lakh per season in the Novice class Even that amount is difficult to raise through sponsorship We cannot promise any return on investments to a potential sponsordue to lack of visibility I know that base price in the IPL is about R20 lakh but we cannot even raise a small percentage of that amountrdquoKrishnan pointed out that the likes of Sarthak Chavan Chiranth Vishwanath and Rakshith Dave three of the top riders and all teenagers have profited after being absorbed by factory teams like TVS and Honda which provide training and exposure abroadAlso Read Twotime F1 champion Fernando Alonso visits IndiaIRLrsquos work in progressMeanwhile the Indian Racing League IRL a privately promoted franchisebased singleseater series along with the Formula 4 Indian Open offers a platform for homegrown talent though it is still a work in progressElsewhere motorsport in India is thriving at the lower levels The calendar is overflowing with events in various disciplines virtually every weekend and attracting sizeable entries These are the base camps of the sportrsquos Mt Everest and as you begin your climb the need for ldquooxygenrdquo funds grows exponentially For most the summit remains a mirageStreamlining calender is Ghoshrsquos prioritySetting the house in order streamlining the racing calendar as per the Indian climate and getting more homebred talent to compete in international events will be his top priorities said new Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India FMSCI president Arindam Ghosh on SaturdayldquoI want to first go to the basics and streamline them I donrsquot want to say what was wrong and what it is I want to streamline and put things in order so that there is more clarityrdquo Ghosh told PTI