Goa races towards F3 after successful F4 debut

Pernem: Even before Round 4 of the Indian Racing Festival at Manohar International Airport in Mopa on Sunday had kicked off, the organisers gave the venue a major vote of confidence by announcing another round in October and a possible upgrade from Formula 4 to Formula 3 later this year.“We are actually in discussions with the FIA (governing body for motorsports) and have sought permission to do a four-round competition because it will be the year one for Formula 3,” Akhilesh Reddy, chairman and managing director of Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd, told TOI. “We are still in the process. Probably in a month or two, we would get the complete update.”Racing Promotions launched the Indian Racing Festival and have also acquired the rights to launch F3 in India.

The Racing Festival, now in its fourth edition, has seen steady progress and added another new venue to its growing list with the Goa street circuit at Mopa.“The experience of a street circuit in Goa for the first time has been good. Lots of hardships, lots of back-end things because of time constraints, but overall, we had a successful event. The round four finished successfully,” said Reddy.The round 4 concluded with Goa Aces JA Racing, owned by John Abraham, emerging victorious. Among the delighted guests was chief minister Pramod Sawant who confirmed that the state and GMR, who operate the Manohar International Airport, had entered into a three-year agreement with the organisers to host the races.

“Racing Promotions, along with GMR, are free to bring other car races to Goa on their own,” said Sawant. “We will provide the necessary support. We need such big international events. We should be proud that Goa is hosting major international sporting events.”Formula 4 is an open-wheel racing event intended for junior drivers and is considered a stepping stone for an aspiring motorsport driver to go from karting to Formula One.

Formula 3 is a notch higher, the first international step towards the pinnacle of F1.“Should the (Union) govt decide to bring Formula 1 to India, we would like to be in the reckoning as hosts. Goa has hosted this Formula 4 race because of Formula 1 destinations are not created overnight. Through these events we can steadily climb up. Hosting Formula 4 allows destinations to demonstrate its capability without the scale and cost of Formula 1. “Motorsports should be treated as something that can develop a destination and its economic structure. There are approximately 24 cities worldwide that hosts Formula 1 racing. Their govt is spending approximately more than Rs 800 to 1200 crores annually to host this type of single race. That’s because of economics, the tourism returns are multiple times,” said Sawant.