Hyderabad: The announcement of Formula E’s Season 9 has already triggered excitement among racing enthusiasts around the world.
But the exciting part isn’t exactly that. The fact that it is happening in Hyderabad on February 11 next year has aroused interest in all corners of the country.
The city is prepping up to host Round 4 of Season 9. After the F1 race at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida in 2013, this will be the second biggest racing event to be held in India.
Dilbagh Gill, CEO and Team Principal of Mahindra Racing in the FIA ABB Formula E World Championship, says Hyderabad has a fantastic track and that the layout is amazing.
“We are less than 180 days away from the race, and people in Hyderabad are doing a great job. It’s going to be one of the fastest circuits we will have in a championship. We are looking at having 35,000 grandstands and there’s a lot of interest being shown towards the tickets already,” he says.
Gill was all praises for the dynamism of the Telangana government. Once Telangana gets things started, they happen for sure, he says.
“I got in touch with IT Minister KT Rama Rao in November last year and within minutes of me telling him about Formula E, he got his team involved,” recalls Gill. An official meeting in December was followed with signing a letter of intent in January.
“The quality of infrastructure in Hyderabad is second to none and it ticks all boxes. The road and hotel infrastructure are all excellent. Necklace Road and Tank Bund Road are both wide and fast, so it is one of the easiest races to organise,” he says.
The Hyderabad race will usher in the new Gen3 era featuring Formula E’s fastest, most powerful, and most sustainable race car yet.
“The Gen3 car is quite the beast and we are still in the early stages of testing the car. It is quite an exciting car and there’s a lot more we can do with it. Fundamentally, in motorsports, it’s all about the tires and in Gen3, we are moving from Michelin to Hankook. Also, we are going to have two powertrains, and the amount of breaking we are using is very minimal in the new car,” adds Gill.
