Motorsports Authority of India president Nazir Hoosein says three years is enough time to realise Vision 2010.
MUMBAI: Can India? Talk of the country hosting a Grand Prix began before Narain Karthikeyan stormed into the Formula One circles. The Indian has finished a season with Jordan, assumed test driver role for Williams in the next, but, as far as the circuit is concerned, the proverbial first brick is yet to be laid.
Given that backdrop, the sceptic is bound to be, well, sceptical. Infrastructure, political will and spectator interest are concerns that look set to put the brakes on Bernie Ecclestone’s Vision 2010.
But just as it is premature to jump at Ecclestone’s pronouncement, brushing it aside as yet more Indian sponsor wooing will also be silly. As Nazir Hoosein, president of the Motorsports Authority of India, puts it: “Bernie is a very astute person. If he puts his mind to it, it should be possible.”
Even though he isn’t clued into the “negotiations” being made between Ecclestone and the Indian state he is targetting, Hossein immediately raises the impediment which, it has to be said, is also the least flighty: “The state of our airports has to be the biggest concern. The amount of cargo, visitors and inflow that comes in during a Formula One weekend is massive.” He also points towards the service-orientation in other venues. “In Bahrain, if you have tickets, then you get a visa at the airport.”
Having said that, he switches on the headlights to some good news. “There is enough time for this to happen, actually. If you plan three years ahead, the project can come through. Chandrababu Naidu went to meet the FIA as chief minister of Hyderabad, but he lost the election and that was the end of it,” he said. “The only thing that should concern anybody is whether this would be good for the country, removed from any political motivation.”
And, he says, it took the Chinese, what, one and a half years to build a circuit? So even if India cannot generate the same efficiency as their Oriental neigbours, should somebody make an announcement early next year, it could be all systems go.
Then, there is always the possibility of a street circuit in New Delhi, like in Monte Carlo, minus the swanky yachts but plus the historical Rajpath. “It’s possible,” says Hoosein. Probable? Who knows.
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