Enter the Valley
Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) joined hands with JK Tyre and successfully hosted demo races in Srinagar on 17 march 2024. This is another first for JK Tyre, entering Jammu and Kashmir after its success-ful ventures in the North East region. It is also a landmark moment for Indian motorsport. Prime minister modi in his message on X (formerly known as Twit-ter) on the first ever Formula-4 car show in Srinagar mentioned the boost to tour-ism, “This is heartening to see and will help further showcase the beauty of Jammu and Kashmir. India offers great opportunities for motorsport to thrive and Srinagar is right on top of the places where it can happen.”
The Indian racing Festival 2024, comprising the Indian racing League (IrL), the FIa-backed Indian F4 championship, and the JK Tyre FMSCI National racing championship (JKNRC) is set to kick-off later this year. The season will consist of five rounds for each class, encompassing over ten races through-out the season. To promote motorsport in the country, they plan to organise many events nationwide. The first show made its pit-stop in Srinagar, in collabo-ration with Jammu & Kashmir Tourism, against the stunning backdrop of the picturesque Dal Lake. Srinagar, often referred to as a ‘para-dise on earth’ boasts unparalleled nat-ural beauty, serene lakes, and a rich cultural heritage. Spectators in Srinagar got an early glimpse of what they can expect when the season gets underway, with RPPL and JK Tyre whetting their appetite with a showcase of the Wolf GB08 and Formula 4 cars. These were driven by young motorsport icons Sohil Shah (one of the two champions of IrL 2023), rishon rajeev (Formula 4 Vice champion) and Shriya Lohia (Formula 4 India driver). as the engines roared on the 1.6 km stretch of Dal Lake, throngs of people from all walks of life converged to witness the high-octane action against the backdrop of majestic mountains and shimmering waters.
Action-packed show
The event also showcased JK Tyre’s leg-acy as the architects of the domestic racing scene, with fans being treated to a slice of action featuring various cate-gories of motorsport that the company had a role in building. This included captivating drift shows by India’s drifting champion from chandigarh Sanam Sekhon in his Lexus. Pratik Dalal showcased skillful manoeuvres in his BMW. Superbike daredev-ils from Coimbatore and Bengaluru demonstrated the seamless synergy between man and machine. however, the showstoppers were undoubtedly the 10-year-old karting prodigies from Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, and Chennai who pushed the limits at breakneck speeds of 120 kph, delivering excitement beyond the tarmac.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Department for their assistance in making this show run a reality here in Srinagar. It’s a phenomenal event for motorsports in India. I believe this exhibition will encourage the youth of J&K to invest their time watching and learning about motorsport and will also give them hope for a future in the industry,” said Akhilesh Reddy, chairman, RPPL.
This collaboration between India’s two biggest racing programmes, the JK Tyre National racing championship, and the RPPL-promoted Indian racing Festival is ushering Indian motors-port into a bright new era, introducing international standards to the domestic racing circuit.
“We are delighted to be bringing the greatest celebration of Indian motorsport to Srinagar. JK Tyre’s primary mission for over four decades revolves around crafting programs aimed at identifying young talent and providing them with opportunities to excel and reach the highest echelons of motorsport. In line with this, the company has incorporated hosting nationwide roadshows into its new go-to-market strategy. We are delighted to collaborate with Akhilesh Reddy, RPPL, who shares the same philosophy of promoting young talent and expanding the reach of motorsport in India. The inaugural show in Srinagar was a resounding success, and we have plans to extend the road show across the country,” explains Sanjay Sharma, head-motorsport, JK Tyre.
“We’ve always been doing events and are part of the hornbill Festival. We have been encouraging motorsport in the Northeast quite a lot. The drive on the Dal Lake in Srinagar was, you know, practically unthinkable but we still managed successfully, of course with a lot of challenges –getting all our cars and bikes there from different parts of the country,” said hari Singh, head Operations, JK Tyre. The action-packed racing season for 2024 which will feature bikes to superbikes, Indian make Formula cars (LGB F4), tin-tops, FIA accredited series (F4), and international series (Wolf cars).
S M Bootem
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