Pre-season test at Abu Dhabi: i1 Supercar series

The i1 Supercar Series, offering a prize-money of $2 million, will officially kick-off with a pre-season test Dec 20 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

On the sidelines of the test sessions, the single-make series will unveil the drivers, both international and local, who will participate in the first season of the 10-race league that will be held in India, UAE, Malaysia, Bahrain and Qatar.

As a prelude to the racing league set to commence in January, the drivers will get a chance to test the Radical SR3, the single make car being used for the series.

Darshan M, CEO, i1 Supercar Series and promoters Machdar Motorsports, will announce the driver line-up on Monday, according to a press release.

The confirmed Indian drivers include Polo Cup champion Vishnu Prasad, Aditya Patel, Amittrajit Ghosh, Parth Ghorpade and Chirag Malhotra.

Darshan said: “We are delighted to finally get down to business and let all the action do the talking. We will unveil all the drivers at Abu Dhabi and would like to confirm that we have some great names associated with the series. This is the first time that the drivers get their hands on the Radical SR3 and so we are hoping they share the same enthusiasm as we do.

“We have always believed in promoting Indian driving talent and this series will give them international exposure. The pre-season test would give an opportunity for the young Indian talent to gain a lot of experience from some of the world’s finest drivers.”

The i1 Supercar Series, to be telecast live by Ten Sports, will consist of 10 races with nine teams representing different Indian cities. Each team will be represented by three drivers. At least one driver for each team must be of Indian origin.

The Indian franchise owners are: Shah Rukh Khan along with KKR partners, Juhi Chawla and Jai Mehta- Mumbai team; Arindam Chaudhuri- Delhi; Nagarjuna and Narendra Chowdary – Hyderabad; K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju – Chennai and Arjun Baljee and Rudra Dalmia – Bangalore.