In the second part of a focus feature on the Indian GP, former F2 racer Akbar Ebrahim recalls how the sport endured turbulent times in India after the legendary Karivardhan's death in an air crash. For the first story in the series, click here [1]
The early '90s were the most productive days of domes tic racing. The Formula 3 cars that scorched the Chennai track were fast and furious. The vehicles were mostly tuned by British teams and brought in on a carnet (a document allowing the import of certain goods to countries without paying customs duty).
It was quite simple in those days when compared to the problems being faced by the Jaypee Group. Again, yours truly was given a chance by the legend Karivardhan to drive his F3 car. I won the inaugural Formula 3 race in the country driving a carburetted VW engine powered vehicle. By the time of the next GP, MRF spared no effort and put in all their resources behind themselves and before we knew what was happening, they roped in Michelin.
For the first time, we had three different types of compounds for the tyres. One was a one-lap qualifier (just like in F1), another was a short race soft compound tyre and the third was a hard compound tyre for the long race. Not to be left out, JK brought in Avon who were experts in Formula 3 race tyres.
The competition livened up. MRF went further and hired experienced European drivers to add weight to their team, while JK responded by bringing in a European racer as my teammate. In the end, it was fans who turned out to be the winners with the intense rivalry spicing up the contest. It was the contest. It w just like a boxing match with three categories -Singhania vs Mammen in the heavyweight, Sanjay Sharma vs Anthony Rodricks in the middle weight and Ebrahim vs Anand in the light weight.
Shock was in store when the new season began in 1994. The budgets became far too high for teams and drivers to sustain along with the untimely death of Kari. His demise was the start of the difficult period for single-seater racing as post-1994 the focus shifted to rallying. MRF and JK continued their battle for supremacy in the National Rally Championships. The late nineties to around 2002 were dreadful years for Indian years for Indian racing. We had probbly six to eight Formula Maruti's running and around 10 stock Esteem cars racing. JK had pulled out of rallying after winning an array of titles.
Due to issues with the federation, MRF pulled out of racing. While they established their domain in two different forms, the overall standard took a beating. It was the fault of the two warring federations (FMSCI and MAI).
In 2003, fortunes, however, changed. The catalyst was the introduction of the Kari Motor Speedway by the LGB Group in Coimbatore and the birth of Formula LGB 1300cc class. This immediately brought back a full grid of 18 cars. In 2007, the Formula Rolon with a racing gearbox along with the Chevorlet engines was introduced.
In 2010, came the introduction of the VW Polo Cup and the Indian Touring Car series. From a mere six to eight cars on the grid, there are now between 20 to 30 cars for each of these classes. Not to be left behind, MRF introduced the MRF Formula 1600 class.
To add more octane to the growth, JK Tyres then went on to take over the prestigious junior championship in Asia. MRF are also keeping in close touch by buying a slot for the support race with the Delhi MRF Challenge. For sure, exciting time is ahead as more car manufacturers such as Audi and Toyota are planning to get involved in 2012.
Links:
[1] http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/sport/motor-racing/racing-journey-sholavaram-bic-750