MotoGP, Other Premier Races Head to NCR Now

Delhiites, gear up for more speed thrills. After Formula One, the national capital region will soon host MotoGP and Superbike World Championship - the two premier international motorcycle-racing events - and the FIA GT1 sports car racing. While India will be the last stop for GT1's 2012 season with a race in December, it is likely to host the first race of the Superbike World Championship, or SBK, next year, in the first week of March, an official of Jaypee Group, promoters of India's first F1 track, said. MotoGP is expected to be held in March 2013. "We want to accommodate all of these races, but India has only five months of good whether when they can be held," Sameer Gaur, managing director and chief executive officer of Jaypee Sports International, said. All the races will be held on the 5.14 km-long Buddh International Race Circuit in Greater Noida that the company built last year for India's first Formula One race held in October. Unlike the F1 race, where all rights except for tickets rested with F1 promoter Bernie Ecclestone, Jaypee Sports will hold TV, online and radio rights as well as on-track sponsorship rights for GT1 Championship. In the case of Superbike World Championship, or SBK, Jaypee will have 70% share of the revenues, outside of tickets, with the rest going to race authorities FGSport. For MotoGP, though, Jaypee may get only 30% with the lion's share going to race promoters Dorna Sports. "We are currently negotiating with MotoGP on the terms and revenue share," Gaur said. Jaypee had spent more than $400 million to build the racing track, infrastructure around it and for the F1 licence fee. "It will still take 3-4 years to break even, but if we manage to bring in more events quickly, we might be able to do it faster," Gaur said. Buddh International Race Circuit has been generating revenues after the F1 race five months ago through various track events being organised by corporates and auto companies such as Ferrari, Yamaha, Hyundai, Toyota and others, including Cannonball Club, a group of owners of super cars such as the Bentley GTC, Lamborghini Gallardo 560-4, Maserati GT and Aston Martin Vantage S. Jaypee Sports charges between Rs 8-10 lakh a day for the entire track. The track will have ten days of F1 in a year and the rest of the year will be used for other races, corporate events, concerts, and also large international and national exhibitions. While the races will be held between October and March every year, exhibitions will be held during the monsoon months as well. "We are negotiating with a large mining equipment exhibition and also an equipment manufacturing exhibition to bring them here," Gaur said. It is also in talks with CII to shift the Delhi Auto Expo to the track.