Tag: motorsport

How Moto GP is trying to avoid the pitfalls that scuppered F1’s foray into India

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Ten years ago, India made its mark on the world motorsport map with the inaugural Indian Grand Prix Formula One race in 2011, which ran for three years at the Buddh International Circuit.

The Indian GP was an audacious effort from a private enterprise with little government support. The Jaypee group, which built the circuit, promoted the race before it hit financial troubles, leading to Formula One dropping the country with two years left in the contract.

Also read: Inaugural Grand Prix — a dream come true for India

During its run, the Grand Prix also got mired in various issues, from customs clearance for bringing the cars and parts to taxation when motorsports was not even considered a sport and was instead classified as entertainment.

The bureaucracy did not help matters with the red tape frustrating everyone as there was very little State support for the event.

Earlier this year, a big-ticket motorsport event returned when Hyderabad hosted a round of the FIA Formula E championship around the city’s streets, with the local government being heavily involved in bringing the race. While Formula E is a world championship event, it started only in 2014, and there are already doubts if it will happen next year.

Also read: Hyderabad loses spot in E-Prix, but all is not lost yet

But next week, India has another chance to host a high-profile motorsport event when Moto GP, the premier two-wheeler racing series, makes its entrance with the inaugural Grand Prix of Bharat at the BIC in Greater Noida.

Like F1 was, this event is also being promoted by a private enterprise — Fairstreet Sports. But unlike the Formula One experience, the race has the blessings of both the Uttar Pradesh and the Union governments, which should help in areas like logistics and visas, for example.

But how did the whole thing come to be about? The Hindu recently caught up with Pushkar Nath Srivastava, the chief operating officer of Fairstreet Sports. The promoters have signed a seven-year deal to host a round of the prestigious championship that started in 1949, one year before Formula One.

“Our team has been part of the World SuperBike championship in 2013 and 14. We went racing for two years, and MotoGP acquired the series. My partner Amit Sandill stayed with the racing arena and moved to Europe, where we saw MotoGP from close quarters,” said Srivastava

“So in 2019, when the government classified motorsport as a sport, it was a major step. We started studying what F1 did and didn’t and what we should and shouldn’t do as well. We started reading the judgments and did our homework for two years, and then we realised this is probably the best thing to do,” said Srivastava.

Also read: Did Indian customs cost Alonso the title?

The next step was to convince Dorna, the commercial rights holder for Moto GP. While Dorna was confident with the organisers’ ability, it wanted to know how much the government would support the efforts, having seen what F1 went through.

“They came to meet the UP CM Yogi Adityanath and the Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakuar and quickly realised they were passionate about Moto GP. With that, the approval and compliance process got very smooth, with the Sports Ministry becoming our single-touch point alongside the UP Govt. We got all our NOCs on time and didn’t have to keep running from one office to another.”

Though India is the biggest two-wheeler market, with more than 15 million bikes sold yearly, Moto GP has taken time to come to the country.

“No one was able to convince them before this. We did our study and convinced them how it can be done. We told them you should look at the Indian market to increase your numbers. After the race announcement, Moto GP has more followers on Facebook in India than F1 has. At the end of the day, every house has a bike and a bat,” Srivastava explained.

It is here that the government’s decision to classify motorsport as a sport did wonders. “Now that the federation (FMSCI) is recognised as well, the global federation (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) talks to our federation, which then talks to the Sports Ministry. Things like processing visas have become easy because the ministry recognises the federation.”

The core issue during F1’s three-year visit was with taxation, as teams had to pay a portion of their revenue earned since India was one of the 19 or 20 events on the calendar.

Also see: Grand Prix of Bharat

When asked how the organisers are dealing with it, Srivastava said, “They (F1) didn’t know how Indian taxation worked, and it was a mindset problem because they sold the broadcasting rights and other things.

“So, for MotoGP, we are taking care of selling broadcasting rights to Jio Cinema, and similarly, we are also handling some sponsorships. So, we generate revenue, and we pay the taxes in the right way. It was also a mindset change for Dorna to let go of certain things, and we convinced them that we can handle some things better.”

The GIST
The Formula One Indian GP was an audacious effort from a private enterprise with little government support
The Jaypee Group, which built the circuit and promoted the race, hit financial troubles, leading to Formula One dropping the country from the calendar
The government’s decision to classify motorsport as a sport, from the earlier classification of entertainment, in 2019 has worked wonders in bringing Moto GP to the country
After having lost F1 and uncertainties around Formula E, a lot rides on MotoGP

While some logistical stuff has been smoothed out, there were issues regarding the track itself. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) took over the land on which the circuit was built after the Jaypee Group failed to pay its dues, though it maintains the facility. The problem meant there were some issues in doing the essential repairs to the track to make it suitable for bike racing and needing clarification over which party would do it.

Things were eventually sorted out, with organisers footing the bill to repair the track. “The track had some challenges, and we met the CM and told him we wanted to bring MotoGP, and they helped us immediately. So we partnered with Jaypee and the government, and both gave us the required NOC to do the work on the track. Jaypee was open-minded and keen to bring a big event and is partnering with us. It is a shame to see such a great property not being used,” said Srivastava.

Also read: Rural sports academy dearer to me than F1, says Maken

Across the world, countries provide state funding to bring motorsport events to promote local tourism. While it is a tough sell to use public funds in a low-income country like India with more pressing needs, there seems to be a change in mindset at the government level to at least make it easier to hold such events without direct state funding.

After having lost F1 and uncertainties around Formula E, a lot rides on MotoGP. A third strike could be a massive dent to the country’s image and make other series wary of coming here yet again.

But with just ten days to go, Srivastava is confident of pulling off a great event that can stay on the calendar. “This a great chance to showcase what UP and India offer. More than 200 countries watch MotoGP. Recently, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about following the Qatar model of using sport to promote tourism, and it warmed our hearts to hear that at a time when we are doing that.”

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‘Bro-y and hyper-masculine’: How Formula 1 found a new fanbase despite male dominance

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By their own admission, Scout Boxall is not your typical Formula 1 fan.

“I think I’ve carefully cultivated this persona of being a lactose-intolerant leftie that can’t drive,” Boxall said. 

The Melbourne comedian never thought they would become so consumed by fast cars that the sport would feature in their stand-up routine.

“So I am politically diametrically opposed to it but when the cars go that fast,” they grinned to the audience at the Sydney Comedy Festival late last year.

“They go 320 kilometres an hour … and every time they go that fast I’m overwhelmed by this latent toxic male urge to punch through some drywall, then scoop out the little dry bits and eat ’em.”

Their show featured a rap about Max Verstappen that is far too rude to describe here. Let’s just say Scout isn’t Verstappen’s number-one supporter.

“I thought it was a very, like, inaccessible sport to me. It seemed very ‘bro-y’, like hyper-masculine,” they told ABC Sport.

But during lockdown, their perception of the sport turned on its head.

Like many, Scout binged Drive to Survive, a high-octane documentary series that has brought the human drama of the sport to screen, converting new audiences to fans.

“It’s cracked my whole world open. I love it so much. I’m so obsessed with it,” Boxall said.

“I have Formula 1 merchandise. I know words like understeer and lock-up and tyre marbling.”

Columnist Kate Halfpenny has spent much of her media career writing about celebrities and was drawn into the world of F1 through the stories of the drivers.

“To have found F1 this late in my life, it’s safe to say I’ve been blindsided by my obsession with it,” said Halfpenny, the founder of Bad Mother Media.

Kate Halfpenny is the founder of Bad Mother Media and said she was “blindsided” by her new F1 fandom. (Scott Jewell)

Halfpenny admitted to being a sports nut but always found F1 “noisy and a little bit pointless” until a friend recommended the documentary.

“This is a sport which is very much about the fastest cars in the world and how to make them,” she said.

“It’s super technical. We know that it’s about a lot of money, and it’s about gas-guzzling machines.

“But at the heart of it, it’s actually about these extraordinary athletes — and there are only 20 every year — and it’s about these men who go to work every week and are prepared to die.”

No more ‘ladies day’ as women crave cars

The face of the sport is changing.

Between the 2019 and 2022 Grands Prix in Melbourne, the proportion of female attendees grew from 24 to 38 per cent, according to the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

That proportion was even greater for women aged between 18 and 34. That trend is expected to continue this weekend.

“We saw more women and girls turning up and we can’t deny Netflix had a big effect on that,” said the corporation’s brand manager, Lani Evans.

“I think Netflix really helped really showcase the personalities behind the sport and now everyone has their favourite driver.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.

Play Audio. Duration: 14 minutes 12 seconds

Drive to Survive team on the rise of the sports doc

“So it’s our job to then encourage our event.”

This year, Mercedes canned Ladies Day because women didn’t want to head to the track unless there were F1 cars (they don’t feature on Thursday when the lunch was traditionally held).

“It’s nice that Mercedes have actually seen the stats on the growth of females and their interest in F1,” Evans said.

“They are now offering a product that is equal to everyone.”

As the shift continues, organisers are considering how to cater for their new fanbase.

“Before we probably had to do a lot more outside of the sport itself to entice females to come to the event,” said Evans.

“But now I think with those personalities shining through in our content, as well as Drive to Survive, they have that emotional connection.

“So that’s definitely changed … how we target the event.”

Halfpenny believed it would be a bad PR move if the Grand Prix Corporation failed to take advantage of its burgeoning new following.

“I remember when my kids were little it was very much the dads who were taking the sons along to F1,” Halfpenny said. 

“And you don’t see that anymore. If you rock up to the Formula 1 grand prix in Melbourne, you’ll see stacks of women, you’ll see little girls.

“It’s a new captive audience and certainly from a branding perspective, there’s money to be made.”

A new era for female drivers

Men dominate Drive to Survive, which makes the interest from an audience other than men even more compelling.

Women spoke for only about 6 minutes in season five, which ran for more than 6.5 hours in total, according to research by advocacy group Females in Motorsport.

“There’s key people within the Formula 1 industry and landscape who are women, but there’s just so few in comparison to all the men around,” said Boxall.

“At the end of the day, you’re watching men drive cars but you’re mostly just watching people that you’ve become very invested in.

“I just really wish there was some women on the grid.”

While the series might not be representative in that sense, the sport is experiencing a shift.

The F1 Academy is set to launch next month, offering a new all-female, junior-level racing class designed to give the world’s best female drivers the chance to reach the top of the sport.

Remarkably, a woman hasn’t competed in a Formula 1 grand prix since 1976.

Boxall hoped the sport embraces its new followers.

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