TRACK ADDICTS
Motorsport fans across India reacted with despair, disappointment and, above all, anger when it was announced that the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) was hosting its last Formula 1 race in 2013. India had been waiting for its first FIA Grade 1 track since the first empty promises nearly a decade earlier, and just three years after the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011, the party was over, thanks to unsubsidised licensing fees, financial trouble for the promoters Jaypee Sports and tax disputes with the local government. For a small group of dedicated gearheads,
Racing isn’t all fun. Some have done damage worth lakhs to their cars and safety barriers around the track
however, Jaypee’s woes came with a silver lining. BIC may never scream with a dozen-odd high-revving V8 engines. But on the last Sunday in April, the grandstand reverberated with the deeper whine of four-cylinder engines—the kind under the hood of everything from humble family hatchbacks to luxury sedans, that is.
Welcome to the world of the open track day—open to anyone, and any car. Despite prohibitive costs of over Rs 15,000 for a session, more than 40 drivers showed up for first one in 2012, keen to experience the flowing 5.1 km track that F1 driver Lewis Hamilton once called his favourite course on the season calendar. Designed by Formula One circuit designer Hermann Tilke, it’s also been described as a high-speed roller coaster ride, with substantial changes in elevation making it more challenging for drivers. Since then, the BIC track days have given birth to a new breed of enthusiast in the National Capital Region (NCR)—made up of regular guys with a need for speed rather than wellheeled supercar owners.
“Pushing the limits of ourselves and our cars is much more fun, and obviously safer on the track than the street,” says Prithwi Ray, founding member of the Northern Auto Sports Association (NASA), whose Skoda Laura vRS now boasts double the horsepower it had when it rolled off the showroom floor.
Following the first one offered by the BIC itself, NASA has been organising open track days since 2013. The club usually holds six sessions a year, and it has been able to reduce the cost of track time to Rs 6,500 for 40 minutes—a level that suits seasoned drivers and novices alike.
“Most people show up for their first track day driving a stock car, just to see what it’s like,” says Ray, chuckling. “They usually come back with modifications to try and cut a few seconds from their lap.” On the other hand, even Achintya Mehrotra, a national autocross championship winner, regularly participates in track days in his turbocharged Maruti Swift. His motivation is to chip away at his personal best and to test out the new performance products his outfit AM Racing imports.
There are no winners and no prizes, just a timesheet with lap times. That doesn’t mean people don’t take it seriously. Though some of the cars are ordinary daily-drivers, many are heavily modified. Owners spend Rs 5-20 lakh on their cars. It’s a different sort of bragging right that comes along with getting an ordinary, everyday model to shame multi-crore rupee exotics out on the track. Adding horsepower is just the start of the downward spiral. Everything from turbos, radiators, intercoolers, engine management systems, brakes and suspension right down to the chassis has room for improvement. The truly passionate rip out everything from seats to the air-conditioning to save weight. This writer recently acquired a stripped-out Maruti Esteem race car, which is effectively an oven on wheels during 40-degree weather. Racing against the clock isn’t all fun and games, that self-same oven almost became a different kind of lead paragraph at a recent track day when an overzealous writer pushed it a bit too hard and flipped the car onto its side. Luckily, the car was equipped with a roll-cage when the other creature comforts were ripped out, and the only damage to the car was a broken mirror. But others have done damage worth lakhs to their cars and the safety barriers placed around the track, serving a reminder that a track day can be an expensive way to get an intense dose of adrenaline.
For those bitten by the track bug, however, that just adds to the thrill.