Aditya confident of making X1 Racing a long-term project

CHENNAI: In a country where few franchise-based leagues have fizzled out after a couple of editions, Armaan Ebrahim and Aditya Patel have come up with a bold concept – X1 Racing League, a city-based championship.

While there is only a small circle of motorsport fanatics in India, racer Aditya, one of the brains behind the event, is confident of making it a long-term project. “It is a niche sport without doubt, there are only a few people who follow it. This is the reason why we came up with the idea of eSports, which has much more reach,” said Aditya on the sidelines of the Chennai leg of X1 Racing eSports Season 1.

The first edition of X1 Racing will have two legs – New Delhi (November 30 to December 1) and Chennai (December 7 to 8), with six teams representing different cities. The organisers have managed to rope in some heavyweight owners such as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Saeed Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan (Delhi) and India’s first F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan (Chennai).

Having already briefed his ‘right kind’ of owners about the amount of money they will have to shell out, Aditya sees the league going a long way. “We haven’t priced ourselves very steep, we aren’t here to make a quick buck and run away. The teams do get real value for money. So, there is no unexpected cost that comes to them. We have seen cost chase people away (in other sports), so we have come up with ways to keep things under control,” explained Aditya.

The league has got on board 12 overseas racers (six men and six women), including former F1 competitor Tonio Luizzi (Italy). Of the four members in each of the six squads, two are set to be from India – 1 domestic and 1 international. Aditya is of the opinion that the local drivers will upgrade themselves as they will rub shoulders with some of the greats.

“In a situation like this, the boys can just focus on their driving and not worry about other details. I believe they will pick the brains of their seniors by the end of our season,” he remarked. Apart from the races, the league is also planning to have food festival and concerts in both centres. “We want to make it a family outing where people from all age

groups can come and enjoy.”

eSports winners

In the Chennai leg of X1 Racing eSports Season 1, Abhishek Dwaraknath, Hari Krupanand and Vinesh Chand Gopalaswami bagged the winners’ medal and will represent the city in the final, which is scheduled for November.