Chennai’s MMRT race track to hold test run for night races

The Madras Motor Sports Club has earmarked funds to install floodlights at the MMRT racing track in Chennai, according to club vice-president Vicky Chandhok. For this, the club has scheduled a test run on August 7 between 6 pm and 11 pm to evaluate the possibility of full-fledged night races in the near future.

Speaking on the sidelines of the third round of the National car racing championship, Chandhok said: “A very professional lighting expert has given us a quote of ₹16 Crores do up the lights just like the Singapore circuit. But we are going for a low lighting just like they have at Le Mans (France). We are planning to install basic lighting that can help the marshals and officials see the incidents on track so that they make sure that no one is injured. Safety is one aspect which I and everyone at the club are very particular about.”

It means night night races — the first in India — are a definite possibility.

'Planning to upgrade the track'

Chandhok added: “In the long-run, we would like to host a lot of endurance races and we are also planning to upgrade the track to support racing in the anti-clockwise direction which needs about 56 changes to the track.”

“On August 7, we have night testing and once the evaluation process goes through, we will decide if we need more lighting and we will definitely have night races starting with saloon cars,” Chandhok affirmed.