At the heart of its new identity, as many as 26 Formula E cars will be touching down at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on the intervening night of February 2-3 as the city of Nizams is all set to host the Formula E World Championship in the second week of February.
The docks are cleared for the first time as the Indian government has allocated an automobile air clearance for three jumbo charter flights ferrying close to 26 racing cars from Riyad to land in the city airport with designated parking slots inside the aerodrome.
After the mandatory customs authorisation, the racing cars will be shipped to the track arena where teams have been allocated classified areas in temporarily constructed garages. After the race, the cars will be ferried to Cape Town, South Africa, for the next round of races.
The Gen3 - the fastest, lightest, most powerful and most efficient electric race car - will roll on the city’s street circuit for season nine of the World Championship.
“The central government has given special clearance for the racing cars to come directly to Hyderabad. This is huge as suppose we land in Mumbai or Chennai it will take at least 48 hours for the cars to reach Hyderabad and that’s a logistical challenge to bring the cars. After the clearance that has come, it has helped the project reduce four days of our plan and that gives us time to focus on other aspects of racing,” Dilbagh Gill, CEO of Ace Nxt Gen, said to Sportstar in an exclusive chat.
Overseeing operations at the race track, Dilbagh said that his team is ready to handle the logistics and that the track is getting the final touches ahead of hosting India’s maiden Formula E race.
“Hyderabad airport is excellent and it is easy to handle from bringing the cars to race-related equipment is never going to be a problem. Around Tank Bund, we have identified areas where we can store our equipment, near Prasad’s Imax, and additionally, we have got three acres of area.
“ The teams will start coming from Tuesday of the racing week, Wednesday we will give access to the garage where they will start building as per their needs and the cars will go out for the first test on Friday followed by the race,” he added.
Talking about other clearances, Dilbagh assured that it will be a fan-engaging event and that his entire team alongwith other nodal agencies, including the government of Telangana, are working in tandem to make the race a success.
“Ace Nex Gen is a seasoned promoter and the government of Telangana is closely involved along with Greenko. Collectively we want to demonstrate electric technology that can be fun, creative and thrilling in terms of speed. Formula E is a catalyst towards the faster mode of electric mobility. Performance and purpose are being put together. Racing and reason for sport and sustainability. It’s one of the best brands and we at Hyderabad are hosting a net carbon zero in the world of motorsport,” he said.
Also Read | Formula 1: No replacement for Chinese GP, F1 season to have 23 races
McLaren and Maserati are new to the Formula E grid and will be joined by some of the biggest names in motorsport, including Jaguar, Porsche and Nissan, with India’s very own Mahindra Racing in the mix.
Competing for the championship, 11 teams and 22 drivers will drive the cars powered with advanced EV batteries where torque and acceleration will become an identity in the street circuit of Hyderabad.
Comments
SHARE