Chequered dreams: why a Formula One seat remains the most coveted prize for aspiring Indian racers

Motorsport is seeing a revival of interest in India, but funds and facilities remain meagre and hard to come by

Chettipalayam is an idyllic suburb lined with coconut trees and ancestral homes. But only from a distance. As you inch closer to the peri-urban locale in Tamil Nadu’sCoimbatore, home to the Kari Motor Speedway, the smell of rubber and the bitumen that burns it invades your senses.

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Launched in 2003, the 2.1 km circuit track cries out stories of champions and those charred by it in equal measure. Tales of wild valour, of fanatic racers who refuse to give up their love for the sport, fill the air around the weary track, named after racer S. Karivardhan, who designed and built entry-level Formula cars in the 80s and 90s.

Motorsport has been steadily growing and finding more takers in India, but karting tracks, the entry point to Formula racing, remain few and far between. The Kari circuit apart, Meco Kartopia (Bengaluru), Chicane Circuit (Hyderabad), Mohite’s Racing Circuit (Kolhapur) and Lahiri (Hyderabad) are some of the others in the country. Relatively speaking, places in Europe tend to have a significantly higher track density, with over a hundred karting circuits in a small country like France.

Despite the struggle for resources, not many will allow their passion for racing to slip through the exhaust even when their pockets burn on empty. That is largely the essence of the story for many motorsport lovers in India. Karting, rallying and stock car racing remain the most widely practised categories. But off the track, it is Formula One that steals a march over the other formats in fans’ hearts.

And therefore, an F1 seat remains the most coveted prize for many young racing aspirants around the country. But a ride into grand prix racing is not for the faint-hearted or the fickle-minded. Not only is it expensive, the margins are notoriously thin as drivers live on the edge of excellence fighting over nano seconds. Costs can vary based on the volume of track time, but conservative estimates range from ₹5 lakh to ₹15 lakh per annum just to hone karting skills.

At 18, when most teenagers ponder their playlists and debate how to while away the evening, Kyle Aditya Kumaran was at a crossroads. Just four years after his tryst with karting, Kumaran had made waves as a rookie when he won the UAE national championship in 2017-18, and the UAE SWS Senior Championship in 2020 and 2021. Later that season, a bout of COVID-19 stole his stripes. He lost his seat with Xcel Motorsport, and was almost contemplating a life outside the racing circuit.