NEW DELHI: For months, it was the unspoken question. Will India manage to pull it off ? Or will it be a repeat of the last year's Commonwealth Games, where the abiding images of a collapsed footbridge and dirty toilets in the run-up to the opening ceremony embarrassed the country before the world?
On Tuesday, as organisers of India's first Formula One race unveiled the gleaming race track to the world media, India appeared to have given the Commonwealth ghost a burial. And the company behind it - infrastructure conglomerate Jaypee Group - a legitimate claim to be counted among Corporate India's big boys of project execution.
When the F1 hosts threw open the 5.4-km Herman Tilke-designed Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida and associated facilities, the company's building prowess and Greater Noida's investment potential looked poised to be noticed when a300-million-strong global TV audience tunes in to the first Indian Grand Prix on October 30.
"We wanted to do something which nobody could point a finger at," Jaypee Group's 81-year-old founder Jaiprakash Gaur said during the unveiling event. In keeping with Gaur's stated premise, little seemed out of place at the 350-hectare motorsport complex that has come up off the Yamuna Expressway, also being built by the group.
"We hope that with this event, we will be able to repair the damage India's reputation suffered during the Commonwealth Games," he said. While it may be too early to adjudge the event a success, the critical ingredients all seem to be in place in the right measure. An elegant and challenging track is in place, designed by the same German designer who has built the tracks at Sepang, Bahrain, Shanghai and Valencia.
Formula 1 Event a Roving Economy
The approach roads to the complex are complete and in top shape. Facilities for teams and press operations are impressive and even the landscaping seems complete. "I have raced on all the major F1 tracks across the globe and I rate this track as one of the best in the world," said Narain Karthikeyan, India's first F1 driver. Formula One is as much a roving economy as it is a sport.
The 19 races held each year at elite destinations around the world attract an ecosystem of high-octane entertainment, bigspending tourists, billionaire team owners, the glamour of celebrity racers such as Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil and Michael Schumacher, and the big global brands that use the elite sport as a marketing platform. While the teams find the economics of the sport as hard to negotiate as the tricky curves on a circuit, hosting an F1 race can help boost tourism and raise the profile of a destination, as Singapore's famous night races have now proved for three years.
While the actual race will last just two hours on October 30, the F1 bandwagon will roll into the city two days earlier. For fans who travel the world for the pure thrill of a F1 race, hosts usually put together entertainment events across three days. The spectre of troubles related to land acquisition is the only major hurdle that could cast a shadow over the event.
There have been reports about farmers in the region threatening to disrupt the event. They claim land was acquired from them with the promise that industries will come up there, providing round-the-year jobs to locals. But Gaur says such reports are inaccurate and those making such statements were not genuine landowners in the region and had political motivations. "The event will go ahead smoothly, all our visitors will be happy," Gaur said. Motorsports fans in the country should certainly hope so.
On Tuesday, as organisers of India's first Formula One race unveiled the gleaming race track to the world media, India appeared to have given the Commonwealth ghost a burial. And the company behind it - infrastructure conglomerate Jaypee Group - a legitimate claim to be counted among Corporate India's big boys of project execution.
When the F1 hosts threw open the 5.4-km Herman Tilke-designed Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida and associated facilities, the company's building prowess and Greater Noida's investment potential looked poised to be noticed when a300-million-strong global TV audience tunes in to the first Indian Grand Prix on October 30.
"We wanted to do something which nobody could point a finger at," Jaypee Group's 81-year-old founder Jaiprakash Gaur said during the unveiling event. In keeping with Gaur's stated premise, little seemed out of place at the 350-hectare motorsport complex that has come up off the Yamuna Expressway, also being built by the group.
"We hope that with this event, we will be able to repair the damage India's reputation suffered during the Commonwealth Games," he said. While it may be too early to adjudge the event a success, the critical ingredients all seem to be in place in the right measure. An elegant and challenging track is in place, designed by the same German designer who has built the tracks at Sepang, Bahrain, Shanghai and Valencia.
Formula 1 Event a Roving Economy
The approach roads to the complex are complete and in top shape. Facilities for teams and press operations are impressive and even the landscaping seems complete. "I have raced on all the major F1 tracks across the globe and I rate this track as one of the best in the world," said Narain Karthikeyan, India's first F1 driver. Formula One is as much a roving economy as it is a sport.
The 19 races held each year at elite destinations around the world attract an ecosystem of high-octane entertainment, bigspending tourists, billionaire team owners, the glamour of celebrity racers such as Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil and Michael Schumacher, and the big global brands that use the elite sport as a marketing platform. While the teams find the economics of the sport as hard to negotiate as the tricky curves on a circuit, hosting an F1 race can help boost tourism and raise the profile of a destination, as Singapore's famous night races have now proved for three years.
While the actual race will last just two hours on October 30, the F1 bandwagon will roll into the city two days earlier. For fans who travel the world for the pure thrill of a F1 race, hosts usually put together entertainment events across three days. The spectre of troubles related to land acquisition is the only major hurdle that could cast a shadow over the event.
There have been reports about farmers in the region threatening to disrupt the event. They claim land was acquired from them with the promise that industries will come up there, providing round-the-year jobs to locals. But Gaur says such reports are inaccurate and those making such statements were not genuine landowners in the region and had political motivations. "The event will go ahead smoothly, all our visitors will be happy," Gaur said. Motorsports fans in the country should certainly hope so.
On Tuesday, as organisers of India's first Formula One race unveiled the gleaming race track to the world media, India appeared to have given the Commonwealth ghost a burial. And the company behind it - infrastructure conglomerate Jaypee Group
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