MMSC plans night races for saloon cars in slew of initiatives

The Madras Motor Sports Club has reiterated its decision to introduce night racing for saloon cars next year after successfully conducting India's maiden night test session in August at the MMRT race track at nearby Sriperumbudur.

Speaking at the MMSC 2019 Circuit Racing Annual Awards function here on Friday, MMSC president Ajit Thomas said, "In addition to continuing the highly successful mainstream events, we plan to introduce interesting alternate events like Night Racing after successfully conducting the first-ever night test session for saloon cars at the MMRT in August.

He said there were plans to upgrade the infrastructure at the MMRT track with a permanent grand stand and a karting track.

"We also have plans to further upgrade our infrastructure at the track with a permanent Grand Stand and a karting track, after having invested in building two new paddocks, a permanent Drag Racing strip, the only one of its kind in India, state-of-the-art timing equipment, pit display system, etc," he added.

MRF Limited vice-chairman and managing director Arun Mammen presented trophies to the podium finishers of just-concluded Indian National Racing Championships for four-wheelers and two-wheelers Individual, Team and Manufacturers.

Trophies were also presented to the top three finishers in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup and TVS One-Make Championship.

Raghul Rangasamy, winner of the MRF F1600 Championship and Dhruv Shivaji Mohite of Rayo Racing, champion in the Indian Touring Cars, will be participating in one-off races in the UK and South Africa, respectively.

Reiterating MRFs commitment to motorsports, Mammen said: MRF has not just grown as a company but has nurtured motorsports in India, whether it is Racing, Rallying, Supercross or Karting.

Reflecting on the 2019 season, MMSC Vice-President and former FMSCI chief Vicky Chandhok said, "At the outset, we would like to thank MRF for their continued support and commitment.

MRF's active involvement in our racing activities has helped us take the sport to the next level as was evident this season when we witnessed exciting season marked by close racing.

We saw a quantum increase in number of participants from across India, giving our championships a truly National flavour.

"We had 260 participants from 18 States and Union territories in two-wheeler championships, 90 representing 15 teams in four-wheeler championship.

The season also heralded several emerging young talents in the age-group of 12-18.

We also acknowledge and appreciate the participation of manufacturers TVS, Honda, Volkswagen and Yamaha," he added.