Seasoned racer Sandeep Kumar all praise for Hyderabad Street Circuit after FIA-accredited venue hosts JKNRC 2022 Round 3

Hyderabad witnessed a new chapter unfold in Indian motorsport with its brand new street circuit being put to use for the first time over the weekend. The Telangana capital hosted the third round of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship LGB Formula 4 event on Sunday with the practice and qualifying rounds for the same taking place on the preceding day at the FIA-accredited Hyderabad Street Circuit. Fans in the city not only got to witness the riveting action that the premier motorsport event had to offer in its silver jubilee edition, but they also got a taste of what they can expect a little under three months from now with the first-ever Formula E race in the country set to take place at the very same venue. And besides fans, the racers participating in the JKNRC too have been left impressed. Among them is seasoned LGB Formula 4 driver Sandeep Kumar, part of the Dark Don Racing Team participating in the championship. “It’s a phenomenal job and the task as such is colossal. The time when the place was handed over to organisers and what they’ve pulled out in a matter of a few days, big, big shout out to whole team who’s put this whole show together. “And of course this is one of the top-spec street circuits we have here in India. I think once it (street circuit) has happened in the past in Pune where I was a kid and I was driving go-karts. A full-fledged Formula or a touring car kind of speced circuit is really, really a big step forward in Indian motorsport. “The track as such is very technical. You have long, fast straights, few technical corners, few fast chicanes, it’s a mix of everything at the back. It’s very, very important to have something like that in the country and it’s a great step forward for Indian motorsport,” said the 30-year-old, who had won the championship in 2020. Building a track such as this, however, is by no means an easy feat. Unlike the Buddh International Circuit, which was built on the outskirts of Greater Noida at a fair distance from New Delhi, the Hyderabad Street Circuit had been constructed in the heart of the city, on the NTR Marg between the Hussain Sagar Lake and the NTR Gardens, next to the iconic PV Narasimha Rao Marg, aka the Necklace Road. And with important roads getting closed due to the race, traffic snarls occurred even during the non-rush hours over the weekend, which then became a talking point for residents of the ‘City of Pearls’. Sandeep, however, chose to look at the bigger picture, which is that of the contribution that the street circuit could have towards Indian motorsport with the high-profile events that it is set to host in the near future. “As such motorsport is not the sport of the nation. It’s like going and playing cricket or kabaddi in Spain (chuckles). So, let’s be practical about it. But what they’ve done as a team together to put this whole show together is incredibly phenomenal and this as such is going to raise a lot of awareness among people with regards to what motorsport is and to put things to perspective that this is also a sport and this is also something that people also pursue as a career. So I think this is a big step towards creating awareness in the space of Indian motorsport,” Sandeep said. The third round of the 25th edition of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship took place simultaneously alongside the inaugural edition of the Indian Racing League — a franchised-based event featuring five city-based teams that essentially is a reboot of the X1 Racing League that took place in 2019. However, while the first round of the Indian Racing League had to be called off owing to logistical and technical issues, the JKNRC ensured fans got to witness thrilling action at the venue with all three races of Round 3 taking place on Sunday. MSport’s Raghul Rangaswamy led the way, winning the first two races with timings of 13.08.789 and 24.53.474 respectively and finishing second in the third race of the round with a timing of 19.32.429. Ahura Racing also zoomed ahead in the championship ladder with Vishwas Vijayaraj and Diljith TS finishing second and third in the opening race. Vishwas would then go on to win Race 3, beating Raghul by a fraction of a second to prevent him from completing a hat-trick. The first two editions of the JKNRC — which also features events such as the Novice Cup and the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup besides the LGB Formula 4 race — took place at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore before the action moved north to Hyderabad for the third round. The caravan then returns to Coimbatore for the fourth and final round in December. Round 3 Provisional Race Results: LGB Formula 4 (Race 1) Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) – 13.08.789 Viswas Vijayaraj (Ahura Racing) – 13.11.769 Diljith TS (Ahura Racing) – 13.14.242 LGB Formula 4 (Race 2) Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) – 24.53.474 Saran Vikram Tmars (Mars Racing) – 24.54.716 Ashwin Datta (Dark Don racing) – 24.55.691 LGB Formula 4 (Race 3) Vishwas VIjayaraj (Ahura Racing) – 19:31.807 Raghul Rangasamy (MSPort) – 19: 32. 429 Arya Singh (Dark Don Racing) – 19:38.785 Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.