COIMBATORE: The inaugural race weekend of the 26th edition of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship began at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on Saturday. Watching the action unfold on a frenetic opening day was Hari Singh, head of Operations, at JK Tyre Motorsports. In an interaction with this daily, Sigh spoke of the event’s legacy, the aspect of money and his visions for bigger Championships in the future.
Excerpts:
On this year’s edition We have got a fantastic set of young kids who are trying to hone their skills to be champions. It’s something that JK Tyre has always been doing, giving them a platform to perform in a safe environment to international standards under the guidelines of the FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India). This is the 26th year of the Championship and still getting over Covid. We would be happy if we had more international cars on our grid. But under the circumstances, just to keep going is a challenge by itself and we are happy that we are able to sustain.
On the competition’s legacy Just the fact that this is the longest running Championship in motorsport in India is legacy enough. Apart from that, we have done it during difficult times, we did it during Covid. And, of course, the whole idea is to promote youngsters. We have a scholarship programme where we have 3-4 kids under it who are aiming to hit international circuits. This sport takes a lot of money. We top up whenever we can to help (The likes of Kush Maini, a current F2 racer, has competed in this event; this time out, they have the promising Ruhaan Alva, 16, as part of the grid).
On the pathway this event provides for racers who are eyeing the international calendar At this level, your talent is very important. Apart from that, you need a strong background. Financially, whether from a sponsorship or yourself because it gets disappointing if you don’t have the money and have the talent. So, it’s very important that you back a kid who has both. A talented kid without money isn’t going anywhere, unfortunately.
On his visions We would like to have a higher category (in terms of horsepower and so on) and more international cars on our grid. There are some plans in the pipeline. Let’s hope it comes to fruition.
