Breaking news
Formula E
No Formula E race in India until 2019, warns Mahindra
India is unlikely to make its Formula E debut until at least 2019, according to Mahindra Racing chairman Dr Pawan Goenka.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Dec 6, 2017, 11:49 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Mahindra has been pushing for a Formula E race in India since the inception of the series in 2014, and was confident of securing a slot in season 4 of the all-electric championship.
The Mumbai-based manufacturer also received a letter of intent from the Delhi government, pledging support for a race on the streets of the Indian capital.
However, with no promoter turning up to bear the cost of the event and Mahindra’s own attention turning towards the performance of its fledgling racing team, plans to bring the series to the country have been put on the backburner.
“We have sort of a desire to bring one of the races to India. We did some work initially [but it] hasn’t really moved enough,” Goenka told reports including Motorsport.com.
“We have looked at Delhi [as a possible venue] because Delhi is the one which will attract most crowd, especially international crowd. And infrastructure and hotels are all there in Delhi.
“If you do it in Delhi you have to do in India Gate [in Central Delhi], it doesn’t make sense to do it anywhere else. And to get approval to do something in India Gate is not an easy thing to do.
“We have talked to government of india at the city level and central level. We are working on it. But it won’t happen in season 4 obviously, it probably won’t happen in season 5 [2018/19].
“We’ll see we can do anything. The [Formula E] organisers are very keen. India has a fairly large viewership. Thanks partly to our participation and performance.”
Indian driver not at the cost of winning
Mahindra fielded Karun Chandhok in the first season of Formula E but no Indian driver has raced or tested for the outfit since then.
Goenka revealed that his squad has eyes on several budding Indian racers, but does not want to compromise its driver line-up for the sake of having someone from its home country.
“Nothing will be more exciting for us if we could win a race with an Indian driver,” he said. “However, winning comes first so we cannot compromise our chances of winning just in order to put Indian drivers.
“ So we have to see and we are watching couple of drivers who are good in whatever circuit they are running right now. And we are watching them.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rosenqvist: "I’m not at the level I need to be"
Next article Kobayashi could keep Andretti seat for Marrakesh
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Rachit Thukral
Gresini: New MotoGP rules won't increase gap between factory and satellite teams
MotoGP
MotoGP
Indonesian GP
18 h
Gresini: New MotoGP rules won't increase gap between factory and satellite teams
Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up
More from
Mahindra Racing
How Mahindra missed out on London win but capped its best Formula E season yet
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
How Mahindra missed out on London win but capped its best Formula E season yet
Mahindra is a Formula E frontrunner again, but will it end its five-year victory drought?
Formula E
Formula E
Jeddah ePrix II
Mahindra is a Formula E frontrunner again, but will it end its five-year victory drought?
Mahindra to begin Gen4 testing in May after delayed board approval
Formula E
Formula E
Jeddah ePrix II
Mahindra to begin Gen4 testing in May after delayed board approval
Latest news
Phillip Island to remain in use despite MotoGP and WorldSBK departures
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
49 min
Phillip Island to remain in use despite MotoGP and WorldSBK departures
Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
1 h
Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?
WEC: Barcelona 6 Hours schedule and TV times
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
3 h
WEC: Barcelona 6 Hours schedule and TV times
Brennan Poole joins Jordan Anderson Racing for 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly season
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
4 h
Brennan Poole joins Jordan Anderson Racing for 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly season
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe