India in talks to host WRC round by 2019
Indian officials are in discussions with FIA World Rally Championship organisers to host a round in the country by 2019, Motorsport.com has learned.
Photo by: Rachit Thukral
Vicky Chandhok, the current president of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Working Group, has confirmed that talks are being held with WRC managing director Oliver Ciesla over a possible round in India.
A team of four representatives, led by veteran Indian rally driver Farokh Commissariat, will visit Rally Sweden in February to observe the event in preparation for the proposed rally. This team is likely to visit three more WRC rounds in 2017 to further assist their planning.
Chandhok also confirmed his team is looking at two options with regards to the exact venue for an Indian WRC round.
One is at the foothills of Himalayas, which is at a higher altitude in Northern India. India’s biggest cross-country rally, the Raid de Himalaya, takes place in the mountain ranges of the Himalayas, but it is believed that the proposed WRC event would take place at a lower altitude on the foothills.
The second proposed venue is the coffee estates in Chikmagalur, Bangalore, in Southern India, the same location where the APRC’s Rally of India took place last December.
While 2019 has been set as the target date for the inaugural Indian WRC round, Chandhok did not discount the possibility of arranging a deal in time for the 2018 season.
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