i1 Supercar Series put off by a year

Chennai: The much-hyped and twice postponed inaugural i1 Supercar Series will now be held in 2013, according to a press release from the promoters, Machdar Motorsports.

"A number of factors came into play, due to which the promoters, supported wholly by the team owners and partners, have jointly been forced to make this decision," Machdar Motorsports said. "The announcement of the electoral poll dates in UP had resulted in the postponement of the race scheduled in the Buddh International circuit and this had a roll-on effect on the availability of the other race tracks as well as some of key the drivers.” "Also, the team owners felt that since motorsport was so nascent in the Indian market, it would be better if they spent more time in educating the fans, building the city level support before commencing the series," the release said. Commenting on the situation, Darshan M, CEO, Machdar Motorsports, said: "It is unfortunate that we have had to postpone the i1 Supercar Series to next year, but in the long term, we feel this will benefit not only the series but motorsports in the country as well. "The change in race calendar due to polling in Uttar Pradesh was already affecting the availability of the international circuits as well participation of the key drivers in the series. This, along with the team owners request for more time, made this decision unavoidable. "We have taken this hard decision of postponing the series with the consent of all stakeholders involved in the series. They have extended their full support towards this decision as they realise that this has been taken with the league`s long term interests at heart." Arjun Baljee, Managing Director, Peppermint Hotels chain and Bangalore team owner, said: "We are relieved that management has decided to postpone the start of the series. This will give us time to plan our brand strategy, bring in partner sponsors and drum up excitement over the next few months for the Bangalore team." IANS