Buddh International Circuit (Greater Noida), 03 December 2019: The inaugural leg of the X1 Racing League, Powered by JK Tyre; a concept started by Indian racers Armaan Ebrahim and Aditya Patel, hit the Buddh International Circuit over the weekend, which saw team Bangalore Racing Stars, comprising of Arjun Maini, Oliver James Webb, Michelle Gatting, Nayan Chatterjee and Vishnu Prasad, win two out of the four races. The Mumbai Falcons won the other two races at the inaugural leg after brilliant performances by their team comprising of Kush Maini, Mikkel Jensen, Pippa Mann, Sohil Shah and Karthik Tharani.
The pulsating inaugural leg was summed up by Bangalore Racing Stars’ Arjun Maini, who helped his team impress during the first leg of the X1 Racing League. He said, “The X1 Racing League experience over the weekend was amazing for our team. It was the first time this unique format was put to the test, and we had to get used to this innovative style of racing which needs a very calculated approach. It gets over very quickly from a driver’s point of view, because you are not on the track for a long amount of time individually, so it is all about team strategy. There was a lot to learn from this opening weekend, and things are already looking bright for our team. I am looking forward to get back on track with the upcoming Chennai leg and maintain our lead.”
On the other hand Arjun’s brother, Kush Maini, who represented the Mumbai Falcons, did the lap record and contributed to his team bagging the fastest lap in 3 out of the 4 races. The 19-year-old said, “It was a good Day 2 for our team as things fell into place for us after a slightly disappointing Day 1. I think we deserved more wins during this opening leg of the X1 Racing League. However, we learned a lot about ourselves and adjusted our strategy accordingly over the four races, and now we are really looking forward to racing in Chennai next weekend.”
India’s first-ever Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan, who owns the NK Racing Chennai, said. “The X1 Racing League is a great concept and makes it one of the most unique racing competition in the world with the franchise-based format. I am really excited with how the first leg panned out here in New Delhi, even though our team could only produce one podium finish. However, going back to Chennai is always great and I’m really looking forward to the next leg of this great innovation in motor-sport,” said the 42-year-old veteran.
With close to 35,000 spectators present at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida to witness the X1 Racing League on Sunday, it turned out to be a memorable opening act for co-founder Armaan Ebrahim, who expressed his delight. “All of us at the X1 Racing League are overwhelmed by the response we have received over the weekend. With extremely passionate teams and racers, we started the league with a long-term vision to develop and build motorsports in India, and I am really pleased to see how the audience has responded. We had some very close encounters during the four races, and I would like to thank and congratulate all the teams for making it an action-packed weekend,” said Armaan.
The franchise-based X1 Racing League has a total of six teams comprising of four drivers and two cars in each team. Of the four drivers in each team, there is one international male, one international female, one India international and a domestic racer involved. Each race lasts for 30 minutes and has three unique team-based race formats per day. The X1 Racing League will now continue into its second leg which will be held at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai.
