Formula Regional Indian and Formula 4 are the first FIA-sanctioned championships in India to qualify for Formula 1 super license points

For the first time ever a racing championship hosted in India will qualify for Formula 1 super license points. Racing Promotions are set to announce the Formula Regional Indian championship and the Formula 4 Indian championship in Mumbai on August 19. These are the first FIA-sanctioned race series hosted in India that will qualify participants and winners for F1 super license points. The races will be held at the BIC and MMRT but the surprise is a street race that will be announced on August 19.

The Formula Regional Indian championship will use brand-new Formula 3-spec single-seaters made by Italian constructor Tatuus and will be powered by Autotecnica Motori-tuned Alfa Romeo 1.8-litre turbo engines, putting out 270 horsepower. It will feature some of the top young racing talent in the world, attracted to the series by the quality of the cars, the championship and also the super license points on offer. Indian drivers who are competing in global championships are also set to take part in this series and benchmark themselves against the top young talent in the world.

The F4 Indian Championship will run as a support race and the aim is to unearth and groom Indian racing talent. F4 drivers will not be using any old locally built cars but will have brand new F4 chassis, also built by Tatuus, and using the 160bhp 1.4-litre Abarth engine. Both the Formula Regional Indian and Formula 4 Indian championships are using the very latest spec cars, with the integrated halo safety device that was first seen in Formula 1. It is such a joy - and relief! - to see top-spec cars coming to race in India, with the highest safety levels, not rented and tired old race horses.

The Formula Regional Indian championship winner will get 18 super license points while the F4 winner will get 12 points so if a young driver wins both they will bag a total of 30 points. 40 super license points are needed for Formula 1.

That’s not it. The third attraction of the race weekend will be the Indian Racing League which is the old X1 Racing League that has been thoroughly revised. Gone are the old cars and in comes brand-new single-seaters made by Italian constructor Wolf and powered by the screaming 215bhp V4 engine from the Aprilia RSV4 superbike. The IRL will continue to feature the endurance race format with driver changes, a mandatory lady driver and will also boost local talent with a minimum number of Indian racing drivers being a mandatory requirement for each team. The X1 Racing League was originally planned as the IPL of Indian Motorsport and with lessons learnt from Season 1 things will be heavily updated for the new season, while continuing with the city franchise model.

The genesis of the whole project was when Mumbai Falcons participated in the inaugural season of the X1 Racing League and then stepped up to the F3 Asian Championship earlier this year with an all-Indian team fronted by Jehan Daruvala and Kush Maini. Aditya Patel, Armaan Ebrahim and Abhinandan Balasubramanian who launched the X1 Racing League are also behind this larger project - the biggest of its kind Indian motorsport has ever seen.

The championships are planned to kick off early next year, in February - March 2022. More details will be announced on August 19 at the launch of India’s Fastest Sport by Akhilesh Reddy, chairman and Navjeet Gadhoke, vice chairman of of Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd. 1983 Cricket World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev and the World’s Fastest Indian Narain Karthikeyan are also expected to make an appearance at the launch. Stay tuned to evo India for more Indian motorsport news.