Track layout of new 3.8km FIA Grade 2 circuit in Coimbatore revealed

Last week, we broke news of a brand new circuit being built in Coimbatore — the second after the Kari Motor Speedway. Built by Coimbatore Auto Sports Transport Trust (CoASTT) in partnership with the Mumbai Falcons, this circuit is set to be 3.8km long and will be up to FIA Grade 2 standards. Now, we have gotten our hands on images of the circuit layout as well.

From the image, we can deduce that the circuit will have a total of 14 corners, though it looks like T14 is actually two turns. The circuit will run in an anti-clockwise direction and it will be the only anti-clockwise racetrack in the country — the Kari Motor Speedway, BIC and MMRT all run in a clockwise direction. The circuit will have two distinct loops — T1, T2, T3, T4, the back straight and the main straight form one loop while T5 to T13 forms the second loop. From the looks of it, both these two loops look like they can run independently of each other, with each one getting independent connecting loops. The pit building has been marked out on the plan, though there doesn’t seem to be a second pit building for the second short loop. The second short loop will encompass the Grade 1 CIK karting track on its infield, and there will likely be some infrastructure here for this track. The entry to the pitlane is at the exit of T14 and has a small kink before it runs alongside the pit building. Meanwhile, the pit exit is right after T1, leading in to T2. Interestingly, the pit building seems to be on the outfield and not on the infield like it is on most circuits. We don’t have details on the distances of the straights at the moment, however we do know that the main straight will be 15m wide, while the rest of the track will be 12m wide. Service roads that run the entire track both on the infield and on the outfield. Access to the karting track will likely be from a bridge or an underpass that crosses the track right after Turn 10, and there is similar access over or under the two bits of the track that make up the short loops.

Not much else is known at the moment. The track has been designed by Apex Circuit Design, the same organisation that is responsible for tracks like the Dubai Autodrome, the Madras Motor Race track and the Miami F1 circuit. Construction has already begun in full swing, as there are plans to get the track operational as early as March 2022. The foundation stone was laid down on November 20, 2021 by G R Karthikeyan, R Shantharam, S Selvaraj, Ameet Gadhoke, Navjeet Gadhoke, Narain Karthikeyan and Arjun Balu and a traditional puja was done as well. The track is set to be the home base for the Mumbai Falcons, from where all its motorsport operations will be based out of. Stay tuned for evo India for more updates!