Motorsports in India are not as popular as they could be.
Motorsports in India are not as popular as they could be. We have the Raid De Himalaya, the legendary off-road championship and F1 among the more popular sports. It’s unfortunate that the latter is having its future questioned, right at the very beginning. Truck racing is something that we’d see on the Discovery network or a channel with foreign programming, but its never been seen before in India. Tata is looking to change that and has just launched the T1 Prima truck racing championship.
The truck used for the race will be the Tata Prima 4038 S
The first ever truck racing championship in India will be held on March 23rd, 2014. The race has been planned at the Buddh International Circuit in Delhi. There will be a total of six teams participating with 12 Tata Prima world trucks.
Karl Slym and Ravi Pisharody at the launch
Speaking on the occassion, Mr. Karl Slym, Managing Director, Tata Motors said “Through the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship, we are introducing yet another pioneering initiative in the Indian trucking space. We at Tata Motors are ready to embark on yet another milestone of Horizonext, with the highest levels of performance and competitiveness of our trucks, to take customer engagement to another level.
He added, “Formula 1 is the pinnacle of 4-wheeler racing in the world, and we at Tata Motors are taking the initative to make the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship as the pinnacle of truck racing, in India. With this we are not only adding an exciting new dimension to one of the largest trucking markets in the world, but also connecting our passion for trucks to the larger Indian audience.”
The race will have 6 teams and 12 trucks
Competing in the championship is the Tata Prima 4038.S. The truck is pumps out a massive power output of 370 Bhp at 2100 RPM and goes up to a top speed of 110 kmph. To make these Prima trucks fit for racing, Tata says they have made 22 key modifications to meet a mix of safety and performance needs as per guidelines from British Truck Racing Association.
These included significant changes in fuel tank, brake, cooling system, propeller shaft guards, racing seats and safety belts, exhaust, steering wheel among others. The trucks have gone through multiple quality checks and also tested on the test circuit at Jamshedpur for high speed run and control.
Tata has radically changed the face of its trucks over the past few years and this championship will give it further impetus
There will be two races at the event. The first one is the qualifier, followed by the main race (Both races have a rolling start). Behind the wheel will be internationally acclaimed drivers, with laurels in the field of Truck Racing like the British Truck Racing championship and European Truck Racing championship.