Racing Entrepreneurs
evo India|June 2019

In a country where making a career out of motorsport is next to impossible, two young racers are donning entrepreneurial hats to launch a racing league modelled along the lines of the IPL

Sirish Chandran
Racing Entrepreneurs

THE IPL OF MOTORSPORT — THAT, in a nutshell, is what the X1 Racing League is all about, running a citybased franchise model where a mix of international, Indian and lady drivers will be auctioned to teams who will run two cars in a short T20-style, 45-minute race, featuring a driver change for added drama, on a mix of street and race circuits that will culminate in parties, rock shows and what not. Sounds too good to be true? In a country where race promoters struggle to fill up grids, where is the money for a big-bang series with all the affiliated razzmatazz?

It’s easy to be skeptical but Aditya Patel and Armaan Ebrahim are out to prove the naysayers wrong. Having struggled their whole lives to raise money to further their racing careers (and, to be fair, having not been very successful at that) the two young racers have shifted track to become race promoters, and for the first time ever in Indian motorsport they’ve got venture funding. At the Speed Summit at the BIC, X1’s first on-ground event that proves the League is no pie in the sky, a roll-call of big name investors were read out — Kunal Shah of FreeCharge, Jitendra Gupta of PayU and CitrusPay, Raghunandan G of Taxi4Sure, the Rattha Group, White Unicorn Ventures, AngelList and Lets Venture. Jay Pawar of Maharashtra’s politically powerful Pawar family is a co-founder and Ravi Krishnan who was part of the Rajasthan Royals in the Shilpa Shetty - Raj Kundra days, is co-chairman. And some crazy figures are being bandied about. Half a million US dollars in prize money. The league’s top drivers getting to race in Le Mans, WEC and even F1 (no really, I am not making that up). And all preceded by a nation-wide e-racing series with a 100,000 US dollars as prize money and a virtual-to-real race program. Wow! These boys have been busy!

This story is from the June 2019 edition of evo India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the June 2019 edition of evo India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM EVO INDIAView All
evo India

FAST STEAD

This Skoda Octavia RS 230 is fast enough to blow your mind but not its engine

time-read
3 mins  |
August 2021
Ford Fusion
evo India

Ford Fusion

Practical, great engine and dynamics, but weird styling ensured buyers stayed well away

time-read
2 mins  |
August 2021
evo India

Mahindra Bolero Neo

Armed with an iconic badge, a fresh face and a mechanically locking differential, the Bolero Neo could just be the compact SUV you’ve been looking for

time-read
5 mins  |
August 2021
evo India

RISING FROM THE ASHES

The third generation Suzuki Hayabusa is one of the fastest production motorcycles in the world, and a bike that truly deserves to be ridden flat out at the High Speed Track at NATRAX

time-read
7 mins  |
August 2021
BIJOY KUMAR Y
evo India

BIJOY KUMAR Y

Bijoy is quite looking forward to what the recent space launches could mean

time-read
3 mins  |
August 2021
evo India

DOA: HSV HRT 427

This racing-inspired 7-litre Holden Monaro garnered more than enough interest for its limited production run to sell out. But sadly the sums didn’t add up

time-read
2 mins  |
August 2021
evo India

Mini Cooper S Convertible

Mini gives the Convertible a more modern front end, more technology on the inside and a very bright paint scheme

time-read
5 mins  |
August 2021
evo India

VW Taigun GT

Good news! With two GT variants, Volkswagen are set to make the 1.5 TSI motor even more accessible to us enthusiasts

time-read
8 mins  |
August 2021
THE DOCTOR CHECKS OUT
evo India

THE DOCTOR CHECKS OUT

As Rossi decides to hang up his boots after 26 seasons, we take a look back at his journey through MotoGP

time-read
2 mins  |
August 2021
“IF THE RATING IS DONE, NATRAX COULD BE ONE OF THE TOP THREE PROVING GROUNDS IN THE WORLD”
evo India

“IF THE RATING IS DONE, NATRAX COULD BE ONE OF THE TOP THREE PROVING GROUNDS IN THE WORLD”

Speaking to Dr N Karuppaiah, additional director and centre head, NATRAX

time-read
4 mins  |
August 2021