Indian Grand Prix: Where's the buzz?

October 22, 2012
Indian-Grand-Prix-Wheres-the-buzz

Driving down the Greater Noida Expressway, the only indication of the Airtel Indian Grand Prix about to take place in the vicinity is a weather-beaten board that reads: '2011 Formula One Grand Prix'!

The second edition of the Indian GP is all set to be flagged off in less than a week's time, but the build-up to the much-awaited event has been quite quiet, to say the least.

The F1 juggernaut will start rolling in just two-three days' time, but the response among the fans has been rather modest, when compared with last year's inaugural race. When Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish-line to take the chequered flag, there were over 95,000 fans cheering him on at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC).

In 2012, however, the organisers, Jaypee Sports International Limited (JPSI), will be happy even if half of that number turns up on Race Day next Sunday. So why's the buzz missing around the second Indian Grand Prix?

The only Indian driver competing in the Indian GP - HRT's Narain Karthikeyan - has some explanations. "Formula One is a high-profile sporting event. It is probably the biggest international event apart from cricket," Karthikeyan told TOI.

But sources indicate JPSI ticket sales to be in the region of between 55 to 60,000 in a 1,10,000-capacity circuit.

"Last year there was the novelty factor. But after last year, I think a lot of Delhiites are discouraged by the traffic leading up to the track. Also, usually in the second year, and it happens around the world, there is a drop in enthusiasm. I think it should pick up again from next year," the HRT driver, who himself looked pretty exhausted after his long drive back to his city hotel from the track, added. Karthikeyan believes the low ticket sales are not related to lack of interest.

"Unlike China, India is a country where people have plenty of knowledge about motorsports. In China it is only limited to Shanghai. However, in saying that, Brazil is also a developing country like India but they have around 20 different tracks around the country while we have just one F1 track. Even in karting competitions in Brazil, you can see at least 60 karts lining up which you don't get to see in India," the 35-year-old said.

He also believes that attending a F1 GP was more a style statement for a lot of people in India. "Delhiites are brand-conscious people. So in the inaugural season lots of people attended because that was the 'in-thing'.

"From this year onwards you will see only the genuine motorsports fans at the race," he observed. While last year close of 30,000 tickets were sold a week before the race out of the eventual 95,000, this year, till date, JPSI have only managed to sell about 44,000 tickets.

Tickets Anyone?

Rs 2000: Price of lowest priced singleday ticket for 2012 Indian Grand Prix

Rs 12,000: Price of single-day main grandstand ticket (down from Rs 15,000 last year)

Rs 21,000: Price of season ticket of main grandstand (down from Rs 35,000 last year)

95,000: Total ticket sales on Race Day in 2011

44,000: Ticket sales so far

55-60,000: Organiser JPSI's projected ticket sales this year

India Connect

SAHARA FORCE INDIA

It was a while coming but India finally got a team on the Formula One grid with the arrival of Force India in 2007. A consortium led by Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for £90 million.

From the back of the grid five years back, the team has slowly worked its way up to the middle currently challenging the likes of Sauber and Mercedes for fifth and sixth spot in the Constructor's Championship.

In October last year, Sahara India Pariwar bought 42.5% stake in the team for reportedly $100 million to be rechristened Sahara Force India.

Team Watch

FERRARI

Ferrari's relation to motorsports dates as far back as 1929 but the Italian company first started competing in motorsports in 1948. The motor racing giants have 16 constructors titles to their name and five in a row from 2000-04. Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa brought home two more titles in 2007 and 2008.

President: Luca di Montezemolo

Team principal: Stefano Domenicali


Technical director: Pat Fry

Drivers: Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa

Team Budget: Approximately $259.1 million

2012 Report Card: They have been hit hard by the change in F1 rules especially the banning of the blowndiffusers - one thing in which the team invested on heavily. Alonso has kept them ahead of McLaren in second place.

WILLIAMS

Gone are the days when Williams dominated the world of F1. The British team has nine constructors titles to their credit. But the last title was back in 1997.

Team principal: Frank Williams

CEO: Alex Burns

Technical director: Mike Coughlan

Drivers: Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna


Team Budget: $104.1 million approx.

2012 Report Card: The team had one of their worst seasons in F1 last year with just five points to their credit. Pastor Maldonado produced their first win since 2003, in Spanish GP.




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Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Veteran cricketer Mithali Raj was on Thursday demoted to Grade B from A in the BCCI central contracts while Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia were elevated to the middle bracket.

Mithali not being kept in the Rs 50 lakh category was expected as the 37-year-old retired from T20s in September last year. However, she remains the ODI captain and plans to carry on till the 2021 World Cup.

T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained his A category contract alongside Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.

Radha and Taniya, who both had a Grade C contract worth Rs 10 lakh last year, have now entered Grade B (Rs 30 lakh).

Players getting a central contract for the first time are 15-year-old opener Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol, who like the teenager is an attacking batter.

Shafali has attracted a lot of attention ever since making her India debut last year. She recently made 124 against Australia A in Brisbane. The opener will be expected to deliver in the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under.

Dropped from the list is Mona Meshram, who was in Grade C last year and hasn't played a single game in recent times.

The latest contracts run from October 2019 to September 2020.

Grade A (Rs 50 lakh): Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav.

Grade B (Rs 30 lakh): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma.

Grade C (Rs 10 lakh): Veda Krishnamurthy, Punam Raut, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, D Hemlatha, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Priya Punia, Shafali Verma.

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News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Bhubaneswar: Jul 16: The Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha on Thursday revealed that ace sprinter Dutee Chand has been given Rs 4.09 crore since 2015 and also appointed as Group-A officer in the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) currently drawing a gross salary of Rs 84,604 per month.

On Wednesday, Dutee clarified that she wants to sell her luxury car because she is unable to bear its maintenance cost and it will also aid her training for Tokyo Olympics.

The 24-year-old believes after selling her car she can use that money for training amid the shortage of money due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"Rs 3 crore as financial incentive for medals won at Asian Games 2018. Rs 30 Lakhs for training and financial support during 2015-19. Rs 50 Lakhs for training support for Tokyo Olympics (Released In two instalments on 02/08/2019 and 27/12/2019," the statement read.

"The State government appointed Dutee Chand as Group-A level officer in Odisha Mining Corporation (A Gold Category PSU). She is currently drawing Gross salary of Rs 84,604 (June 2020 Salary) per month. She is not required to come to office so that she is able to concentrate full-time on training. Accordingly, since her appointment in OMC, no official work has been allotted to Chand," it added.

The state government further provided details of the financial support provided by the OMC for her training.

"OMC provided Rs 29 Lakhs to Dutee Chand for Training and financial incentives. The total financial support provided to Dutee Chand from State government/OMC is 4.09 crores(after 2015)," the statement read.

"The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), Government of India may also be providing adequate support for the athlete based on performance," it added.

Earlier, Dutee said she is facing a shortage of funds due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to the next year and is planning to sell her car to meet the expense of her training.

"Training is going quite good so far, I have been training here in Bhuvneshwar. Earlier, there was no problem related to funds for training as Tokyo Olympics were coming up and our state government conferred me, but because of coronavirus the Olympics were postponed and I had spent the money which was given to me by the sponsors. Now, I need money for training, I need new sponsors but because of coronavirus I am finding it difficult to find them. Now I have decided to sell my car to arrange funds," Dutee had said.

Dutee, who has been recently nominated for the Arjuna Award 2020, said COVID-19 had impacted heavily on sports and sponsors are not willing to support her at this time.

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