Recently, the CEO of Dorna Sports – Carmelo Ezpeleta – visited India and held meetings with various authorities with the objective of bringing the FM MotoGP World Championship to India.
Dorna Sports is the commercial rights holder for the motorcycling sport of Grand Prix racing. Ezpeleta also visited Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida and talked about the possibility of an Indian Grand Prix.
The delegation then visited Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, to meet with Chief minister, Yogi Adityanath and Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal ‘Nandi’.
The contingent then went to Delhi and met with representatives of the motorcycling industry and promoter FairStreet Sports. They discussed the modalities of bringing the world’s premier two-wheeled motorsport to the sub-continent in the near future.
“We are excited at the prospect of Indian Grand Prix and Uttar Pradesh playing a big role in this and the meeting of Dorna Sports with CM is an aggressive step in promoting motorsports through our state”’ Navneet Sehgal, additional chief secretary, sports, who had played a huge role over the last three years in investors’ summit and Bollywood engagement in UP, told The New Indian.
“India is a huge country and market, and an especially important one for the two-wheeled industry and MotoGP as a sport. The Championship has a huge fan base there, and being able to hold a MotoGP event in India would be both an incredible spectacle for our fans at the same time as allowing us to continue to grow the sport in the region,” Ezpeleta told the media.
“Racing in India would be a reflection of our commitment to open the doors to the sport as widely as we can, and would be an important achievement for the Championship. We would love to be able to see this project through and bring these incredible MotoGP bikes to race in front of the Indian fans,” he told.
The UP CM Yogi promised his government will provide all the necessary support for the project. “It is a matter of great pride for Uttar Pradesh to host such a globally prestigious mega sports event. Not only will the event boost the hospitality and tourism sectors, but it will also put UP on the global platform. Our government will provide all the necessary support to make this event a huge success,” he said.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur hailed his meeting as a “historical day for the sporting and automobile industry”.
“It’s a befitting tribute to the Azadi Ka Amrit Maha Utsav celebrations, marking India’s befitting arrival on the global platform of motorsport. India could potentially be one of MotoGP’s biggest markets in terms of viewership as well as revenue,” Thakur enthused.