MMRT opens up for practice sessions of car, bike racers

The Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) will reopen the MMRT circuit at Sriperumbudur for training session of car and bike racers albeit with a slew of measures conforming to government guidelines in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The track has been active for the past few days with testing sessions by vehicle manufacturers, and the facility will be open to car and bike competitors from June 14 for paid practice sessions, a press release here said.

"The track is open for non-sporting activity as we try to ease into a situation and conditions we are not familiar with. So, we are not taking anything for granted or lightly. Health and safety of our employees, officials, competitors and visitors are our priority," MMSC vice-president Vicky Chandhok, who is also Chairman of Racing Events, said.

As for sporting events, the action will commence with the National Championship in September, he added.

Keeping in mind the situation arising out of the coronavirus, the MMSC will implement safety protocols as mandated by the government at the MMRT track, the release added. Simultaneously, a new grandstand, digital flags that can be operated from the Race Control room and self-contained Marshal posts are being added to the facility.

Regarding various upgrades to the track, MMSC vice-president Vicky Chandhok, who is also chairman of Racing Events, said the track was open for non-sporting activity, adding health and safety of employees, official, competitors and visitors were the priority.

As for sporting events, Chandhok said:"The action will commence with the National Championship in September, by which time, hopefully, the overall situation would have improved." With regard to practice sessions, Chandhok said the number of persons attached to a vehicle would be restricted to two in case of a car and one for bikes.

"To start with, for the practice sessions, we will be restricting the number of persons attached to each vehicle to two in the case of cars and one for bikes. This will help us enforce social distancing with a gap of at least 10 feet between them. Next up are the marshals who play a critical role during races. We are replacing all 21 existing Marshal posts with new, self-contained locked enclosures that will protect them from elements, and numbered as per FIA and FIM international standards. Meanwhile, the sport's World governing body FIA, has extended MMRT circuit's Grade-2 certification to July 2021 on a request by MMSC and in view of prevailing virus-related situation in India," Chandhok said.