But there was one tiny problem: the policy makers at Prasar Bharti weren’t too keen giving prime-time weekend air space to what they essentially perceived was cars going round a track. The safest bet, and the one with the widest reach, was showing it on the national network, Doordarshan. In a nation that was just warming up to cable television, Chandhok and his associates wondered if going pay-per-view was the right way to take things forward. However, in his travels he had built up good contacts and his production house held the rights to broadcast F1 in India. In 1995, the present Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India president Vicky Chandhok’s career as a journeyman motorsport driver was all but over. The irony isn’t lost on the man who first tried to take F1 to the Indian masses through the medium of television. India is embracing F1 with arms wide open and bags of cash in both hands.
The last weekend of October will be one grand party as the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida near Delhi readies to host India’s first-ever Formula One race, and the 17th race of this season. The greatest motorsport circus is coming to the country and don’t we all know it! The airwaves are abuzz with the eardrum-splitting noise of revved-up 800bhp engines, the hunt is on – for tickets, grid girls, a walk with the stars.