Island Grounds Formula 4 race ticket sale opened

CHENNAI: The tickets for Formula Racing Circuit 2023 (F4) in Chennai, the first-ever on-street night event in the country, have been opened to the public.

On Friday (November 24), Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurated the ticket sales for the race and brought the first ticket.

Chennai will be hosting the race on December 9 and 10, and will be held as a night race (Street Circuit) on the 3.5 km perimeter roads around the Chennai Island Grounds.

The race will commence from Island Ground and covers Flag Staff Road, Anna Salai, Sivananda Salai, and Napier Bridge, and return to the ground. The circuit will have 19 corners while the pit and paddock structures would come up inside Island Ground.

On race days, SDAT will conduct Formula 4 and Indian Racing League, both on-street night races. As many as 12 drivers, including international drivers, will take part in the F4 race. Indian Racing League will be conducted on a league basis. Each league team will have four drivers - two Indian and two international drivers. Of the four, one should be a female driver.

Formula 4 (or F4) is an open-wheel car racing that was introduced for junior drivers to bridge the gap between kart racing and the F3 category. The cars are powered by 1,600 cc engines that can churn out 160 bhp power and go as fast as 250 km per hour.

Earlier, Udhayanidhi Stalin accompanied by Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and Sports Department officials, inspected the ongoing works on the roads around Island Ground that are being converted into the racing circuit.

Meanwhile, sources close to DT Next said that the race will be telecasted live.