Chennai Formula Racing Circuit

Chennai Formula Racing Circuit is a Formula racing street circuit in Chennai, India.

Background
Racing Promotions Private Limited, the organisers of the Indian Racing League and F4 Indian Championship, conceived a street circuit in Chennai and in collaboration with the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), formally launched the circuit on August 16. It is the second street circuit in India after Hyderabad, which hosted the Formula E race in 2023. The Circuit is scheduled to host the first-ever night street race. It was planned for the track to host the IRL round and the F4 Indian Championship round on 9 and 10 December 2023. However, the race was canceled due to the Cyclone Michaung in that area. Now, it is planned that the circuit will host races in August 2024.

Tamil Nadu government partnership
As part of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed between Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on behalf of the Tamil Nadu state government and the IRL promoters Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) for a period of three years, the TN government will fund Indian Rs. 42 crores, while RPPL will invest Rs. 200 crores. SDAT, has also tied up with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), to take up the work. The first tranche of Rs. 15 crores were presented by SDAT at a special event in Chennai on 13 October 2023.

The president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) Akbar Ebrahim, Akhilesh Reddy, chairman and MD of RPPL and Armaan Ebrahim, one of the directors of RPPL, were present during the signing of the MoU in Chennai.

Track
The circuit will be 3.500 km long around the Island grounds. It starts from Island grounds and will run through Flag Staff Road-Victory War Memorial, Pallavan Road (junction), Sivananda Road and Napier Bridge and ends at Island grounds. It has significant elevation changes, and it runs about 450 m from the Bay of Bengal, within the view of Marina Beach. The street circuit will run in an anti-clockwise direction and has 19 corners with multiple chicanes. The pitlane and paddock will be on the Island Ground. It is designed by Driven International, the group which built the Hyderabad Street Circuit that hosted India's first Formula E race. FIA (International Automobile Federation), the international governing body for motorsport is expected to homologate the track and give green signal before the first race in December. However, the races were cancelled due to the concerns regarding Cyclone Michaung in that area, and the opening of the circuit had to be postponed to the last weekend of August 2024.