All-star Indian racing league plans on ice until 2013

| Duncan Steer

While Formula 1 prepares for its biggest season yet – with 20 Grands Prix on the calendar – attempts to create a glitzy, new Indian-based racing league with ex-F1 drivers have been postponed for 12 months.

The i1 Super Series was to see a series of sports car races on circuits throughout Asia this spring, featuring ex-GP stars including Jacques Villeneuve, Jean Alesi, Mika Salo and Giancarlo Fisichella.

The Super Series was launched last August, and was based on the IPL cricket format: franchised teams owned by celebrities were to represent different Indian cities; ramped-up coverage would fuse Bollywood production values and take a familiar, increasingly popular sport to a new level.

The IPL has also inspired a big-money Indian football league, Premier League Soccer (PLS) with a roster of big-name ex-international stars including Robbie Fowler, Robert Pires and Hernan Crespo signing up for city franchise teams in January. The tournament kicks off on March 4.

The i1 Super Series, which has no formal connection with Formula 1, is hopeful of tapping into an enthusiasm for motor sport in India fired by the first-ever Indian Grand Prix, which was held in October 2011. The championship was intended to consist of 10 races over five weekends, in Bahrain, Malaysia, Qatar and India, culminating in a final round in Abu Dhabi. Each of the nine teams would include an Indian driver as well as a 'name' international driver.

Originally planned to start in December 2011, the series has now been postponed until January 2013.

Owners, led by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and business guru Arindam Chaudhuri, believed the event needed more promotion within India before the first race.

Cricket icon and motorsport fan Sachin Tendulkar – regarded as India's No 1 celebrity – was recruited as a brand ambassador for Super Series and other big-names from cricket – India's No 1 sport – were rumoured to have an interest in becoming franchise owners.

However, only four of the nine franchises had been sold when the series was postponed.

Photo: Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar waves the chequered flag at last October's first-ever Indian Grand Prix. Plans for India's i1 Super Series, which has Tendulkar as a brand ambassador, have been put on hold for 12 months. (Getty Images)