The Coimbatore Auto Sports and Transport Trust was established in 1987, with the express purpose of conducting and promoting activities relevant to road safety, automotive engineering and motorsport development. Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited was setup in 2019 and their achievements in motorsport are already quite staggering, from being the 1st Indian team to stand on an international championship podium (F3 Asian Championship 2021) to hosting multiple FIA accredited racing championships in India later in 2022, through its associate partner Racing Promotions Private Limited. On the 19th of November 2021, these two organisations have inaugurated the construction of a world class high performance automotive testing facility in Coimbatore.
The facility is located less than a 30 minute drive from Coimbatore International Airport on NH544. The purpose of this centre of excellence will be to create a focal point for the development of the automotive and motorsport industry in India. At the core of this facility will be an FIA Grade-2 circuit which will be just under 4 km in length. It will be India’s first anti-clockwise circuit and has been conceptualised by “The Fastest Indian in the World”, India’s first Formula 1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan and multiple Indian National Touring Car Champion and rally ace Arjun Balu, in conjunction with Apex Circuit Design Limited, who are one of the world’s leading designers of race and test tracks. Between them, they have the combined experience of driving at, and designing over 100 international automotive testing facilities and racing circuits. The project will also feature a CIK-FIA Grade-1 karting circuit capable of hosting World Championship events. These two tracks will be the core of the first phase of the project which will also see additional features during future phases of the projects’ development plans. The timelines for the completion of phase 1 are extremely ambitious, but the teams at CoASTT and MFRL are extremely passionate and excited about this project, and are confident that they can achieve their project completion deadlines. Racing Promotions Private Limited’s very own Armaan Ebrahim and Aditya Patel will be leading the charge in liaising with the FIA and the FMSCI in certifying the facility and securing all of the relevant accreditations for the group. MFRL will create an infrastructure that will put Coimbatore firmly on the top step of the Indian podium, which will benefit both the automotive and motorsport industry in the country.
Narain Karthikeyan stated, “I’m certain that having access to the facilities at the CoASTT High Performance Centre will produce the next set of world class motorsport engineers and racing drivers, as well as more efficient automotive technologies and safer drivers for our Indian roads. This is only the start, as MFRL has other such facilities across India on the horizon in the very near future.”
Moid Tungekar, CEO of Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited: “It has been overwhelming to get so much support from the Indian racing fraternity and incredible to see that under the current leadership of Mr. Akbar Ebrahim, President of the FMSCI, and the current members, motorsport is witnessing a phenomenal resurgence. India is truly transitioning into an international motorsport destination!”