00:00Shifting focus down south, Tamil Nadu is putting its motorsport ambitions in top gear.
00:05Chief Minister Vijay has announced plans for a dedicated motorsport city in Chennai.
00:09An actor-turned-racer, Ajit Kumar, is giving the move a big thumbs up,
00:14calling it a giant leap for motorsport in India.
00:17So could Chennai soon be ready for lights out and away we go?
00:21Well, here's a report on the same. Take a look.
00:34Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay has put Chennai's motorsport ambitions firmly in the fast lane.
00:41And one man who certainly likes the sound of those engines revving is Ajit Kumar.
00:58The Hollywood superstar, who is himself a prominent motorsport driver, has hailed Vijay's vision.
01:05In a statement to India Today, Ajit thanked the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for giving sports,
01:10and particularly motorsport, the much-needed attention.
01:14And in true racer style, Ajit even gave Neil Armstrong's famous words,
01:19a motorsport makeover.
01:21One small step by the Tamil Nadu government, one giant leap for motorsports in India.
01:28So what exactly has Ajit so revved up?
01:32Vijay has announced plans for a dedicated motorsport city in Chennai
01:37that will host races from Formula 1 to Formula 4.
01:40The racetrack will be built to international standards,
01:43while the complex will boast modern infrastructure and training facilities
01:47on par with those available to global motorsport giants.
01:51The government wants to scout young racing talent,
01:55train future drivers,
01:56create national and international level athletes,
01:59and use motorsport to give sports tourism another gear.
02:28And for Ajit, this is a checkered flag he has been waiting to see.
02:32In October 2025, India Today's Akshita Nanda Gopal caught up with the actor-turned-racer
02:38at the iconic Barcelona circuit.
02:40Ajit spoke about what India needed to do to take motorsport forward in the country.
02:45It is wrong for us to expect funding from governments,
02:48be it the state government or the central government,
02:51because the leaders or the bureaucrats have a lot more, you know, important issues to deal with.
02:59But yes, what the governments can do is probably direct the corporates
03:04to support the sport and for the governments to recognize motorsports,
03:11give it the recognition that it deserves.
03:15And he has a few suggestions for the government on how to bring international races to India.
03:20The government can ease the process.
03:22We might have one round of the Asian series in India,
03:28depending on where the promoters have,
03:31I mean, depending on the circuit that it shows.
03:32We have circuits in Derry, the Wood circuit.
03:35We have a circuit in Chennai.
03:36We have a racing circuit in Coimbatore.
03:38And Nareen Karthikeyan is coming up the circuit in Coimbatore again.
03:41So, and then I believe there's a circuit coming up in either Bandeau or Hyderabad.
03:46So, we have the circuits, but we don't have the international events,
03:51the, you know, the one leg of these events coming to India.
03:55I think it's due to the customs regulations.
03:59So, if the government can kind of ease the customs and policies.
04:03If Vijay does manage to fulfill his motorsports city vision,
04:07Chennai could soon say, lights out and away we go.
04:11With Akshita Nanda Gopal, Bureau Report, India Today.
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