Top India Grand Prix organiser quits his post

One of the chief organisers of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix has resigned barely nine months before the country hosts the F1 race, the promoters said yesterday.

Mark Hughes, a former number two at the Bahrain circuit, who was a key figure in building the Indian facility over the past 12 months, left his post a month ago “due to personal reasons”, the promoters said.

“Mark Hughes is no longer working with us. He left due to his own personal reasons,” Sameer Kumar, a spokesman for the promoters, the Jaypee group, told AFP.

Kumar did not elaborate on the departure of Hughes, vice-president of operations, but said operations at the circuit were now being handled by Azhar Rahman, a former race organiser in Sepang, Malaysia.

India is due to hold the race on October 30 at a $350m 5.14-kilometre circuit designed by renowned German architect Hermann Tilke in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi.

The under-construction circuit is part of an ambitious 2,500-acre sports complex being built by the Jaypee group that will include an international-standard cricket stadium.

Hughes confirmed the development, telling AFP he was now working with the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

“Whilst I am no longer based in India and I am working for the circuit in Abu Dhabi, I am still closely associated with Jaypee and am still advising them on the upcoming Indian Grand Prix,” he said.

The promoters, whose business includes infrastructure and real estate, were confident of holding a successful race despite Hughes’s departure.

“Work on the track is now going on at full swing. We have about 6,000 people working on the circuit,” said Kumar.

“Homologation (approval by Formula 1 officials) of the circuit is expected to happen by July-August.

All trackside infrastructure will also be completed well in time.”

F1 One supremo Bernie Ecclestone inspected the circuit site in October and dismissed concerns that preparations for the race could mirror the chaotic build-up to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

“Everything was much better than what I thought. The track is much better than many,” he told reporters at the time.

Formula One has been followed closely in cricket-crazy India after local driver Narain Karthikeyan raced for the now defunct Jordan team in 2005.

Karthikeyan will return to the circuit in 2011 following a deal with the Spanish Hispania racing team.

Another Indian, Karun Chandhok, drove last year for Hispania, who finished 11th out of 12 in its inaugural year.