Calcutta: A form of racing will be back in the city after a rather long wait, when the seventh JK Tyre National Racing Championships’ first leg kicks off on the streets of Rajarhat, on the eastern fringes. It will also be the first time a race is held on any city street in the country. The championships have been held, so far, on specially constructed race tracks — at Sriperumbudur near Chennai and at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore.

The karting season has ended, and the races move up a notch in power and speed. The cars that will be doing the rounds on Saturday (qualifying) and Sunday, are the Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine (FISSME) racers, in the 800cc category, the Formula LGB, basically the Esteem 1.3 litre engines, and saloon cars (mostly Esteems). The LGB class, though destined to undergo further modifications, has been incorporated into the main body of the championships for the first time. Maruti Udyog is one of the sponsors of the event, along with Speed.

FISSME entries have touched 18, LGB 14 and 12 for the saloon class. This isn’t Formula One, or F III, neither 3000. But at speeds exceeding 150kmph safety is being taken as the prime concern in the MAI-licensed, FMSCI organised and Ramkrishna Race Performance Management Pvt. Ltd event, explained Vicky Chandhok, FMSCI president at a press briefing here Monday. “There will be no compromise on that.”

Hence the roads (which are is wide enough and even have service roads, part of which can act at the pit lane), will be barricaded (tyres and other material), and much of the surface is being re-paved. The state government’s housing department has put its best foot forward, said Chandhok.

The ‘track’ is a circuit a little over 2.8km. It comprises a 900m straight coming off a turn, a left, a right, two U-turns and four chicanes (about 200m each). “It was a very good stretch, capable of high speeds,” said Chandhok, “and we had to put in some speed restrictions.”

Interestingly, five previous champions will be racing here. The race will travel to Coimbatore before reaching Chennai for two races, then to Goa, and finally back in Chennai for the finals. While Coimbatore has its own race track, Goa will see another set of roads being converted. To that effect, Calcutta has been a path-breaker.

Sanjay Sharma, head of motorsports at JK Tyre, the prime mover of this race, expects to be able to use this track as the venue next year too. “I will have to see the road condition is maintained by the local authorities,” he said.