The journey of developing VROOM Sports Club and pushing it as a successful spectator sports has been a difficult one. “It has been a challenging journey but we have proved a point,” Tariq Mohsin, Director, told Mobility Outlook.
The 9th edition, to be held on November 25-26 will have more attractions in the form of fun shows, an exposition, night-race hours as well, and introducing ‘drifting’ into the mix. This edition will be a curtain-raiser for the bigger scale 10th that VROOM has planned for next year.
“As approved by FMSCI, we will be running about 60 different categories of racing with 180 winners (top three) across. We are expecting a lot of racing teams to compete to prove their individual builds, including international participation,” said Mohsin.
Sponsors and spectators are pleased as punch and are now seeking four events per year. From 2024, VROOM will be held in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. “We want people to see our success story as we grow gradually, and not hype it quickly. We have now decided to go pan-India and prove to everybody that we are the best,” he declared.
VROOM started its first edition in Bengaluru seven years ago and being a racer himself, its Director wanted to turn this passion into a profession. He was keen on creating VROOM as a platform to avoid illegal road-racing, and allow enthusiasts to compete in a safer and controlled environment.
This meant going through a lot of hurdles and explaining what all this involved to local authorities but it has all worked out well with VROOM set to enter its 9th season. The brand has gained popularity since people are thrilled to see high-performance action on the track. They enjoy watching powerful motorcycles, custom built race cars, high-brow supercars and yard-built customs bouncing off their limiters and burning rubber.
Interestingly, OEMs have also been able to pick up some talent from the races. The 8th season held this February was a milestone with FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India) coming on board as a regulatory body to observe and approve of the event’s safety parameters.
The fact that it was also held literally under the stars drew over 10,000 people to witness night-racing. “Most racing events have a limited number of participants, be it MotoGP with 25 racers or any other international event. VROOM had more than 700,” said a visibly pleased Mohsin.
The idea of VROOM is to make racing safer. “We have extensive checks for drivers & riders, FMSCI scrutiny for all vehicles, doctors, several fully-equipped ambulances and fire brigades to ensure that there is no compromise on safety,” he added.