Arindam Chaudhuri bags Delhi team of i1 Super Series

After Shahrukh Khan co-promoted KKR buying the Mumbai team of the upcoming new motorsport racing league, i1 Super Series, Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM has bought the Delhi Team.

Planman Stars, a company promoted by Chaudhuri, will invest about USD 5-6 million on Delhi team in the first year.

"For the last two years, Planman Stars has been looking forward for a better foothold in sports. When we came to know that the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Shahrukh Khan are involved in i1 Super Series, we thought it is a good opportunity," Chaudhuri said.

When asked about Delhi team's future plans, he said: "We have just got it, but we could be investing about $5-6 million, including the licence fee, in the first year."

With motorsport becoming a popular sport globally, and after the success of Formula 1 race in India, the i1 Super Series looked promising, he said

Commenting on ownership of the Mumbai and Delhi teams, event organiser Machdar Motorsports' CEO Darshan M said: "I certainly believe it is a great moment for Indian motorsport when large personalities like Shahrukh and Arindam join hands with us to expand popularity and reach of Indian motorsports."

Machdar Motorsports had last week announced that KKR, co-promoted by Khan and Jay Mehta had bought the Mumbai team.

The i1 Super Series is scheduled to start in January 2012 and nine city-based teams in India will participate in the racing competition that will be held in India, the UAE, Malaysia, Bahrain and Qatar.

"We will formally announce other team owners in the next few days," Darshan said.

The series, charted on the popular city based franchisee format will have up to nine teams, with each team having an Indian and an international driver. Machdar Motorsports is expected to spend around $5 million on marketing and advertising across media to promote the series.