The Indian Supercross League is set to host its debut season in India in 2023. The brainchild of Eeshan Lokhande and Aashwin Lokhande, co-founders of Supercross India and aims to bring a league-style format to supercross racing as well as expand the sport from its current regional level.
Supercross Racing involves teams racing on closed dirt tracks featuring several different obstacles such as jumps, dips, sharp turns and more. Riders primarily use dirt bikes to navigate the course.
The series will hold its first round in Delhi in October 2023 with subsequent rounds being held in Ahmedabad and Pune. The series will feature races in two categories, namely 450cc and 250cc. The former will initially only cater to international riders while the latter will feature two subcategories – one for Indian and Asian riders and the other targeted at more experienced global riders.
Going forward the organisation aims to develop Indian riders to bring local talent to the 450 cc category. Plans are also in place for a 85 cc segment aimed at training children in the age group of 11-14 to become future 250 cc category racers while a women’s category is also expected to be put in place by the third season.
The organisers plan to field up to 8 brand-based teams with each team fielding two riders in each category. The Indian racer categories will also feature a backup rider.
Teams will have to bid on the riders in an auction setting prior to the start of the series. Eeshan Lokhande said that the idea for brand-based teams stemmed from the desire to expand the series pan India. He said that brand-based teams would allow for operations at more diverse venues as compared to city-based teams which would restrict races to venues in each team’s city.
While the first season will host just three rounds, future iterations of the series will see more rounds introduced.
