Tendulkar confirms joining Machdar Motorsports

“Sachin Tendulkar officially confirmed joining Machdar Motorsports board for the i1 super series. Tendulkar will be the advisor,brand ambassador and will be part of the i1 family,” a spokesperson from the company said.

It was earlier reported that Tendulkar along with Yuvraj Singh had been approached to buy car racing teams,costing USD 5 million each,for the proposed series.

Nine teams,with two cars each,will compete in seven Asian cities in a short calender,consisting of 14 races over seven weekends.

“Cricket and Bollywood stars and a few top industrialists have already shown keen interest to own the nine Indian city-based franchise teams. Cricketers Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh have been approached,” said the CEO of event promoters Machdar Motorsports,M Darshan at a media conference here today.

Tendulkar is a huge Formula One fan and even owned a Ferrari car,gifted to him by the manufacturers,till recently. He had sold that car to a Surat-based businessman.

Asked whether India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni,a motorcycle enthusiast,had also been approached for the purpose,Darshan said “No comments.”

“The cricketers,if they want,can also form a consortium and own a franchise team,” he said.

The nine franchises are being sold at a base price of USD five million and it is available only by invitation and not auction. The list of owners along with the series’ broadcast partners would be announced in the coming weeks,the promoters said.

Each team will have an Indian and a foreign driver and each franchise will race with two cars,thus forming a 18-car grid.

The series will be held in seven Asian cities – New Delhi and Chennai in India,Abu Dhabi,Doha and Dubai in the Arabian Gulf,Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Pattaya in Thailand.