Ready for second lap

With proverbial dust after maiden GP now settled,squeaky clean BIC promises to deliver better race

As checks of black and white fluttered over grey tarmac,and the waft of flaming rubber gave way to the sweet aroma of premium champagne,the inaugural Indian Formula One Grand Prix smoke-plumed to a halt. A halt to the proceedings on the 5.14-kilometre stretch of the Buddh International Circuit,that is. For faster than Sebastian Vettel could say Namaste in the post-race press conference,the men responsible for putting together the inaugural F1 weekend at Greater Noida in extraordinary circumstances huddled together in the race control tower,already preparing for their next challenge Season Two.

If meeting the October 2011 deadline was the grandiose task at hand for the architects of the first Indian F1 race,then sandpapering the many edges in time for October 2012 has been primary cause for the sale of sleeping pills in and around the circuit in the last 12 months. Lending cosmetic touches to the track and building the paraphernalia around the venue proved to be as daunting an ask,if not more.

Constructing any sporting venue is a hard job. But motorsports,in terms of technicalities,lifts the bar to another level, says Farhan Vohra,GM race operations. Yes we put together a fine job and yes the race was a success,just ask the drivers. But yes,due to the time crunch,there were several areas that we could not pay enough attention to. And to the trained eye,like Fernando Alonsos,there were many.

The circuit has a little bit of everything. Long straights and very wide entries for the hairpins,which allowed us to try some overtaking manoeuvres and put on a good show on Sunday. But,it was a very narrow line of average grip and outside that line there was a lot of dust and low grip, said Alonso,minutes after taking the last podium spot in the race. The starting point is already very high,on a scale of zero to ten its nine. But the ten will hopefully be reached very soon.

Fine-tuning track

To turn Alonsos hope into a reality,every minute suggestion was incorporated into a 12-month plan. From macro constructions,the race organisers started dealing with micro clean-ups. The FIA regulators turned up soon after and asked us to make some technical changes to the track itself, says Vohra. Three sausage kerbs were lengthened,while a gravel trap that once kissed the parabolica at the double-apex right-hander was pushed back by a metre 8212; with astroturf taking its place instead. Explains Vohra: The lengthening of the kerbs is to ensure that drivers dont cut the chicane,and the astro was laid to keep stray wheels from dragging gravel back on to the track.

Gravel,however,was the least of everyones concerns last year. It was the overwhelming presence of dust that was the real nuisance. It wont recur, snaps Vohra. You see,we built everything from scratch. There was no terra firma. The soil was sandy,like talcum powder. That and the construction of the new track and stands ensured that dust played a bigger role than it should have. Weve done everything possible over the last 300 days to negate it,such as sweeping,washing,cleaning and drying the stretch everyday.

Now,the tarmac looks as good as the drivers say it is to race on.

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Jenson Button,following his first stroll around the BIC after months of driving around it on his simulator,said that the Indian Grand Prix could turn out to be the most exciting race of the upcoming seasons. But as is the case with grand statements,it came with some fine print. The racing line has got to mature. Right now,it has almost no sustainable grip on it. But once it does,well see plenty of overtaking in India, said Button.

The racing line,for the uninitiated,is the quickest way around a circuit. Thanks to its extensive use,this line has the best possible grip for speeding tyres something that the debut Indian GP lacked due to,well,the tracks newness. This time around,however,things will be different. Following the installments which were completed by December,we opened our doors to motor homes from January onwards. And hosting academies from Ferrari to Mercedes ensured that plenty of rubber was laid down on the virgin track, says Vohra.

So while we werent looking,a thick coat of latex has made itself comfortable on the dry and non-dusty autobahn,surrounded evenly by manicured lawns on the run-off area. According to Vohra,the stage is set and ready to go so that when the chequered flag is waved this time,we can all go home and get a good nights sleep.