New Delhi: The inaugural i1 Super Series has hit a roadblock even before its start as the organisers were forced to postpone the event by 19 days due to assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Due to assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Machdar Motorsports, the promoters of the event, on Wednesday rescheduled the calendar, from which Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit has been dropped and in its place Dubai has been inducted for this season.
The inaugural race of i1 Super Series was earlier scheduled to be held in Sepang on January 22, but now as per the revised schedule the season will start in Doha on February 11.
After Doha, the i1 Super Series bandwagon will move to Bahrain (February 24, 25), Abu Dhabi (March 9, 10), Dubai (March 16, 17) and finally at the Budh International Circuit in Greater Noida (March 31, April 1).
Earlier, the brand-new Budh International Circuit was to hold the fourth race of the season on February 25 and 26, but the dates had to be shifted as Gautam Buddh Nagar, where the track is located, goes to polls on February 28.
"Due to polling in Uttar Pradesh, the Buddh International Circuit was instructed by the district administration that they can't host any public events around the dates of the elections," Machdar Motosports CEO Darshan M said in a statement.
"It is unfortunate that we have to postpone the start of our inaugural season but since the Indian race is central to the interests of team owners and sponsors, we had to rework the entire race calendar. We have spoken to the team owners and our partners and they are totally behind this move.
"Due to clashing of dates we have had to replace Sepang, Malaysia with the Dubai Autodrome. We are confident that the i1 Supercar Series will play a big role in developing young talent in the country and we look forward to the start of the season now," he added.
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