Every new track gets done only two weeks before race
Gently ruffling his salt-and-pepper beard, Askari H Zaidi sits in the second floor of a super swank Jaypee Greens office, and looks at peace with the world he helped the Jaypee Group build out of scratch in the middle of nowhere.
When asked to talk about the Buddh International Circuit, venue of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, things change. The senior Vice-president of Jaypee Sports International spoke at length about the track, it's purpose and it's future when Deccan Herald met one of the few men JPSI has given permission to talk to the media.
Excerpts:
On the progress of the track: As you have already seen, it is down to the finishing touches now. We have some pending work with regards to aesthetics on the outside of the track but all of that is a mere couple of days' job. I recently read in a French newspaper an interview of Herman Tilke (German architect of BIC), and there he spoke about every new track gets completely done only two weeks before the race, and that's very true in this case as well.
On how well prepared JSPI is to get the job done: We have been in the construction business for many, many years and it was a task even for us. We are new to all this and hence we kept asking the FIA for their approval time and again. We even had heads of several of our departments to come and work with the track. It's all about the track now.
We also had some of our people watch races in Singapore and Japan to bring in some expertise, that apart, there are some very experienced people from all across the world that we have hired to get the job done. Every single person in JPSI is single-mindedly working towards getting this track ready in time, while making sure that it is of JPSI standard.
Our reputation is at stake here, and we are not willing to jeopardise it.
On the hurdles JPSI had to face along the way: Yes, there have been a few minor obstacles along the way. They really haven't been too worrying for anyone. The visa and the customs issues were not really of great concern, it was just a matter of people not understanding or interpreting things the way they were supposed to be understood or interpreted.
On JPSI's dream project: This idea for a Sports City had come up some three years ago and the track was a part of it. Our MD (Sameer Gaur) was quite clear of what he wanted, and at last he and his team of lawyers went to Paris to sign the agreement.
There were a lot of documents and clauses that needed to be looked into before signing, and the lawyers kept intervening and delaying the process. After a while the MD got up, stopped them and said 'we will sign the agreement'. The MD always says 'if there are any hurdles in your path, get it out of the way because there is something bigger ahead'. It was his and the team's dream to make this happen, and it's very satisfying to think that it is almost done.
On what awaits BIC in the future: We have a lot of plans for the track. Like I had already said, Moto GP is one of our other assignments and along with it we have some film shootings, auto expos, and concerts lined-up. There will, of course, be the academy and karting camps, national championships etc. We will also keep working on the track and improving it. After conducting the first GP, we will be in a better position to handle things on our own.
Every new track gets done only two weeks before race