He enjoys rallying for fun but is quite serious when it comes to racing as it involves precision and consistency. Off the circuit, he is a decent golfer. Meet R. Gopinath, the President of the Racing Commission of the Motorsport Association of India (MAI). In a chitchat with Rayan Rozario, Mr Gopinath explains his passion for developing motor sport.
“Motor sport in India has evolved well over the past six decades. While India cannot boast of an FIA championship event, we can still take the credit of having produced an F1 driver in Narain Karthikeyan as well as drivers who are taking part in other classes overseas,” says Gopinath, who is also a MAI Board member. “As motor sport has evolved the world over, costs have risen. Some of this has been due to technological advance, but a lot due to the strong emphasis placed on safety. While this has made the sport much safer, it has also made it a little inaccessible to some,” he adds. Financing of motor sport is the main cause of its slow growth in India. “The sport has always been considered elitist, and therefore has had little support from the Government. What is more disappointing is also the limited involvement of manufacturers. This was understandable in the past, when the automobile industry was licensed and competition was non-existent. But in modern day India, which has a vibrant automotive market, with many players, I don’t see as much manufacturer involvement as I would like to.” He cites Maruti as an example. “Though Maruti cars have virtually monopolised the Indian rally and racing championships for more than two decades, with the exception of the immediate past, the company has never used this as a means of promoting its products”. “This apart we have a strong involvement from tyre and ancillary suppliers and to a lesser extent fuel companies. So this has served the cause of motor sport in India well in the past and will continue to do so in the future,” he adds.
Gopinath observes the sport has also had its fair share of personal tussles. “Unfortunately when people are passionate about the sport, inevitably personality clashes do occur. But, in the current state of affairs in Indian motor sport, we do see increased competitor participation and also increased manufacturer involvement. This augurs well for the future of Indian motor sport.” Regarding his hometown Coimbatore, the motor sport capital of the country, he says things may look a bit quiet but it is not dead. “Coimbatore can boast of Narain, N. Leelakrishnan, Arjun Balu and V. R. Naren Kumar to name a few. I’m also sure a new crop of drivers will come in the years to come. The city, because it does not have the cachet of Chennai, Mumbai or Bangalore, is unable to attract sufficient high profile sponsors to stage events of a larger magnitude. It is on a strong growth path and I do believe this will change in the reasonably near future".