The reasons for the sport gaining popularity are not hard to fathom. One, the achievements of Karthikeyan, who could be our first driver to race in the much-touted Formula One circuit by the year 2001, are inspiration enough. Secondly, the sponsorship support provided by auto-related companies like MRF, JK and Castrol in an ``obscenely expensive sport'' has made it easier for enthusiasts to think in terms of making it a career option. ``Motor Sport, especially Formula One, is the hottest act on television today. Itsviewership bypasses national and personal prejudices, making it the most watched sport across the globe. But taking up racing or rallying means investing millions in training, equipment and practice,'' says Sanjay Sharma, manager, motor sport and events, JK Tyre. The money involved in rallying, the most visible and existent face of motor sport is another big attraction. ``Hari Singh, the national rallying champion, has annual earnings in the vicinity of Rs 5 million - which is more than what Sachin Tendulkar makes out of playing cricket, endorsements not withstanding,'' says Sharma.

The presence of a national level competition, in the form of the JK Tyre national championship, held at Irrungatukottai race tracks near Chennai, has also provided a platform to display racing talent.

Last year, the difference between Sureshwaran and the top 10 participants in the competition was just one second. ``The close competition meant that they were running between one second of each other. Unless there is toughcompetition and close finishes, there is no thrill in watching motor sports. If the grid is split, with a champion leaving others a mile behind, it is not half as exciting,'' feels Sharma.

At the professional level in motor racing, the first level is Formula-Four, then comes the Formula-Three. Parallel to the Formula-Three is the Palmer-Audi circuit. In just one year, Sureshwaran has graduated to Formula Four racing in England, just one step away from Formula Three. After which, 80 per cent of the drivers get a break in Formula One. But if he has to get it the hard way, Sureshwaran will battle it out in the Formula-3000 before going to the big league.

But the main motivating factor for young entrants is not the prize money but the endorsement moolah. Every part of the car is sponsored in a grand prix event. From the oil it consumes, to the plate it uses, or the car's flanks. Each of these could be an advertisement for the likes of Benetton, Marlboro or Castrol. What Karthikeyan won by beating nineinternational drivers in the McDowell's Derby this year ($ 1,000) is peanuts when compared to what he spends in a year at training at Silverstone in the United Kingdom. Since there is no infrastructure for Formula Three tracks in the country, Karthikeyan has to practice abroad. He has rented a flat in Silverstone, UK, where he practices regularly. His trainers, the Trevor Carlin Motor Sport team, are paid a million-dollar package by him.

Karthikeyan's major sponsors are Kingfisher, thanks to the personal interest of Vijay Mallya in the sport, Opel and Mobil. Opel provides the engines to him, while JK Tyres chips in with sponsorship equal to one-fourth to his total expenses abroad. The overall annual expenses for Karthikeyan's training, equipment, lodging and engines, work out to be £3,00,000 (approximately Rs 2.1 crore).

Opel is providing engines to Narain. Otherwise he would have to pay for an engine to Trevor Carlin. Everything comes in bits and pieces and is sponsored. The driver buys a chassis, engineand transmission separately and then an F-3 car is developed on the basis of prescribed guidelines. In the West-McLaren-Mercedes team for instance, West is the sponsor, Mclaren is the constructor and Mercedes provides the engine. Lately Karthikeyan has got some sponsorship from Tatas. Encouraged by his performance, Ratan Tata came forward to help him. JK Tyre had sponsored Karthikeyan for the Macau Grand Prix last year.

Road racing in India has been very popular in the past. At the Sholavaram circuit near Chennai, Formula-2 cars have been brought in and raced by the likes of Vijay Mallya, Karivardhan and Vijay Chandok. In 1992, the first authorised circuit entitled to run Formula-3 cars was built in Sriperambaadur and was inaugurated by the then world champion Jackie Stuart. This is the only circuit of its kind in India.

Since then, formula car racing was really struggling, till 1998 when JK decided to promote a new form of road racing where all participants raced on their tyres. The idea was to provide alevel ground. ``Earlier, tyre-sponsored teams always had a niche over private participants. A `single-make tyre championship' counters that. The championship comprises five legs, with a gap of three to four weeks between each leg. Each leg of the event has two races, with each race having five laps and 10 laps in both the Group `N' cars (Stock unmodified) category and the FISSME (Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine) category. Sureshwaran has begun well by winning the first round this year in the Formula Maruti class.