“It's been a learning curve for me,” says Arjun Kapoor about his Indian Racing League experience

If you’re clued into Indian motorsport, you will know that the Indian Racing League is gaining popularity. And while a part of that is due to increasingly-competitive racing and the upcoming street circuit races in Goa and Mumbai, the rising popularity is also due to the IRL teams being owned by well-known celebrities. Actor Arjun Kapoor is one of them, being the team owner of the Speed Demons Delhi racing team, and we had the opportunity to have a conversation with him on the sidelines of Round 3 of the Indian Racing Festival in Coimbatore.

Kapoor explains that his involvement with the racing team was not an entirely spontaneous decision. “When I was growing up I used to love cars, I will not deny it. But when you realise how expensive they are, your love reduces slightly and you become pragmatic and practical. Even now, for me, admiring the Ferrari Testarossa or the Porsche 911, these are the cars that I've grown up admiring, so that will always remain.” The actor added, “Where the league was concerned, it was a little spontaneous because I genuinely feel that if you can be in a position where you can provide ammunition for sports to grow – no matter how complex the sport is – if you can allow some excitement to come towards the sport, I'll be very very happy to be a small part of it.” We quizzed the actor on his experience in the IRL so far and he said, “I've been getting to learn so much because it's one thing to admire a sport from afar, it's one thing to get involved and start understanding the logistics. I was talking to Alister (Yoong) and I was talking to my team and they were telling us about how they have to even be particular about how much they're eating or drinking just before the race. So you don't realise that sitting on the outside and these are small details that go a big way. Our team is doing really well so I'm happy about it, but it's been a learning curve for me and I'm sure it's one for all the league owners and the league members who put it together.”

The actor is also excited about the upcoming street races in Goa and Mumbai, and he shared his thoughts, saying, "I think last year Chennai (street race) was amazing. It was overwhelming to be there and see Chennai shut down and the government support the cause, and the same thing this time for Mumbai to know that the CM is involved to make sure that things can go smoothly. It's an exciting thing. Mumbai is not an easy city to shut down for a race, forget a night race. Mumbai is not an easy place to get to, from one place to another with all that traffic, in a car. The last thing a Mumbaikar will understand is the fact that you really want to rev your engines. So it'll be a nice change. And Goa, it's a beautiful city. It's a community that's always been sporting whether it comes to football or other sports. So I think it's always nice to be able to go to different cities and encourage different audience members to come and get on board. And the local government as well as the league's infrastructure, I think coming together, is a nice push to see different cities every year.”