While not all of them have stepped into the Indian tracks yet, a few tournaments have sporadically managed to work across different arenas in the country to cultivate a motorcycling culture in India. Racing clubs rose in the early post-independence period, with the likes of Rustom Patel, Jaspal Singh, and Fabiborz Irani laying the groundwork for the sport through their participation in national and international competitions.
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While the first MotoGP took place in the country in September 2023, it was stopped thereafter and will return now in 2026. There have been a few competitions that have seeded their way India, but the sense of a lasting impact has been missed.
India’s motorcycle culture is ingrained, fuelled by a market and a fascination with motorsports. While international series like MotoGP garner significant viewership, and emerging Indian riders show potential, the domestic racing scene remains underdeveloped. Several enthusiasts, passionate about two-wheeled machines, lack a consistent, high-profile platform to witness and engage with top-tier motorcycle racing.
The current landscape features scattered events and limited infrastructure, leaving a significant void. This vacuum presents a prime opportunity for a structured, professional league to ignite a nationwide passion for motorcycle racing, build local talent, and establish India as a major player in the global motorsports arena. The digital footprint of international racing shows that the online interest is there, and a well-structured league could capitalise on that fact.
The Indian Superbike League (ISBL) dropped its teaser recently. While details on the format, team ownership, and overall structure of the competition are awaited, it certainly gives an opportunity to examine the broader motorcycling culture in India, the different kinds of races to have been conducted in the country, and the most prominent domestically as well as globally recognised athletes to have taken part in them.
Some of the key racing disciplines to have been present in India are road racing, motocross supercross, and rallying as of now.
What is road racing?
Let’s #LookBack! Did you know that Toshiyuki Hamaguchi was a six-time Asian Champion in the ARRC? He dominated the series in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008!#IfYouDontKnow, now you know! ????#ARRC #AsiaPower #FIMAsia pic.twitter.com/JqkHmfMvM6
— Asia Road Racing Championship ???? (@asiangp) March 6, 2025
Centred in India, road motorcycle racing is a type of racing that occurs on paved roads, flexible in its approach as they can be conducted on both closed circuit and street circuits.
The FMSCI-sanctioned Indian National Motorcycle Championship is an example of that. Rajini Krishnan, a 10-time winner of the tournament, is a prominent figure in this event, having won nine consecutive titles across different events.
In addition to that, Rajini claimed the Malaysian Superbike championship in the open class, also finishing up top in the international road racing event at the Losail Asian Road Racing Championship in Qatar – the first Indian to achieve that feat.
What is motocross racing?
Jorge Prado of Spain and Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing competes during the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship in Castilla la Mancha, Spain on September 28, 2024 (Image Source: Reuters)
In India, motocross racing is a form of off-road motorcycle racing wherein riders fight on dirt tracks filled with obstacles such as jumps, bumps, and turns.
This event has seen great popularity in the country via the Indian Supercross Racing League, featuring a structured foundation where franchise teams lock horns on tracks especially designed for these tracks. The high-intensity nature of dirt bike racing has garnered massive popularity.
Globally, Jeremy McGrath, having won seven AMA Supercross 250cc Championships, nicknamed the “King of Supercross”, and with 72 title wins in the spectrum, is a leading figure in this particular category.
What is rally racing?
Here are all the results from Round 3 and 4 (East Zone Rounds) of the #FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship Results (#2W) that took place over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/8qCFrm3xp3
— FMSCI (@fmsci) September 19, 2021
Unlike circuit racing, rallying involves riders competing against the clock rather than directly against each other on a track. Rather, this comprises participants leaving from different checkpoints at regular intervals.
The Indian National Rally Sprint Championship and the Mt. Everest Bike Rally are some of the key events to be conducted in the country.
Gaurav Gill is widely considered to be the most decorated rally racer in the country, winning the Indian National Rally Sprint Championship seven times and also tasting success in the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship a record three times, becoming the first motorsports athlete in the country to be conferred with the Arjuna Award.
A franchise-based tournament encapsulating all possible disciplines, or focusing on just one of them and going in-depth with machines new to Indian tracks could certainly invigorate finer interest, paving the way for globally popular homegrown competitions to arise out of India.
