Prithviraj replaces Chandhok as FMSCI president

Chennai: The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) on Monday announced that J Prithviraj is its new president, replacing Vicky Chandhok.

The FMSCI council elections were held in December but the results could be made public only after a Madras High Court directive which came on Friday.

Tutu Dhawan will be the vice-president. The FMSCI also announced the formation of the new Governing Council for 2014-15 which will see the introduction of two new members - the Performance Cars Racing Trust and Meco Motorsports.

Prithviraj has been a part of the rallying scene for over two decades, both as a participant and organiser. He has been a councillor since 2007 and vice president at FMSCI for two years besides being chairman and member of various FMSCI sub-committees.

Prithviraj said on his appointment: "Firstly, I would like to thank the outgoing president (Chandhok) and team for all their efforts over the years. As part of the last council our biggest achievement was bringing Formula 1 to India.

"Now our role will be to ensure we maximize the benefits of that to build national motorsport events across the country."

Prithviraj said FMSCI was open to coming under the ambit of RTI. "We will look at coming under the ambit of Right to Information act. The sport has been built to this level with the help of the media and we are looking forward to their continued support as we march on."

The announcement Monday also brought an end to a legal battle involving FMSCI.

Srikant Karani of Mumbai-based Sportscraft had successfully sought injunction against the elections, questioning a 2011 decision of the FMSCI that denied him the right to vote as his was a proprietary company and not a non-profit organization.

The Madras High Court then ruled that the elections to the FMSCI Council could proceed as scheduled but the results be withheld until the next hearing.

It was only on Friday that the High Court passed a judgement directing the FMSCI to make the results public.

The eight members of the council are: Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, Karnataka Motor Sports Club, Madras Motor Sports Club, Performance Cars Racing Trust, Meco Motorsports Pvt. Ltd, Spitfire Motor Sports Pvt. Ltd, Motorsports Club of Chikmagalur, and Himalayan Motorsports Association.