VIJAYAWADA: The Tourism Department on Wednesday came out with names of two drivers, Jonas Andersson and Erik Edin, who will represent Amaravati in the Grand Prix F1H2O World Championship Powerboat Race, 2018.
Andersson and Edin are ranked seventh and eighth respectively in F1H2O Drivers Championship Leader Board and Team Amaravati is placed third in the world rankings. The race, which will take place in River Krishna from November 16 to 18, is aimed at boosting the State’s tourism and promoting the nascent Amaravati globally. As many as 350 international guests and journalists are attending the event.
According to APTDC CEO Himanshu Shukla, foreign drivers were hired because the state and country did not have many professional drivers. “We scoured the entire country but were not able to find professional powerboat drivers anywhere. We have begun training Indians for the event who will be ready to participate in a couple of years,” he said during a press conference.
As of now, funds for hosting the event have not been granted by the State or the Centre. The tourism department is raising them through private sponsors. “We have raised Rs 2 crore from private sponsors and expect Rs 5 crore to Rs 6 crore in the near future,” said Shukla. When the previous Agile Grand Prix, in which Jonas Andersson had clinched the fourth place, concluded, the F1H2O flag was handed over to Team Amaravati as a symbolic gesture indicating that the competition will continue in Krishna waters.
Now, by consulting the student body JIGNASA, the Tourism Department has planned another symbolic welcoming gesture by roping in 50,000 students who will form a human chain at the opening ceremony of the event.