EXCLUSIVE: “I think India will create a lot more champions” Says Co-founder Of Indian Supercross Racing League

We at ZigWheels recently had a chance to speak to Eeshan Lokhande, co-founder of the Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL). The organisation had recently onboarded Bollywood actor Salman Khan as its brand ambassador, and is also gearing up to start its second season soon.

Eeshan Lokhande is a very popular name in motocross and supercross, and has made history by becoming the first Indian to race on an international motocross team. Along with this, he had also led India’s only privateer team in motocross and supercross. Motocross is a closed offroad motorcycle race which is held on rough terrain. Supercross on the otherhand is a more intense version of motocross.

We learnt quite a bit about what the Indian Supercross Racing League has planned for the future - from tougher races in the coming seasons to more community events. 

Making Supercross Mainstream

Supercross as a sport is not well known outside enthusiast circles, and currently, the focus of the Indian Supercross Racing League is expanding the scope of the sport and helping it go mainstream. According to Eeshan, “With ISRL, the whole idea behind it is to fill up a huge deficit, which was a larger-than-life platform for athletes in India. I think we have done that by season one. But while we do that, we wanted to make sure that we create a very premium, very large-scale, inspirational kind of event.

The journey has been quite a long one, and it has taken more than 8 years for the Indian Supercross Racing League to go from the planning stages to reality. For him ISRL is not just an event, he said “I think it's an eight-year journey which we have embarked on, where we want to change how supercross is consumed, give more access. I think there is an immense amount of people who love motorsports in India, and it's growing every year.”

Salman Khan As Brand Ambassador

One of the ways that have been adopted to help increase Indian Supercross League’s popularity was by bringing Actor Salman Khan as its brand ambassador. Eeshan said “Having a person like Salman Khan, the superstar himself, helps maximize the communication, or amplify the reach of the word supercross and the sport itself.” 

Salman Khan was the right choice for this as he is quite passionate about motorcycles and motorsports. Eeshan said, “Salman is a perfect fit because he's a bike enthusiast. He loves off-road racing and riding. He owns bikes himself. We have seen him with bikes in a lot of movies. So that really brings a lot to the table.”

Challenges In The Journey

Bringing someone like Salman Khan on board will help in increasing the popularity of the sport. But even then, there are a lot of challenges that Supercross faces in India. When asked about them, Eeshan said, “If you compare it to other sports, we are a medal hungry country. Every time there is an Olympic event, we are always looking forward to that next medal. But while we do that, we are forgetting that there are other sports where our boys are already going and racing and training abroad.” 

He also added that Motocross and Supercross riders are as good as any other athletes and deserve all the support they can get. He said “I think recognizing them, supporting them from the grassroots level will be very crucial. And if we can overcome that stage, I think India will create a lot more champions”. He further added that ISRL is trying to do everything possible to help build these champions and also to create an ecosystem that’ll allow Indian racers to grow.

What Does Season 2, Set To Start In June 2025, Hold?

The season 2 of ISRL is fast approaching, and it is expected to be a lot more exciting than season 1. There’s a lot of changes planned, and the races will be very different. Eeshan said, “We are changing some of the formats or timings. The tracks will be a notch tougher. We are still not going to go full-blooded Supercross. We want to keep the riders safe. We want them to enjoy the races. And also give a good experience to the fans.”

Another interesting detail he said was how ISRL is going to approach things in a different way this year. So it won’t just be about the races this time, and they’ll be working more on community engagement. He said, “Fan parks and community events are something which will be an add-on. And probably weekend events are what we are planning. So last time it was just a one-day event. So you can just spend the full weekend here. Have music, have food, meet the best riders and access to the track. So there are many things around the sport which we will enhance. Last year it was a sport, and this year it will be community engagement.”

Community engagement being a key focus this year has also made some changes in how ISRL is approaching things. Eeshan said making ISRL races an unmissable weekend event is not easy. Right now, the organization is working on creating a beginner category so more Indian racers can get exposure to the sport. He said, “Where at the stage, we want to balance out the international-to-India ratio. Right now it's more international riders. But then we want to give Indian riders time.”

The Future

Lastly, he also added that in the future, the Indian Supercross Racing League will have more Indian races. He said “Eventually after a few years, we want to see these guys come in. And then balance that out. And have a lot more Indian races. That is the idea. Because the platform is created for Indian boys as well.”

Overall, the Indian Supercross Racing League looks quite exciting. We at ZigWheels had a chance to experience the first season which was held in Pune, and let’s just say there were more bikes in the air than planes in Pune that day! Things are only set to get bigger, and better with season 2.