The Madras Motor Race Track is a 2.3-mile (3.7-km) raceway located in Irungattukottai, a town at an hour road trip inland from Chennai, the most internationally renowned urban center in South India. The raceway sits beside the Hyundai Motors Manufacturing Plant. Motorsports enthusiasts organized several clubs and, by 1990, managed to build the Madras Motor Race Track as a permanent venue for their racing events. The MRF Challenge and other local racing series use the circuit regularly for their competitions. The tropical climate in the Bay of Bengal features hot summers and pleasant winters, with a considerable amount of rainfall in the colder months of the year.

The clockwise-oriented Madras Motor Race Track starts in a short straight on the easternmost section of the circuit. Wide-open spaces and ample runoffs offer drivers a sensation of safety, inviting them to take risks and give their best over the asphalt. An undulating section consisting of 90-degree corners one, two, and three give way to a semi-straight segment where racers hit 200 km/h (124 mph) before turn four. The remaining corners of Madras snake at not less than 100 km/h (62 mph), for an impressive average lap time of 1:59.7.