Indian Motorsports
A strong Italian F4 weekend for Akshay Bohra and Dion Gowda
Akshay Bohra and Dion Gowda end Round 2 of the Italian F4 Championship with a double podium finish in Race 1 and Race 2.
Qualifying 1
Hiyu Yamakoshi took pole position in the first qualifying session of the Imola weekend ahead of Freddie Slater and Akshay Bohra, becoming the first Japanese driver to do so in the Italian F4 championship. Dion Gowda also showed a strong qualifying pace by setting a time good enough for the second row alongside Akshay Bohra.
Race 1
In the first lap of the race, multiple contacts were made, causing multiple drivers to retire from the race and the Safety car was out. On the safety car restart, Freddie Slater who had dominated round 1 in Misano, jumped from P2 to take the lead, overtaking poleman Yamakoshi. From there, Slater controlled the race until the end ahead of Hiyu Yamakoshi and Akshay. Unfortunately for Freddie Slater, He was excluded from the race which handed the victory to Hiyu Yamakoshi, Akkshay Bohra was promoted to P2, and Dion Gowda was promoted on the final step of the podium. However, Freddie has appealed the decision that excluded him from Race 1.
Race 2
The second race of the weekend saw Hiyu Yamakoshi, who started on pole position and successfully converted it into a race win and also took the lead in the championship. Australian driver Jack Beeton, who started from P2, initially held his position but was overtaken by his teammate Akshay Bohra. Bohra secured P2, matching his result from the previous day, until the end. The overtaking maneuver was highly spectacular, with Beeton ending up in the gravel but skillfully managing to stay in the race. However, Beeton, in third place, was targeted by Freddie Slater, who engaged in a fierce battle. A contact between the two at Tosa in the final stages once again shook up the race standings. Dion Gowda ultimately crossed the finish line in third. Gowda, incredibly fast throughout the whole weekend, drove an impeccable race, starting from the seventh spot on the grid to secure his second podium of the season.
Qualifying 2
In the second qualifying session, Yamakoshi put on a show by stringing together perfect laps that earned him the remaining two pole positions available. The Japanese driver, with 1’44.831, was the only driver to lap under 1 minute and 45 seconds. Over 3 tenths separated him from P2, Australian Beeton with a gap of 0.346, who will join him on the front row. Third was Akshay Bohra, with a gap of 0.353 (only 7 thousandths from Beeton), in a qualifying session that, apart from Yamakoshi’s exceptional performance, saw all the other drivers vying for positions by mere thousandths. P4 went to Alex Powell with a gap of 0.364, followed by teammate Slater at 0.381. Sixth was US Racing’s Australian Gianmarco Pradel with a gap of 0.436, followed by Gowda at 0.443.
The grid for Race 3 was thus decided by the second-best time set by the drivers over the two sessions. Once again, the advantage was taken once again by Yamakoshi, who lapped at 1’45.125 in the second qualifying session. He will again be joined on the front row by Beeton at 0.077. Starting behind them will be Freddie Slater at 0.094 and Rehm at 0.219. Fifth place went to Nakamura Berta with a gap of 0.236, followed by Powell at 0.237, then Bohra at 0.253. The eighth-best second lap was set by Stolcermanis at 0.262, followed by Francot at 0.314, while Ferreira rounded out the top 10 with 0.349.
Race 3
The final race of Round 2 of the Italian F4 Championship had a threat of heavy rain which prompted Race Control to declare it a ‘wet race’ in advance, Thankfully the track was dry come Sunday afternoon. Race 3 saw the return of Freddie Slater on the top step of the podium after the race leader Hiyu Yamakoshi who led for the majority of the race, damaged his front wing in Variante Alta with just 2 laps to go and was shown the ‘Black and orange’, forcing him to pit and drop down to P27. Jack Beeton finished in P2 ahead of Maxim Rehm who took the final spot on the podium. Akshay Bohra finished the race in P5 after finishing twice on the podium in P2 during the weekend, and ended with a haul of 46 points, securing third place in the drivers’ standings. Although Dion Gowda narrowly missed out on a points finish after finishing P11, He was promoted to P10 after the Dutch driver Reno Francot was penalized for his incident with Rashid Al Dhaheri.
Championship Standings
Freddie Slater has regained the championship lead after Hiyu Yamakoshi failed to achieve a points finish in the final race of the weekend and now dropped to P2 in the standings. After a consistent Round 1 and a strong Round 2 for Akshay Bohra, he now sits P3 in the standing, 27 points a drift from the leader. Thanks to a strong round 2 weekend for Dion Gowda, He is currently P6 in the championship with 38 points.
Up Next:
The Italian F4 Championship will head to Vallelunga Circuit on 14–16 June for Round 3 of the championship
Indian Motorsports
Indian Racing Festival 2024: Indian Motorsport shines in the beautiful night
The Chennai Formula Racing Circuit (CFRC) hosted the first night-time street race in India for round 2 of the Indian Racing Festival.
The Indian Racing Festival raced on the streets for the first time for the second round in the championship. The Chennai Formula Racing Circuit (CFRC) hosted the first ever night-time street race in South Asia. Join us as DRC review the second round of the Indian Racing Festival. Read the weekend preview here.
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Indian F4: Barter and Alibhai shine under the lights
While there was a hefty delay due to issues with FIA grading on Saturday resulting in last minute scheduling changes, Sunday was top notch entertainment. After a lot of delay regarding technical details around turns 10 and 19, the Chennai City Circuit, as its now officially called was awarded a Grade 3 rating by the FIA.
Hugh Barter dominated the first qualifying session, taking pole by an impressive margin of 1.5 seconds. Divy Nandan then narrowly beat Jaiden Pariat for the pole in second qualifying by half a tenth. Hugh Barter, who was the favorite, crashed on his hot lap in Q2 and had to start from the last grid slot.
Aqil Alibhai had a problem with his car and hence couldn’t start the first race. Zakariya Mohammed also could not finish the race and hence was not classified. But the star of race 1 was Hugh Barter, who managed to win with a 7 second gap to Ruhaan Alva followed by Abhay Mohan.
Alibhai didn’t let his problems stop him though. He raced brilliantly after starting third and overtook Divy and Jaden ahead. Divy was leading the race up until the very final moments, where a lock up caused Alibhai to catch up and then pass him with a brilliant overtake. Hugh Barter recorvered to an impressive fifth place after starting the second race from back in the last row.
Another positive thing was the track itself. The track proved to be wide enough to allow for very close racing. This was prove by the fact that we were able to see cars go three wide into turn 1 for the formula four practice sessions. The track was also loved by the drivers who praised the variety of corners the track threw at them.
With two rounds done and dusted, the bigger picture, i.e the championship battles are starting to fold out. The favorite is Hugh Barter, with Ruhaan Alva, Divy Nandan and Jaden Pariat emerging as his main challengers.
Indian Racing League: Goa Aces show resurgence while Parente rolls back the years to win
After a dismal showing last time out at the Madras International Circuit, Goa Aces seem to have sorted out their problems. Gabriela Jilkova took pole in the driver A pool qualifying session ahead of Raoul Hyman to lock out the front row for Goa. Meanwhile Sohail Shah would finish fourth in the pool B qualifying. Jilkova made history as she became the first ever female pole sitter in the history of the Indian Racing Festival.
Goa Aces would dominated in the drivers A race. They would finish 1-2, but swap positions as the defending champion Raoul Hyman took his first victory for the season and Jilkova would finish second to complete a Goa Aces 1-2. Alister Yoong, after his victory at the MIC, rounded out the podium as he finished third.
Sohail Shah would then race through to second on the pool B race, finishing only a second adrift of Alvaro Parente. Parente, the second oldest driver in the Indian Racing Festival behind Neel Jani impressed as he rolled back the years to his GP2 days to take the chequered flag first. Sohail Shah was the closest rival to him as Rishon Rajeev took the final place on the podium nearly eight seconds off the lead.
Speed Demons Delhi and Goa Aces look to have sorted out the problems that worried them at the MIC. Sohail Shah and Raoul Hyman, who finished 1-2 in their car, also walk away with 43 points as they look to defend their title. Goa Aces, thanks to Jilkova’s P2, also walk away with a boat load of points and are back in the mix.
Future races
The next round of the 2024 Indian Racing Festival will take place at the Kari Motor speedway from the 13th to the 15th of September.
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Indian Motorsports
Indian Racing Festival Round 2 preview: Groundbreaking night race on a new track
The Indian Racing Festival heads to the Chennai Street Circuit for a historic night race.
The second round of the Indian Racing Festival will be a historic occasion. The Chennai Formula Racing Circuit hosts the first night time street race in India. Join us as we preview this weekend.
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The Track
The Chennai Formula Racing Circuit (CFRC) is a 3.5 kilometer long street circuit around the Island Grounds in Chennai. The CFRC is an anti-clock wise track, like Interlagos and boasts 19 corners. The track features a long straight and multiple chicanes. The track features a variety of low speed corners, hairpins and sharp corners along with high downforce sections. The consecutive chicanes towards the southern end of the track are inspired by the Esses at Suzuka.
According to projections, the chicanes and the hairpins allow for longer braking distances, which means racing closer than what you would expect from typical street circuits like Monaco. Another factor is the fact that this circuit was designed keeping in the mind the machinery Indian Racing Festival uses, the racing is expected to be close.
The track was designed by Driver International, the same organization that designed the Hyderabad Street Circuit which hosted a Formula E race last year. Read the track list for Indian Racing Festival here.
Formula 4 India: Quick recap, What to expect and storylines to follow
Hugh Barter was the name on everyone’s lips on last weekend. After dominating qualifying one and taking pole by nearly seven tenths of a second, he had to retire from a 15 second lead after his car car came to a halt moments before the chequered flag fell.
Saturday’s heartbreak would not stop him though, as he took pole in qualifying two by nearly a second. He would then tear through the field in race two and achieved the impossible: winning from the last row. Hugh Barter won race two from the fifteenth grid slot. He would then seal the deal on sunday with another dominating win in race 3, and secure all three fastest laps as well. Truly a majestic performance.
Congratulations are also in order for Jaiden Pariat who drove a very good races and finished in the points in all three races (first, seventh and fourth respectively). Ruhaan Alva also produced magical races and stood on the podium in both the IRL and the F4 categories, becoming the first person to do so in Indian Racing Festival.
Mira Erda also impressed in Indian F4. She was given the drive last minute and raced into the points in the first race. She would then retire from 11th second race and finish 11th for the third race, not bad considering she only had two practice sessions to get familiar with the car.
Another interesting statistic is that after the first three races, six of the eight teams have made a trip to the rostrum, showing how close racing in Indian Racing Festival truly is.
This is the first time these Mygale F4 cars have touched a street circuit, so it will be interesting to see how they perform. As this circuit is new for everyone, there is no familiarity factor involved, and so the grid will be mixed up. As this is a new circuit, it will also be somewhat down to luck: the team that nails the setup will be the one which walks away with the big points. Another point to consider will be the night time. The temperatures will be lower, as well as the track conditions. Conditioning to racing in the night will also be an issue that the drivers may face.
Keep an eye out for Hugh Barter, Ruhaan Alva and Isaac Demellweek this weekend, all three showing calm racing this weekend amidst a lot of chaos.
Indian Racing League: Quick recap, what to expect and storylines to follow
The first round of the IRL was eventful to say the least. Ruhaan Alva lapped up pole for the Rarh Bengal Tigers on Saturday ahead of Neel Jani and Jon Lancaster. Jon Lancaster then passed both Jani and Alva to win race 1, giving Chennai Turbo Riders their first home win. Alvaro Parente took home the silver medal, which Alva came third. Neel Jani unfortunately had to retire from the race. Saturday was a disappointing day for the current champions, Raoul Hyman qualifying 7th and then retiring.
Day two was filled with surprises as well. Alister Yoong took pole ahead of Akhil Rabindra and Sohail Shah for race two. The top two would remain unchanged in the race while, while Shah fell backwards through the pack. Gabriela Jilkova would then round out the podium, becoming the first female podium sitter in Indian Racing Festival this season. Shah would finish back in 8th, though bagging the fastest lap.
A lot of stories to talk about here coming into CRFC. Can Goa Aces sort out their problems and mount on a title charge? Eyes will be on Rarh Bengal Tigers, all four of their drivers have been racing well and keeping up with the pack. But the most important thing to look forward to is the resurgence of Alister Yoong. Having won for the first time since way back in the early rounds of 2022, he would love to carry forward this momentum onto the streets and score more bags of points.
All in all, this weekend of Indian Racing Festival is proving to be unpredictable, anyone can win and everyone has a shot at glory.
Weekend Schedule
This is how the weekend will play out for the second round of the Indian Racing Festival. All times are in IST. The races will be broadcasted live on Star Sports Select 2 and streamed live on Fancode.
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Indian Motorsports
Track Guide for Indian Racing Festival 2024
Everything you need to know about the circuits that will be visited by Indian Racing Festival.
The 2024 Indian Racing Festival season kicks off later this month, Let us look at some of the tracks that will be visited by the championship. The Indian Racing Festival is the bigger umbrella under which the Indian Racing League and Formula 4 Indian Championship are hosted.
Pre-Season Testing & Round 1 – Madras International Circuit
The Madras International Circuit (previously known as Madras Motor Race Track and Irungattukottai Race Track) is a permanent motor racing circuit located in Irungattukottai, Chennai, India. It was built in the late 1980s and was inaugurated in 1990. It was the first permanent racing circuit in India and is owned by the Madras Motor Sports Club.
Circuit details:
Location – Irungattukottai, Chennai
Circuit Opened – 1990
FIA Grade – Grade 2
Circuit Layouts – 2
Full Circuit Layout:
Length – 3.717 km
Turns – 12
Lap record – 1:30.323 (Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Dallara Formulino Pro, 2020, MRF Challenge)
Short Circuit:
Length – 2.067 km
Turns – 8
Lap record – 0:56.257 (Cooper Webster, Mygale M21-F4, 2023, F4)
Circuit map for the Madras International Circuit
The Madras International Circuit, certified by the FIA and FIM, has a main circuit that is 3.717 km long with 12 turns and 3 straights, the longest being 250m. The club circuit is 2.067 km long with 7 turns. In 2014, the FIA granted the circuit a Grade 2 license.
In 2023, the Madras International Circuit hosted rounds for the All Indian Racing League and Formula 4 Indian Championship. The round at Buddh International Circuit was canceled due to scheduling and logistical issues. On the other hand, The season opener at Hyderabad Street circuit was also canceled because of the Election Code of Conduct during the state elections.
The final round at the newly announced Chennai Formula Racing Circuit was rescheduled due to Cyclone Michaung, which unexpectedly hit the city hard. As a result, the round was moved to the Madras International Circuit.
Round 2 – Chennai Formula Racing Circuit
Chennai Formula Racing Circuit(CFRC) is a 3.5Km street circuit around the Island Grounds in Chennai, which will host the Indian Racing League and Formula 4 Indian Championship races. The CFRC is set to be a night race, which be be the first-ever night race in India. The circuit was supposed to host its inaugural race in 2023, however the race was cancelled due toCyclone Michaung.
Circuit details:
Location – Island Grounds, Chennai
Circuit Type – Street Circuit
FIA Grade – N/A
Circuit Layouts – 1
Full Circuit Layout:
Length – 3.500 km
Turns – 19
Lap record – N/A
Round 3 – Kari Motor Speedway
The Kari Motor Speedway is a 2.100 km long track located in Chettipalayam, Coimbatore, named after the late Sundaram Karivardhan Naidu, a legendary Formula racing driver and a designer. B. Vijay Kumar, a former racer bought the land in 2002 to build a track which was inaugurated in 2003. Part of the existing track was used as a runway for power gliders as a part of an ultralight aviation manufacturing company. The stretch was also used in the late 1990s for drag racing events.
Circuit details:
Location – Chettipalayam, Coimbatore
Circuit Opened – 2003
FIA Grade – N/A
Circuit Layouts – 2
Full Circuit Layout:
Length – 2.100 km
Turns – 15
Lap record – N/A
Circuit map for the Kari Motor Speedway
Round 4 & 5 – To Be Confirmed
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