INDIA in F1

Tag: Indian Formula 4 Championship

  • Ruhaan Alva, Veer Sheth, Alibhai win a race each: Indian F4

    Ruhaan Alva, Veer Sheth, Alibhai win a race each: Indian F4

    Chennai, 15 Sept. 2024: Jaden Pariat ‘won’ on the track, but was stripped away and demoted to P8 in Race 3, as the final day of Round 3 of the Formula 4 Indian Championship, produced three different winners in three races held on Sunday.

    The premier F4 championship was held along with the Indian Racing League and the JK Tyre National Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit, Irungattukottai, near here.

    Ruhaan Alva of Shrach Rarh Bengal Tigers, Veer Sheth of Ahmedabad Apex Racers, who moved up from P2 to P1 after Bangalore Speedsters’ racer winner Jaden Pariat was docked a 20-second penalty, and South African Aqil Alibhai (Black Birds Hyderabad), all won a race each in the three F4 races today. Jaden won the Indian F4 Race 1 on Saturday.

    From left – Isaac Demellweek, Aqil Alibhai, Ruhaan’s team principal, Ruhaan Alva and Jaden Pariat at MIC on Sunday. Photo by IRL

    In the day’s first race, Alva was in a league of his once he moved to the front in the very first lap and was simply unstoppable. As the race progressed, Australian teenager Isaac Demellweek (Chennai Turbo Riders), Alibhai, Pariat and pole-sitter Aiva Anagnostiadis (Goa Aces JA Racing), the 2021 Australian female karting champion, settled into a formation behind Alva until the Safety Car came into play in the 15th minute which bunched up the grid. On resumption with close to two minutes and one lap left, Alibhai and Pariat jumped to P2 and P3 behind Alva who continued serenely to victory while also being credited with the fastest lap of the race.

    IRL cars lined up at MIC on Sunday. Photos IRL

    In the next race, it was Pariat all the way after surviving a contact with Alibhai while trying to regain his track position. The incident pushed Alibhai to P16 but he finished P4 eventually. Pariat was docked a post-race 20-second penalty “for causing avoidable collision” and it dropped him to eighth in the final standings. Consequently, Veer Sheth, Ruhaan Alva and Abhay Mohan (Bangalore Speedsters) all moved up a spot to finish first, second and third, respectively.

    In the final race, Alibhai built a winning lead after moving from P3 to P1 before Turn-1 in the very first lap and enjoyed a trouble-free run to spare nearly 19 seconds to second-placed Divy Nandan (Ahmedabad Apex Racers) and Ruhaan Alva who did well to hold off an aggressive Pariat in the latter half of the race.

    IRL

    Mohammed Ryan converted a pole position start to a maiden win while delivering a double for Chennai Turbo Riders the Indian Racing League races. The 22-year-old Ryan’s win came on the back of team-mate Jon Lancaster’s success in IRL Race-1 yesterday.

    Mohd Rayan takes a win from pole in the IRL race on Sunday at MIC. Photos supplied by IRL

    The 2019 Rotax Karting champion Ryan, racing on home circuit, had a brilliant start and put in consistent fast laps for his first win in the IRL which triggered celebrations in the Chennai Turbo Riders.

    While Ryan disappeared into the distance at the start, Sohil Shah (Goa Aces JA Racing) moved aggressively past Jaden Pariat (Bangalore Speedsters) going into Turn-1. Pariat then dropped one more spot when team-mate Rishon Rajeev got a jump on him later in the opening lap. The top three then maintained their track positions without much ado, while behind them others scrapped for points.

    An elated Ryan said: “I had a good start and kept my focus to put some consistent laps. I am happy that my team, Chennai Turbo Riders won both the IRL races this weekend and picked up some big points.”

    The Indian Racing League and Indian F4 Championship, to be held over five rounds, is sponsored by Kingfisher Soda, JK Tyres, Mobil 1 and Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited.

    JK Tyre-fmsci Indian National Championship

    Bengaluru’s Tijil Rao led a podium sweep for Dark Don Racing team as he came up with a brilliant drive starting from P5 for his third win in six starts this season.

    Finishing behind him were team-mates Viswas Vijayaraj from Nellore and Coimbatore’s Bala Prasath. Despite losing the front nose cone of his car, Bala Prasath gave a fine exhibition of defensive driving to hold off rookie and Bengaluru teenager Dhruv Goswami (MSPORT) over the last three of the 10-lap race.

    Goswami, in fact, started from P12 on the grid and aided by some daring overtakes, all but managed to secure a podium spot in the overall standings, though he topped the Rookie category, way ahead of Monith Kumaran (Ahura Racing) and Abhinav Reddy (Avalanche Racing).

    The weekend results put Tijil Rao on top of the overall leaderboard while Goswami also moved up the championship standings in the Rookie category.

    The Round 4 of the Indian Racing Festival will be held on October 19-20 at the Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore.

    The results (Provisional):

    Veer Seth, was promoted as the winner of Indian F4 Championship Race 3 at MIC on Sunday.

    Indian Racing League: Race-2 (B Driver) (25 minutes + 1 Lap):1. Mohammed Ryan (India, Chennai Turbo Riders) (26mins, 57.602secs);2. Sohil Shah (India, Goa Aces JA Racing) (26:59.183);3. Rishon Rajeev (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (27:14.841).

    Formula 4 Indian (25mins + 1 Lap):

    Race-2:1. Ruhaan Alva (India, Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers) (28:16.720); 2. Aqil Alibhai (South Africa, Black Birds Hyderabad) (28:17.475); 3. Jaden Pariat (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (28:18.697).

    Race-3: 1.Veer Sheth (India, Ahmedabad Apex Racers) (27:41.457); 2. Ruhaan Alva (India, ShrachiRarh Bengal Tigers) (27:41.622); 3. Abhay Mohan (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (27:43.916).

    Race-4: 1. Aqil Alibhai (South Africa, Black Birds Hyderabad) (27:31.329); 2. Divy Nandan (India, Ahmedabad Apex Racers) (27:50.567); 3. Ruhaan Alva (India, ShrachiRarh Bengal Tigers) (27:51.089).

    JK Tyre-FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship:

    Formula LGB 4: Race-3 (10 Laps):1. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Dark Don Racing) (19:42.876); 2. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, Dark Don Racing) (19:44.762); 3. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, Dark Don Racing) (19:52.697).

    Rookie: 1. Dhruvh Goswami (Bengaluru, MSport) (19:52.770); 2. Monith Kumaran (Chennai, Ahura Racing) (19:59.569); 3. K Abhinav Reddy (Hyderabad, Avalanche Racing) (20:05.030).

  • Ruhaan Alva, Divy Nandan bag second place each: Indian F4

    Ruhaan Alva, Divy Nandan bag second place each: Indian F4

    Chennai, 1 Sept. 2024: Two Indian drivers Bengaluru’s Ruhaan Alva  driving for Bengal Tigers and Delhi’s Divy Nandan racing for Ahmedabad Apex Racers, notched up creditable second places in Race 1 and Race 2 respectively, even as Australian Hugh Barter of Godspeed Kochi and South African Aqil Alibhai of Hyderabad Blackbirds wrote their own script to share the day’s honours in the FIA-Formula 4 Indian Championship at the Chennai Formula Racing Circuit under floodlights here on Sunday.

    Starting from pole position, Barter topped Race 1 in typical style, outpacing the field, in another flawless exhibition that underlined his undoubted talent. In contrast, Alibhai, who missed Race-1 due to issues with his car, made ample amends by winning Race 2 after starting fourth on the grid, and, in the process, displaying considerable skill in defensive driving.

    Barter, who last weekend had won a race starting last on the grid, was unstoppable while winning the first race that was marred by two Safety Car periods and then a red flag with little over three minutes and a lap left. Meanwhile, Abhay Mohan (Bangalore Speedsters) quietly moved to P4 from P8 and then jumped to third place behind Barter and Ruhaan Alva Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers) as Jaden Pariat (Bangalore Speedsters) retired, bringing out the Safety Car for the third time with about six minutes and a lap left of the race. The proceedings were yet again interrupted by a red flag with about 3:30 plus one lap remaining following an incident.

    Ruhaan Alva, who finished a creditable P2 in F4 Race 1 receiving the trophy. An IRL image

    Unable to complete second qualifying session, Barter started Race 2 from the end of the grid, but in no time, climbed to fifth before tangling with Ruhaan Alva and dropped to eighth. Ahead of them, Alibhai made three spots to take the lead which he defended with aplomb to win from two Indians, Divy Nandan and Jaden Pariat as the race ended behind the Safety Car. Alva finished fourth while Barter came in fifth.

    The results (Provisional):

    FIA Formula 4 Indian Championship (25mins + 1 lap)

    Race 1

    1. Hugh Barter (Australia, Godspeed Kochi) (19:42.952);

    2. Ruhaan Alva (India, Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers) (19:50.251);

    3. Abhay Mohan (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (20:09.021).

    Race 2

    1. Aqil Alibhai (South Africa, Blackbirds Hyderabad) (30:03.445);

    2. Divy Nandan (India, Ahmedabad Apex Racers) (30:03.704);

    3. Jaden Pariat (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (30:04.413).

    Diljit, Tijil Rao share honours

    JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship 2024

    Dark Don team enjoyed a profitable weekend as Diljith TS from Thrissur and Bengaluru’s Tijil Rao won a race apiece in the Formula LGB 4 category, but both had to work hard for their P1 slots on the podium.

    Race-1 was a close fight between pole-sitter Pune’s Neython McPherson (Momentum Motorsports) and Diljith as the two exchanged leads early on. However, the more experienced Diljith managed to secure a slender lead that he nursed to the finish despite a Safety Car period, to finish ahead of McPherson. Behind them, Tijil Rao, having started from P8, moved up to P3, showing impressive pace, but could not make further progress as the eight-lap race was reduced to six after a red flag stoppage.

    Later in the day, under lights, Tijil Rao came up with another fine drive to upstage Diljith after the two traded lead through the 10-lap race that saw two Safety Car periods. Eventually, Tijil made a decisive move on front-running Diljith to take his second win in the championship. Diljith had to be content with P2, ahead of McPherson.

    The results (Provisional):

    JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship (Formula LGB 4) – Race-1 (5 laps): 1. Diljith TS (Thrissur, Dark Don Racing) (11:48.827); 2. Neythan McPherson (Pune, Momentum Motorsports) (11:48.973); 3. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Dark Don Racing) (11:50.800). Rookie: 1. McPherson (11:48.973); 2. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (11:53.785); 3. Ashok Lal (Bengaluru, Avalanche Racing) (12:01.039).

     Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Tiljil Rao (27:03.653); 2. Diljith TS (27:03.964); 3. Neythan McPherson (27:04.402). Rookie: 1. McPherson (27:04.402); 2. Abhay Mohan (27:07.408); 3. Dhruvh Goswami (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (27:09.599).