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2024 Indian Racing League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2024 Indian Racing League was a single seater motor racing championship held across India.[1] 2024 was the third season of the championship. It started on August 24 at Madras International Circuit and ran over five race weekends.[2][3]

Raoul Hyman and Sohil Shah, sharing the No. 24 Goa Aces JA Racing car, defended their Entrant Championship at the final race of the season, while also winning the Teams' Championship, with Gabriela Jílková and Shahan Ali Mohsin driving the team's other car.

Teams and drivers

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All drivers competed with single-seater Wolf GB08 Thunder cars, fitted with a 215 bhp (160 kW) Aprilia engine.[4]

Team No. Driver Rounds
Rarh Bengal Tigers 2 India Nikhil Bohra[5] 1–2, 4–5
India Jaden Pariat[6] 3
Malaysia Alister Yoong[5] All
5 India Ruhaan Alva[5] All
Liechtenstein Fabienne Wohlwend[5] All
Speed Demons Delhi 6 India Akash Gowda[7] All
Portugal Álvaro Parente[7] 1–2, 4–5
Malaysia Adam Khalid[6] 3
33 Belgium Angélique Detavernier[7] All
India Sai Sanjay[7] All
Hyderabad Blackbirds 7 Spain Laura Camps Torras[8] All
India Anindith Reddy[8] All
9 Switzerland Neel Jani[8] 1, 4–5
United Kingdom Tom Canning[9] 2–3
India Akhil Rabindra[8] All
Goa Aces JA Racing[10] 11 Czech Republic Gabriela Jílková[10] All
India Shahan Ali Mohsin[10] All
24 South Africa Raoul Hyman[10] All
India Sohil Shah[10] All
Chennai Turbo Riders[11] 18 Australia Emily Duggan[12] 1–2
India Mira Erda[6] 3–5
India Sandeep Kumar[12] All
23 United Kingdom Jon Lancaster[12] All
India Mohamed Ryan[12] All
Bangalore Speedsters 25 India Rishon Rajeev[13] All
Australia Caitlin Wood[13] All
95 Denmark Julius Dinesen[13] All
India Kyle Kumaran[13] All

Team changes

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A new team joined the grid to replace 2022 teams' champions Godspeed Kochi. First announced under the guise of Kolkata Royal Tigers, it was later confirmed to be named Rarh Bengal Tigers.[14][5] Indian actor and producer John Abraham acquired ownership of the Goa Aces team, renaming it to Goa Aces JA Racing.[15]

Driver changes

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The Bangalore Speedsters only retained a single driver in Kyle Kumaran as Ashwin Datta, Oliver Webb and Sarah Moore left the series. They were replaced by 2022 Danish F4 champion Julius Dinesen, Porsche Sprint Challenge GB driver Caitlin Wood and series returnee Rishon Rajeev, who had already competed for the team in 2022.[13]

Amir Sayed left the Goa Aces team and was replaced by Shahan Ali Mohsin, who returned to the series after last competing in 2022 with the Speed Demons Delhi team.[10]

The Chennai Turbo Riders replaced the departing Nicole Havrda and Delhi-bound Sai Sanjay with ex-Delhi driver Sandeep Kumar and Emily Duggan, who last competed in 2019 in the Australian Toyota 86 Racing and Super3 series.[12]

Speed Demons Delhi welcomed three new drivers to their team as Sandeep Kumar moved to the Chennai Turbo Riders and Mitchell Gilbert and Chloe Chong left the championship. They were replaced by Álvaro Parente, who had entered the opening event in 2023 with the Hyderabad Blackbirds, Sai Sanjay, who swapped teams with Kumar, and Belgian GT4 driver Angélique Detavernier, who made her series debut.[7]

New entry Rarh Bengal Tigers took on all four drivers of Godspeed Kochi, the team it replaced.[5]

Mid-season

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GT driver Tom Canning returned to the championship to sub for Neel Jani, who was absent from rounds 2 and 3 because of his clashing WEC comittments.[9]

Three more driver changes happened for round three: Jaden Pariat subbed for Nikhil Bohra, who prioritized his FRECA campaign, Mira Erda replaced Emily Duggan at Chennai Turbo Riders and Adam Khalid replaced Álvaro Parente at Speed Demons Delhi.[6] Parente and Bohra returned for the final two rounds at Kari Motor Speedway.

Race calendar

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The provisional calendar was announced in late February of 2024, albeit without any confirmed venues.[2] The venue of the first three rounds were later confirmed to be the Madras International Circuit in Irungattukottai, the new Chennai Formula Racing Circuit in Chennai and Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore.[3][16][17] The second round was then relocated to be also held at Madras, with Kari hosting rounds 4 and 5.[18] All events were held in India and were run in tandem with the F4 Indian Championship. The event format remained unchanged from the 2023 season.[19]

No. Circuit Date Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Madras International Circuit, Irungattukottai 24 August
R2 25 August
2 R1 Chennai Formula Racing Circuit, Chennai 1 September
R2
3 R1 Madras International Circuit, Irungattukottai 14 September
R2 15 September
4 R1 Kari Motor Speedway, Chettipalayam 19 October
R2 20 October
5 R1 16 November
R2 17 November

Race results

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No. Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team
1 R1 Madras International Circuit India Ruhaan Alva India Ruhaan Alva United Kingdom Jon Lancaster Chennai Turbo Riders
R2 Malaysia Alister Yoong India Sohil Shah Malaysia Alister Yoong Rarh Bengal Tigers
2 R1 Chennai Formula Racing Circuit Czech Republic Gabriela Jílková South Africa Raoul Hyman South Africa Raoul Hyman Goa Aces JA Racing
R2 Portugal Álvaro Parente Portugal Álvaro Parente Portugal Álvaro Parente Speed Demons Delhi
3 R1 Madras International Circuit India Ruhaan Alva India Ruhaan Alva United Kingdom Jon Lancaster Chennai Turbo Riders
R2 India Mohamed Ryan India Mohamed Ryan India Mohamed Ryan Chennai Turbo Riders
4 R1 Kari Motor Speedway Switzerland Neel Jani Switzerland Neel Jani United Kingdom Jon Lancaster Chennai Turbo Riders
R2 South Africa Raoul Hyman South Africa Raoul Hyman South Africa Raoul Hyman Goa Aces JA Racing
5 R1 India Sohil Shah India Sohil Shah India Sohil Shah Goa Aces JA Racing
R2 South Africa Raoul Hyman South Africa Raoul Hyman South Africa Raoul Hyman Goa Aces JA Racing

Season report

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The 2024 Indian Racing League opened at Madras International Circuit with Rarh Bengal Tigers driver Ruhaan Alva on pole position for the first race. He dropped to fifth after going off at the start of the race, handing Chennai Turbo Riders driver Jon Lancaster the lead before he too ran wide and Hyderabad Blackbirds’ Neel Jani claimed first place. He looked set to win the race before retiring with a car issue on the final lap. That saw Lancaster claim the win ahead of Speed Demons Delhi’s Álvaro Parente and pole sitter Alva. Race two saw Rarh Bengal Tigers’ Alister Yoong lead Hyderabad Blackbirds’ Akhil Rabindra and Goa Aces JA Racing’s Gabriela Jílková to an unchallenged lights-to-flag win.[20][21]

Round two saw the debut of the Chennai Formula Racing Circuit. After significant delays due to circuit modifications mandated by the FIA, Jílková qualified on pole position for the first race. Goa Aces JA Racing’s Raoul Hyman took the lead, before the race was interrupted by a dog entering the track. Hyman held his lead at the restart to win the race, while Yoong took third. Parente took pole position for the second race and led every lap despite continuous pressure from Goa Aces JA Racing’s Sohil Shah. Parente took the win by 0.9 seconds as Alva claimed third. That result saw the Rarh Bengal Tigers, who had finished on the podium at every race up to that point, cement their championship lead.[22][23]

The series returned to Madras International Circuit for its third round, and Alva once again claimed pole position in his group. Yoong started second but dropped to fourth at the start, behind Lancaster and Jílková. Alva looked set to win until he suffered a technical issue on the final lap and dropped to third, handing Lancaster the win and Jílková second place. Chennai Turbo Riders driver Mohamed Ryan took pole position for the second race. He led Shah all race and took a comfortable lights-to-flag victory. Bangalore Speedsters driver Rishon Rajeev held off Jaden Pariat, who subbed for Nikhil Bohra at the Rarh Bengal Tigers, for third place. Still, the Tigers continued to lead the championship.[24]

The Indian Racing League debuted at Kari Motor Speedway for round four. Jani claimed pole position for the first race and built a gap of five seconds, before he was hit by gearbox issues. Lancaster closed up and passed him, before Jani got on top of his issues and attacked back. Lancaster was able to hold on to the lead and claim the victory, with Shah finishing in third. The second day of competition was dominated by Hyman, who took pole position, led every lap, claimed the fastest lap and won the race. Alva claimed second, while Parente was handed third when Jílková struggled with a car issue. Round four saw the Goa Aces close up to the Rarh Bengal Tigers in the championship.[25][26]

The final round, also held at Kari Motor Speedway, began with a pole position for Shah. He followed that up with a lights-to-flag victory ahead of Jani and Parente. Shah also took the fastest lap for the maximum points, allowing his Goa Aces team to claim the lead of the Teams’ Championship by two points heading into the final race. That race was started by Hyman on pole position before Alva collided with Speed Demons Delhi driver Akash Gowda. The Goa Aces pair of Hyman and Jílková flew in formation afterwards to secure a 1-2 finish ahead of Bangalore Speedsters' Julius Dinesen. With that, they claimed both the Teams’ Championship and the Entrant Championship for Hyman's and Shah's No. 24.[27]

Championship standings

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Scoring system

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Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows:

Race Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Pole FL
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 1 1

Drivers sharing a car added the points they earned in their respective races to a shared total.

Entrant championship

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Pos Entrant Drivers MIC1 CHE MIC2 KAR1 KAR2 Pts
R1 R2 R11 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 No. 24 Goa Aces JA Racing South Africa Raoul Hyman Ret 1 5 1 1 167
India Sohil Shah 8 4 2 3 1
2 No. 23 Chennai Turbo Riders United Kingdom Jon Lancaster 1 Ret 1 1 4 147
India Mohamed Ryan 6 7 1 10 4
3 No. 5 Rarh Bengal Tigers India Ruhaan Alva 3 3 3 2 Ret 123
Liechtenstein Fabienne Wohlwend 4 4 5 4 6
4 No. 2 Rarh Bengal Tigers India Nikhil Bohra 5 DNS 6 8 97
India Jaden Pariat 4
Malaysia Alister Yoong 1 3 4 DNS 7
5 No. 11 Goa Aces JA Racing Czech Republic Gabriela Jílková 3 2 2 7 2 94
India Shahan Ali Mohsin 8 Ret 6 Ret 5
6 No. 6 Speed Demons Delhi India Akash Gowda Ret Ret 7 8 Ret 82
Portugal Álvaro Parente 2 1 3 3
Malaysia Adam Khalid Ret
7 No. 25 Bangalore Speedsters India Rishon Rajeev 6 2 3 5 5 79
Australia Caitlin Wood Ret 5 8 9 Ret
8 No. 9 Hyderabad Blackbirds United Kingdom Tom Canning DNS 10 73
Switzerland Neel Jani Ret 2 2
India Akhil Rabindra 2 6 Ret 6 Ret
9 No. 95 Bangalore Speedsters Denmark Julius Dinesen 5 8 6 4 3 46
India Kyle Kumaran Ret Ret Ret Ret 7
10 No. 7 Hyderabad Blackbirds Spain Laura Camps Torras 7 6 DNS 9 10 45
India Anindith Reddy 9 Ret 7 5 6
11 No. 33 Speed Demons Delhi Belgium Angélique Detavernier 7 DSQ 11 Ret 9 36
India Sai Sanjay 4 5 DNS 7 Ret
12 No. 18 Chennai Turbo Riders Australia Emily Duggan 10 9 19
India Mira Erda 9 Ret 8
India Sandeep Kumar Ret Ret 8 8 9
Pos Entrant Drivers R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
MIC1 CHE MIC2 KAR1 KAR2
  • ^1 – Full race results were not made publicly available.
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap

Teams' championship

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Pos Team MIC1 CHE MIC2 KAR1 KAR2 Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 Goa Aces JA Racing 8 3 1 4 2 2 3 1 1 1 261
Ret 8 2 Ret 5 6 Ret 7 5 2
2 Rarh Bengal Tigers 3 1 3 3 3 4 4 2 6 7 220
5 4 4 DNS 4 5 6 DNS 8 Ret
3 Chennai Turbo Riders 1 6 Ret 7 1 1 1 8 4 4 166
Ret 10 Ret 9 9 8 Ret 10 9 8
4 Bangalore Speedsters 6 5 5 2 6 3 9 4 7 3 125
Ret Ret Ret 8 8 Ret Ret 5 Ret 5
5 Speed Demons Delhi 2 7 Ret 1 7 Ret 7 3 3 9 118
4 Ret Ret 5 11 DNS 8 Ret Ret Ret
6 Hyderabad Blackbirds 7 2 6 6 10 7 2 6 2 6 118
Ret 9 DNS Ret DNS Ret 5 9 10 Ret
Pos Team R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
MIC1 CHE MIC2 KAR1 KAR2

References

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  1. ^ "Indian Racing League". RPPL Motorsports. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Indian Racing League on Instagram: "Mark your calenders, the Indian Racing Festival returns in 2024 with Pre Season Testing in August"". 26 February 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Indian Racing League on Instagram: "Only 70 days left until the season kicks off in Chennai!"". Instagram. 16 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  4. ^ Bhadra, Akaash. "Formula Regional Indian and Formula 4 are the first FIA-sanctioned championships in India to qualify for Formula 1 super license points". Evo India. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Indian Racing League on X: "A formidable lineup for the newest team on the block - #RarhBengalTigers"". X. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "Indian Racing League Official on Instagram: "We caught up with @iamsoumilarora for a zippy mid-season update! Who are you rooting for in Round 3 of the #IRF?"".
  7. ^ a b c d e "It's time to unleash fury with #SpeedDemonsDelhi". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 20 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d "An electrifying season begins with electrifying announcements!". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 16 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Tom Canning on Instagram: "It's race week! I'll be stepping in for @neeljani_official in the @hyderabadblackbirds car alongside @akhilrabindra for rounds 2 & 3 of the 2024 @indianracingleagueofficial"". Instagram. 26 August 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Indian Racing League Official on X: "Meet the dynamic lineup of drivers - Sohil, Shahan, Raoul, Gabi - representing the Goa Aces JA Racing team in the #IndianRacingLeague 2024!"". X. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Indian Racing League 2024: Teams, drivers, line-up and all you need to know". The Sports News India. 18 August 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d e "A powerhouse lineup of Chennai Turbo Riders for the 2024 Indian Racing League". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 21 August 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Bangalore, brace yourselves for a thrilling season ahead!". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 19 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Indian Racing League Official on X: "Kolkata, start your engines! Catch a new powerhouse burning rubber in Season 3 of the Indian Racing Festival in 2024."". X. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  15. ^ "John Abraham becomes owner of Goa Aces in Indian Racing Festival 2024". The Economic Times. 2 August 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  16. ^ Sengupta, Jayantho (20 July 2024). "F4 night street race to see light of the day in Chennai on August 31". www.dtnext.in. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Indian Racing League Official on Instagram: "The kind of "save the dates" we like"". Instagram. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Indian Racing League on X: "Updated Race Schedule!"".
  19. ^ "@indianracingleagueofficial on Instagram". @indianracingleagueofficial on Instagram. 12 August 2024.
  20. ^ Team Evo India (26 August 2024). "Jon Lancaster and Jaden Pariat bag top honours at Round 1 of the 2024 Indian Racing Festival". Evo India. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  21. ^ Gidithuri, Unnatee (27 August 2024). "Indian Racing Festival Round 1: Hugh Barter scores double wins". Autocar India. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  22. ^ Gidithuri, Unnatee. "New Chennai street circuit: Hits and misses". Autocar India. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  23. ^ Savant, Mandar (2 September 2024). "2024 Indian Racing Festival Round 2 race report". Evo India. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  24. ^ "IRL: Third consecutive podium for Gabriela Jílková". Racers. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  25. ^ Gidithuri, Unnatee (22 October 2024). "Indian Racing Festival Round 4: Aqil Alibhai takes clean sweep". Autocar India. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  26. ^ Vashisth, Mohit (21 October 2024). "Chennai Turbo Riders and Goa Aces dominate Round 4 of the Indian Racing Festival". Evo India. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  27. ^ Gidithuri, Unnatee (18 November 2024). "Goa Aces JA Racing wins 2024 Indian Racing League". Autocar India. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
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