Indian Racing Festival Round 4: Aqil Alibhai takes clean sweep

Black Birds Hyderabad’s Aqil Alibhai has further solidified his lead in the Indian F4 Championship after winning all three races in Round 4, held at Coimbatore’s Kari Motor Speedway. Over in the Indian Racing League, Chennai Turbo Riders and Goa Aces JA Racing scored a win each with drivers Jon Lancaster and Raoul Hyman.

Indian F4 Championship

Starting from second on the grid, Alibhai grabbed the lead with a daring move at Turn 1 on the opening lap. He held on to that lead through two Safety Car periods to take victory ahead of Srachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers’ Ruhaan Alva and Bangalore Speedsters’ Jaden Pariat.

Despite starting the reverse-grid Race 2 from sixth on the grid, Alibhai once again emerged victorious. The South African driver followed that up with another win in Race 3, this time from pole position. “It was a perfect weekend for me, winning all three races. I hope to continue this form in the final round and seal the championship,” said Alibhai.

Alva and Pariat also ended up making it to the podium in all three races.

Results

Race 1

1. Aqil Alibhai (Black Birds Hyderabad) – 26mins 34.669secs

2. Ruhaan Alva (Srachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) – 26mins 35.335secs

3. Jaden Pariat (Bangalore Speedsters) – 26mins 35.887secs

Race 2

1. Aqil Alibhai (Hyderabad Blackbirds) – 26mins 16.904secs

2. Jaden Pariat (Bangalore Speedsters) – 26mins 18.991secs

3. Ruhaan Alva (Srachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) – 26mins 19.996secs

Race 3

1. Aqil Alibhai (Black Birds Hyderabad) – 26mins 54.554secs

2. Ruhaan Alva (Srachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) – 27mins 03.942secs

3. Jaden Pariat (Bangalore Speedsters) -  27mins 09.106secs

Indian Racing League

Black Bird Hyderabad’s Neel Jani returned to the Indian Racing League after missing the last two rounds. At one point, he was leading Race 1 by over five seconds, but he slowed down considerably after getting stuck in a gear. Lancaster took advantage of this to move into the lead. Jani caught up to him towards the end, but couldn’t find a way past and had to settle for second place.

In Race 2, Hyman picked up the full quota of points for bagging pole position, the race win as well as the fastest lap. He was joined on the podium by Alva, who is the only racer competing in both, the F4 Indian Championship as well as the Indian Racing League this season. Alvaro Patente completed the podium after Gabriela Jilkova encountered an issue with her car.

Race 1

1. Jon Lancaster (Chennai Turbo Riders) - 26mins 54.251secs

2. Neel Jani (Black Birds Hyderabad) – 26mins 54.587secs

3. Sohil Shah (Goa Aces JA Racing) – 26mins 54.965secs

Race 2

1. Raoul Hyman (Goa Aces JA Racing) - 23mins 40.164secs)

2. Ruhaan Alva (Shrachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) – 23mins 52.434secs

3. Alvaro Parante (Speed Demons Delhi) – 23mins 54.337secs

JK National Racing Championship

Diljith TS won the first LBG F4 race after early leader Tijil Rao ran wide while navigating past a back marker. The reverse-grid Race 2 was won by Abhay Mohan from pole position, with Rao and Chetan Surineni completing the podium.

Navaneeth Kumar scored double wins in the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup. The other race win was snatched by Rohan R. In fact, Rohan looked on course to win Race 2 as well, but Kumar denied him a double, with a late lunge.

LGB F4 Race 1

1. Dilith TS (Dark Don Racing) – 19mins 19.910secs

2. Dhruvh Goswami (MSPORT) – 19mins 23.850secs

3. Tijil Rao (Dark Don Racing) – 19mins 29.574secs

LGB F4 Race 2

1. Abhay Mohan (MSPORT) – 27mins 37.914secs

2. Tijil Rao (Dark Don Racing) – 27mins 38.085secs

3. Chetan Surineni (Ahura Racing) – 27mins 38.162secs

Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup Race 1

1. Navaneeth Kumar S – 13mins 06.864secs

2. Rohan R – 13mins 06.863secs

3. Soorya PM – 13mins 09.043secs

Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup Race 2

1. Rohan R – 6mins 39.768secs

2. Kayan Patel 6mins 40.124secs

3. Navaneeth Kumar S – 6mins 40.214secs

Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup Race 3

1. Navaneeth Kumar S – 13mins 04.139secs

2. Rohan R – 13mins 04.620secs

3. Jagadeesh Nagaraj – 13mins 07.724secs

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