IRL Round 1: Lancaster, Pariat win as Ruhaan Alva captures double podium on a thrilling day

Chennai : On a thrilling day of racing, veteran Jon Lancaster of England and 17-year-old Jaden Rahaman Pariat from Shillong took the honours in the Indian Racing League (IRL) and Formula 4 Indian Championship races, respectively, as the Round-1 of the Indian Racing Festival commenced at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Hyderabad Blackbirds team had a wretched afternoon. First, Hugh Barter retired when looking set for an easy win in the F4 Indian Championship race, handing P1 to Pariat (Bangalore Speedsters). And then another Hyderabad Blackbirds driver, Neel Jani, the Swiss ace, too packed up when within sight of a victory, to gift it to Lancaster (Chennai Turbo Riders).

As well as Lancaster and Pariat drove, Ruhaan Alva, the teenager from Bengaluru, racing for Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, won wholesome praise for his podium finish in both the races whose outcome was in suspense till the very end. The 39-year-old Lancaster won a dramatic IRL Race-1 for A Drivers. Pole-sitter Alva slipped to fifth after going off the track midway through the race which allowed Lancaster to move to P1, ahead of Jani.

However, Lancaster ran wide exiting Turn-2 and Jani moved to the front. In another twist, with three minutes and a lap left, Jani retired, and Lancaster was back in the lead with Portugal’s Alvaro Parante (Speed Demons Delhi) in second place ahead of a fast-finishing Alva who had climbed to P3 after putting in some fast laps. The order remained unchanged to the finish.

“That is racing for you. I took my chances,” said Lancaster. Alva won bonus points for the fastest lap of the race and pole position.

In the Formula 4 Indian race, Pariat set the foundation for his campaign in the very first lap when he slipped past Alva into P3 behind the pair of Hyderabad Blackbirds team-mates Baxter and Aqil Alibhai (South Africa). Barter despite a strangely tilted rear wing, opened a massive lead which he kept past the 25th minute before retiring on the final lap.

Before that, Alibhai too enjoyed a comfortable cushion to hold off Pariat, but the South African noticeably lost pace in the final few laps which allowed the Indian to catch up and then move into P2. In the final lap, Pariat found himself in P1 when Barter retired, and he went on to clinch a deserving win. Alibhai just about held off Alva to finish second with the Bengalurean completing the podium.

“I just don’t know what to say. When I saw Barter parked on the back loop, I knew I had the chance to win, and I told myself to just bring the car home safely which I did. I must thank God for this win. There is no other way to describe my win,” said Jaden.

The Indian Racing Festival, which is to be held over five rounds, includes the historic night street race in the heart of Chennai next weekend.

Bala Prasath wins in Formula LGB 4

Meanwhile, Coimbatore’s Bala Prasath scored a thrilling win in the Formula LGB4 class which saw the top three finishers separated by less than a second.

The eight-lap race saw Bala Prasath surviving a strong challenge from MSPORT pair of teenager Abhay Mohan and veteran Raghul Rangasamy while pole-sitter, Dark Don Racing’s Viswas Vijayaraj from Nellore, came in a distant 16th.

Anish Shetty from Bengaluru took the honours in the Professionals class in the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup presented by JK Tyre, after starting from P2 on the grid behind pole-sitter Abhishek Vasudev, also from Bengaluru, Abhishek, however, came in 10th nursing a puncture. Shetty emerged a comfortable winner in the first race of the double-header sparing over four seconds to Puducherry’s Navaneeth Kumar while Jagadeesh Nagaraj (Bengaluru) completed the podium.

Further down the grid, another Bengalurean, Yogesh P. topped in the Amateur class ahead of Johring Waris (Umrangso, Assam) (12:30.745); 3. Nijin A (Pathanamthit, Kerala).

The results (Provisional):

IRL Race-1 (Driver A – 25mins+1 lap):

1. Jon Lancaster (UK, Chennai Turbo Riders) (27mins, 15.812secs); 2. Alvaro Parente (Portugal, Speed Demons Delhi) (27:16.327); 3. Ruhaan Alva (India, Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers) (27:16.972).

Formula 4 Indian (Race-1, 25mins+1 lap):

1. Jaden Rahman Pariat (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (27:14.967); 2. Aqil Alibhai (South Africa, Black Birds Hyderabad) (27:19.427); 3. Ruhaan Alva (India, Shirahi Rarh Bengal Tigers) (27:19.922).

FMSCI National Racing Championship

Formula LGB F4 (Race-1, 8 laps):

1. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, Dark Don Racing) (18:57.188); 2. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (18:57.690); 3. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, MSPORT) (18:57.993).

RE Continental GT Cup (Race-1, 6 laps) – Professionals: 1. Anish Shetty (Bengaluru) (11:55.531); 2. Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) (11:59.767); 3. Jagadeesh Nagaraja (Bengaluru) (12:00.779).

Amateurs:

1. Yogesh P (Bengaluru) (12:29.228); 2. Johring Waris (Umrangso) (12:30.745); 3. Nijin A (Pathanamthit) (13:19.923).