It was a fourth straight win for Alibhai in Formula4 Indian Open, while Lancaster and Raoul Hyman won a race each in IRL at the fourth round of the Indian Racing Festival, promoted by the Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd, held at the Kari Motor Speedway.
Indian Racing League:
The 35-year-old Lancaster produced moments of magic to hold off pole-sitter and former Formula 1 test driver Neel Jani of Hyderabad Blackbirds, returning to the Indian Racing League championship after missing the previous two rounds, in a tight finish. In P3 behind the two veterans was India’s Sohil Shah of Goa Aces JA Races.
In a race that kept spectators on their toes, Jani, the 40-year-old from Switzerland, starting from pole position, opened a near five-second gap over Lancaster while 23-year-old Bengalurean Shah made places with some super aggressive moves to tuck himself in P3.
Midway through the race, Jani slowed down considerably after getting stuck in a gear and Lancaster moved into the lead and quickly pulled an eight-second lead at one stage. However, Jani found his second win and swiftly caught up with the 35-year-old Lancaster but could not pass him with the Britisher displaying amazing skills to keep his P1 spot in which he finished. Jani had to be content with second place with less than half a second deficit ahead of Shah with .300th of a second lead.
Lancaster after the race said, “We did a lot of work on the car to put things together and it is a big step forward for our team.”
Finishing second behind Hyman was Ruhaan Alva of Shrachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers and Portugal’s Alvaro Parante for Speed Demons Delhi in race3. Incidentally, Parante profited when Hyman’s team-mate Gabriela Jilkova’s car encountered a problem when running P3 in the closing stages. Further, Jilkova was handed a 20-second penalty for false-start and it pushed her down to seventh at the finish.
Pole-sitter Hyman capitalized on a good start throughout the race. Down the grid, Alva, starting from P2 dropped a couple of places at the very start before recovering to regain his second spot, but way behind Hyman. Jilkova looked certain for a podium spot until her car suffered an issue and Parante moved up a spot to P3 where he finished.
Formula 4 Indian:
South African Aqil Alibhai Hyderabad Blackbirds notched his third win of the season with a near-flawless drive starting from P2 on the grid in Race 1 . With a daring move at Turn-1 on the very first lap, Alibhai went past pole-sitter Ruhaan Alva of Shrachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers and never looked back for a deserving win which saw him consolidate his position at the head of the leader board.
While Alibhai disappeared into the distance, there were furious battles up and down the grid on a tight and tricky 2.2 kms circuit that presented only a couple of overtaking opportunities. Alva, the teenager from Bengaluru, just about held on to his P2 after coming under pressure from Shillong’s Jaden Pariat of Bangalore Speedsters as the duo completed podium behind Alibhai who also picked up a bonus point for the best lap of the race.
The Safety Car deployed twice, and it left the drivers to do a one lap sprint at the end of the 25-minute race duration.
Reflecting on his performance, Alibhai said: “I managed to go on the inside of Ruhaan at Turn-1. Once past him, I put my head down and put in consistent laps. I am very happy with today’s win.”
Three teenagers, South African Aqil Alibhai of Black Birds Hyderabad, and Indians Ruhaan Alva from Shrachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers and Jaden Pariat of Bangalore Speedsters extended their domination in race2 as Alibhai finished on top followed by Jaden in second and Ruhaan finished third.
The day’s final race typified the weekend’s proceedings. Alibhai capitalised his pole position start while Alva recovered from a poor start to get back to P2, ahead of Pariat. The trio did not face any challenge once they settled into their respective track positions to secure the top three spots on the podium.
Earlier, Alibhai won his second race of the weekend comfortably despite starting P6 on the reverse grid, while Pariat and Alva, who both made places immediately after the start, came in second and third respectively. As before, Alibhai’s pace proved decisive. With about eight minutes and a lap left in the race, Alibhai led by about eight seconds, but the lead was wiped out when the Safety Car was deployed. On resumption though, the South African jetted away from the pack, yet again underlining the impressive pace.
“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 after posting his fourth win in a row, including one in the previous round and three this weekend.
27th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship
Veteran Diljith TS representing Dark Don Racing from Thrissur made the best of a gift from leader and his teammate Tijil Rao to win the Race 1, while Dhruvh Goswami from MSPORT came in second. Tijil, who was comfortably ahead, ran wide while negotiating a back marker in the closing stages of the race and it allowed Diljith the space to take the lead with Dhruvh in tow. Tijil recovered to come in third.
Racers from Bengaluru, Abhay Mohan from MSPORT, championship leader Tiljil Rao from Dark Don Racing and Chetan Surineni from Ahura Racing, who started from P23, swept the podium spots in that order in the fiercely contested Race 2.
Starting from pole position on the reverse grid, teenager Abhay Mohan pulled away from the pack while behind him, a four-way tussle involving veteran Raghul Rangasamy from MSPORT, and the Dark Don trio of Bala Prasath, Tijil Rao and Diljith TS. As the 20-lap progressed, Abhay Mohan continued to extend his lead while track positions were trading behind him.
Eventually, Tijil moved to P2 after getting past Bala Prasath, whose car lost the front cone following contact with another vehicle and Rangasamy. Meanwhile, Viswas Vijayaraj from Dark Don Racing and Surineni, who both started from the back row of the 23-car grid, joined the lead back behind Abhay Mohan. Surineni benefitted when Vijayaraj and Rangasamy knocked each other out at Turn-1 with three laps remaining before the race ended behind the Safety Car.
Rookie: Two Bengaluru boys from MSPORT Abhay Mohan and Dhruvh Goswami finished in first and second position respectively as Monith Kumaran Srinivasan from Chennai, Ahura Racing completed the podium.
Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup
Yogesh P from Bengaluru won the ten laps race1 with a comfortable lead of over 18sec over Johring Warisa from Umrangso, while Mangaluru's Johson Saldanha finished third with further 12sec difference. Rohan R from Coimbatore won the race2 by managing to keep Mumbaikar Kayan Patel behind him in second and Navaneeth Kumar S from Puducherry finished third.
After surviving close battles. In fact, Rohan, after winning first race of the day, looked set for a double, but Navaneeth Kumar, with a late burst, denied him with a late burst in the second outing and final race of the day. Navaneeth finished on top followed by Rohan in second and Jagadeesh Nagaraj from Bengaluru finished third.
Amateurs: Yogesh P was the winner followed by Johring Warisa in second and Prashant C from Chennai finished third.
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