Indian Racing Festival packs in action at the BIC
Raoul Hyman and Ruhaan Alva won the IRL races on Saturday, while Aryan Narola dominated the F4 races on Sunday
The Indian Racing League wrapped up at the BIC this weekend. Aryan Narola won both F4 Indian Championship races on Sunday, and Ruhaan Alva took the second Indian Racing League (IRL) race, as the Indian Racing Festival closed its two-day leg at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida. Saturday belonged to two other drivers. Raoul Hyman of Goa Aces JA Racing won the opening IRL race, and Ntiyiso Mabunda of Speed Demons Delhi won the first F4 race.
Day 1: Hyman and Mabunda take the opening races
Hyman dominated the opening race of the weekend and won with a massive 15-second margin over Sai Shiva Sankaran of Kolkata Royal Tigers, who finished second with a race time of 27:55.806. Jemma Moore of Kichcha's Kings Bengaluru finished third, just 0.264 seconds behind Sankaran. The race was not so fortunate for Tijil Rao of Chennai Turbo Riders. He dropped to eighth, fought back to as high as second, and then lost it all to a car breakdown on the final lap.
The first F4 race was won by Mabunda, and it was far from straightforward. He initially lost ground to Naroloa, who started third on the grid but passed both Mabunda and Arjun Chheda, and took an early lead. Mabunda reclaimed the top spot and found himself in a battle with Luviwe Sambudla of Goa Aces JA Racing, who had enough pace to put up a strong fight; in the end, Mabunda managed to hold his own and win the race.
Day 2: Narola's perfect Sunday
The F4 Race 1 on Sunday started with Swarnav Das in front. Narola overtook him in the second lap. Sambudla also got past Das and closed in on Narola for the lead, but his race ended abruptly due to engine problems, resulting in a retirement with a couple of laps remaining. Aris Kyriakou had meanwhile overtaken Das and finished second behind Narola, while Mabunda took third. Race 2 was a lights-to-flag win for Narola; despite Chheda having made several attempts to challenge for the lead, he finished second, with Mabunda third again. Narola held his nerve and completed a two-win Sunday.
The IRL's second race was where a chunk of the drama took place. Shane Chanderia passed Alva and led for several laps, but ended up retiring due to car trouble. Alva took the lead back and won the race. Mohamed Ryan of Hyderabad Blackbirds finished second, with Malaysian driver Alister Yoong of Speed Demons Delhi rounding out the podium.
