Alister Yoong Powers ShrachiRarh Bengal Tigers to Victory; Hugh Barter of Godspeed Kochi wins Formula 4 Indian Championship in Round 1
Chennai, 25 August 2024: Malaysian Alister Yoong showcased his racing pedigree with a lights-to-flag win for ShrachiRarh Bengal Tigers in Round 1 of the Indian Racing League while Australia’s Hugh Barter of Godspeed Kochi made up for his disastrous outing on Saturday with a grand double in the Formula 4 Indian Championship.
The first round of Indian Racing Festival, presented by Kingfisher Soda, concluded at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.
Starting from pole position, Yoong, the 21-year-old son of former Formula 1 driver, Alex, enjoyed an untroubled run after seeing off an early challenge from Hyderabad Blackbirds’ Akhil Rabindra who eventually settled for P2.
Czech Republic’s Gabriela Jilkova, representing Goa Aces JA Racing finished third after an impressive drive in a race that turned out to be processional with track positions at the front remaining unchanged throughout the 25 minutes + 1 lap outing.
“I had a beautiful car today. Absolutely no issues. So, yeah, I had a good start, and it is nice to win,”said Yoong.
Meanwhile, in the F4 India Championships, 19-year-old Barter virtually destroyed the competition while winning Race-2 by over 18 seconds and then going on to take Race-3 as convincingly despite a Safety Car period which bunched up the grid, negating his big lead.
Barter was at his aggressive best in the second race which he started from P15 and made it to P1 in a matter of just seven laps. Thereafter, his scorching pace took him well clear of the pack. Following him home were fellow-Aussie Isaac Demellweek of Chennai Turbo Riders and India’s Divy Nandan of Ahmedabad Apex Racers.
In the next race, Barter was yet again off to a great start and went on to enjoy a lead of over 10 seconds before the Safety Car was deployed following an on-track incident. On resumption, Barter pulled away for a comfortable win.
Behind the Aussie, South African Aqil Alibhai of Hyderabad Blackbirds settled into P2 ahead of Ruhaan Alva ShrachiRarh Bengal Tigers to finish in that order. Three Indians – Jaden Rahaman Pariat, the Race-1 winner yesterday, Divy Nandan and Abhay Mohan took the fourth, fifth and sixth spots, respectively, to provide more cheer to their countrymen.
The 2024 Indian Racing Festival promoted by Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) to be held over five rounds, including the historic night street race in the heart of Chennai next weekend, is sponsored by Kingfisher Soda, JK Tyres, Mobil 1.
JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship
Formula LGB 4: Bengaluru’s Tijil Rao of Dark Don Racing came up with a brilliant drive that was a mix of aggression and defense to pull off a deserving win in Race-2, holding off veteran Raghul Rangasamy of MSPORT. Mehul Agarwal, another member of Dark Don Racing from Kolkata, did well to finish P3 with a last lap spurt.
The race produced some heart-stopping moments beginning with pole-sitter on the reverse grid Chetan Surineni of Ahura Racing stalling his car while Tijil Rao and Agarwal capitalized to move to the front. The positions were
unchanged despite a Safety Car period. On resumption, Tijil Rao defended brilliantly to deny Rangasamy who had slipped past Agarwal who, in turn, traded places with Abhay Mohan before coming in at P3.
Royal Enfield Continental Cup presented by JK Tyre: Coimbatore’s Navaneeth Kumar S pulled off a fine win over Race-1 winner, Anish Shetty from Bengaluru, in a close finish among the Professionals. The duo finished ahead of Soorya PM (Chennai) who was promoted to P3 after Abhishek Vasudev was docked 30 seconds penalty for “overtaking under yellow flag”.
The results (Provisional):
Indian Racing League Race-2 (Driver B – 25mins+1 lap): 1. Alister Yoong (Malaysia, Goa Aces JA Racing) 27mins, 15.226secs); 2. Akhil Rabindra (India, Hyderabad Blackbirds) (27:19.810); 3. Gabriela Jilkova (Czech Republic, Goa Aces JA Racing) (27:35.127).
Formula 4 Indian (Race-2, 25mins+1 lap): 1. Hugh Barter (Australia, Godspeed Kochi) (27:06.573); 2. Isaac Demellweek (Australia, Chennai Turbo Riders) (27:25.297); 3. Divy Nandan (India, Ahmedabad Apex Racers) (27:29.102). Race-3 (25mins+1 lap): 1. Hugh Barter (Australia, Godspeed Kochi) (27:06.536); 2. Aqil Alibhai (South Africa, Hyderabad Blackbirds) (27:10.134); 3. Ruhaan Alva (India, ShirachiRarh Bengal Tigers) (27:11.549).
JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship
Formula LGB 4 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Dark Don Racing) (21:38.184); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, MSPORT) (21:38.653); 3. Mehul Agarwal (Kolkata, Dark Don Racing) (21:41.780).
Royal Enfield Continental Cup presented by JK Tyre (Race-2, 6 laps) – Professionals: 1. Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) (11:51.466); 2. Anish Shetty (Bengaluru) (11:51.644); 3. Soorya PM (Chennai) (11:56.614). Amateurs: 1. Yogesh P (Bengaluru) (12:47.013); 2. Johnson Saldanha (Mangaluru) (12:55.118); 3. Nijin A (Pathanamthitta, Kerala) (12:55.327).
