2022 Indian Racing League

Last updated

Contents

The 2022 Indian Racing League was a single seater motor racing championship held across India. The series served as a revised reboot of the X1 Racing League and was originally planned to be run alongside the Formula Regional Indian Championship and F4 Indian Championship. [1] These two championships were delayed to 2023, but the Indian Racing League still went ahead. [2]

Akhil Rabindra (Hyderabad Blackbirds) won the drivers' title, while Godspeed Kochi won the teams' championship.

Teams and drivers

All drivers competed with single-seater Wolf GB08 Thunder cars, fitted with a 215 bhp (160 kW) Aprilia engine. [1] [3] The teams were based on Indian cities, like they were in the X1 Racing League. [4]

TeamNo.DriverRounds
Godspeed Kochi 1 Flag of India.svg Ruhaan AlvaAll
Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Fabienne Wohlwend All
2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jordan Albert1
Flag of Malaysia.svg Alister Yoong2–4
Flag of India.svg Nikhil Bohra All
Bangalore Speedsters3 Flag of the Philippines.svg Bianca Bustamante All
Flag of India.svg Rishon RajeevAll
4 Flag of India.svg Anshul GandhiAll
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Oliver Webb 1, 3–4
Flag of India.svg Yash Aradhya2
Chennai Turbo Riders5 Flag of India.svg Parth GhorpadeAll
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Nicole Havrda All
6 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jon Lancaster All
Flag of India.svg Vishnu Prasad1
Flag of India.svg Sandeep Kumar2–4
Goa Aces7 Flag of South Africa.svg Raoul Hyman 1–2
Flag of Poland.svg Kevin Mirocha 3–4
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Gabriela Jílková All
8 Flag of India.svg Amir SayedAll
Flag of India.svg Sohil ShahAll
Hyderabad Blackbirds9 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani 1–3
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Canning4
Flag of India.svg Akhil Rabindra All
10 Flag of France.svg Lola Lovinfosse All
Flag of India.svg Anindith Reddy All
Speed Demons Delhi11 Flag of India.svg Akash GowdaAll
Flag of India.svg Shahan Ali Mohsin All
12 Flag of Malaysia.svg Mitchell Gilbert All
Flag of France.svg Célia Martin All
Source: [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Calendar and results

As the series was planned to be run alongside the two FIA-certified Indian junior series, its calendar followed the two series, so it was originally planned to consist of five rounds in February 2022, before being moved to November and December. [11] When the two other series were cancelled, the IRL calendar was revised and then included four rounds at two circuits, as well as a pre-season test to be held on November 14 at Madras Motor Race Track. [5]

RoundCircuitDate Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver/sWinning team
1R1 Flag of India.svg Hyderabad Street Circuit, Hyderabad 20 NovemberEvent cancelled after practice on safety grounds [12]
R2
R3
2R1 Flag of India.svg Madras Motor Race Track, Chennai 26 November Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani
Flag of India.svg Akhil Rabindra
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani Hyderabad Blackbirds
R227 November Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani
Flag of India.svg Akhil Rabindra
Flag of India.svg Akhil Rabindra Flag of India.svg Akhil Rabindra Hyderabad Blackbirds
R3 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani
Flag of India.svg Akhil Rabindra
Hyderabad Blackbirds
3R1 Flag of India.svg Madras Motor Race Track, Chennai 3 December Flag of India.svg Nikhil Bohra
Flag of Malaysia.svg Alister Yoong
Flag of India.svg Rishon Rajeev Flag of Malaysia.svg Alister Yoong Godspeed Kochi
R24 December Flag of India.svg Akash Gowda
Flag of India.svg Shahan Ali Mohsin
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani Flag of India.svg Shahan Ali Mohsin Speed Demons Delhi
R3 Flag of India.svg Rishon Rajeev Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani
Flag of India.svg Akhil Rabindra
Hyderabad Blackbirds
4R1 Flag of India.svg Hyderabad Street Circuit, Hyderabad 11 December Flag of India.svg Nikhil Bohra
Flag of Malaysia.svg Alister Yoong
Flag of India.svg Sohil Shah Flag of Malaysia.svg Alister Yoong Godspeed Kochi
R2 Flag of India.svg Nikhil Bohra
Flag of Malaysia.svg Alister Yoong
Flag of India.svg Nikhil Bohra Flag of India.svg Nikhil Bohra Godspeed Kochi
R3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jon Lancaster Flag of India.svg Nikhil Bohra
Flag of Malaysia.svg Alister Yoong
Godspeed Kochi

Season summary

The season was plagued by miscommunication, organisational challenges and extreme reliability issues for the cars. Running at the first round in Hyderabad was cancelled following the opening practice session after Vishnu Prasad broke his leg in a crash, but this was not communicated to patrons or the outside world until after the event was scheduled to conclude. The season-opener was also marred by a tree branch falling onto one of the cars and an injury for a marshal.

Action got underway in Round 2 at the Madras International Circuit. Wheel nut failures dominated the sprint races, as Akash Gowda stopped on circuit in the opening race and Raoul Hyman suffered a rollover in Race 2 induced by one whilst running second. Célia Martin also crashed heavily in the second race. Alister Yoong and Jon Lancaster crashed on the opening lap of the feature race, whilst Sohil Shah clashed with Lola Lovinfosse on the last lap in the battle for the last step of the podium. The event was swept by the Hyderabad Blackbirds partnership of Neel Jani and Akhil Rabindra, with Fabienne Wohlwend third in the standings after she and co-driver Ruhaan Alva drove from second-last to second in the feature race.

Round 3 was held in Chennai once again, and Race 1 was curtailed by a sudden storm. Yoong claimed the first win for Godspeed Kochi as Rabindra slid off at the final corner from second. As less than 75% of the race was completed, half-points were awarded. Qualifying for Race 2 was also heavily influenced by changeable weather conditions, with Akash Gowda taking a surprise pole for Speed Demons Delhi on behalf of co-driver Shahan Ali Mohsin. Mohsin took a lights-to-flag win as the bigger names were disadvantaged by the lower starting positions, as demonstrated by Jani who spun out Wohlwend. Bianca Bustamante was demoted from the podium for a jump-start penalty; said penalties also affected Alva and Gabriela Jílková in Race 1. The feature race was dominated by Safety Car mismanagement – Lovinfosse stopped on track in the middle of the pit-stop cycle, with only Rabindra, Mohsin and Lancaster left to complete their mandatory driver changes. Due to the minimum stop time, those three cars came out a lap up on the rest of the field, with no way to communicate this to the rest of the field. The Safety Car was deployed in the closing stages of the race to clean up the issues, but Sandeep Kumar stopped on track from second on the penultimate lap and the race finished under yellow. Bustamante and co-driver Rishon Rajeev took the last podium place, but were again penalised – this time for not meeting the minimum pit-stop time.

The championship concluded in a wet Hyderabad. With the departure of Jani and Lovinfosse falling ill, series leaders Hyderabad Blackbirds were on the back foot – and even more so after nearest rivals Godspeed Kochi completed a front-row lockout of all three races. Oliver Webb and Anshul Gandhi's car was withdrawn from the weekend after a hole was found in the tub, and the other Bangalore Speedsters entry was also withdrawn after Rajeev crashed on the opening lap of Race 1. Yoong dominated the opening race, but Wohlwend retired with mechanical dramas from a comfortable second-place. Martin also retired with gearbox problems, resulting in co-driver Mitchell Gilbert not starting Race 2. Despite a brief engine shutdown for Alva, he finished second to team-mate Nikhil Bohra in Race 2 after Hyderabad's Anindith Reddy was disqualified for receiving outside assistance.

Hyderabad needed to win the final race with Rabindra and Tom Canning (Jani's replacement) to stand a chance of taking the teams' championship but, after three aborted starts due to technical issues with the cars, they were spun at the opening corner by Lancaster. The Chennai Turbo Riders car of Lancaster and Kumar then jumped the Kochi cars in the stop cycle and won the race, but were later demoted to fourth for the opening-lap contact. Yoong and Bohra inherited the win, but despite Wohlwend and Alva receiving a penalty for making their pit-stop outside the designated window the Godspeed Kochi team comfortably claimed the title in the final race. The Blackbirds consolation prize was a 1–2 in the drivers' standings for Rabindra and Jani despite confirmation mid-season that a drivers' championship would not be awarded; This was not the only administrative issue, as the point-scoring system supplied by the series did not mathematically align with the final points tally.

Championship standings

Three races were held per round – two 20-minute sprint races and a 35-minute feature race. As there were two drivers per car, for Race 1 Driver A qualified and Driver B started and for Race 2 Driver B qualified and Driver A started. The feature race saw the grid determined by combined qualifying times, with both drivers competing by way of a mandatory driver change. [13]

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows:

Race Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th PoleFL
Sprint races25181512108642111
Feature race5036302420161284211

Drivers' standings

Pos.Driver HYD1
Flag of India.svg
CHE1
Flag of India.svg
CHE2 [a]
Flag of India.svg
HYD2
Flag of India.svg
Points
1 Flag of India.svg Akhil Rabindra CCCP11515Ret143
2 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani CCC1P161137
3 Flag of Malaysia.svg Alister Yoong2Ret141P1131.5
4 Flag of India.svg Nikhil Bohra CCCRetRetP34P11118
5 Flag of India.svg Ruhaan AlvaCCC426526106
6 Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Fabienne Wohlwend CCC2295Ret692
7 Flag of India.svg Amir SayedCCC63536Ret86
8 Flag of India.svg Sohil ShahCCCRet3Ret33Ret76
9 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jon Lancaster CCC3Ret2Ret4470
10 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Gabriela Jílková CCCRetDNS772269
11 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Nicole Havrda CCC65986565
12 Flag of Poland.svg Kevin Mirocha 1173263
13 Flag of India.svg Shahan Ali Mohsin CCCRetRet12RetDNS62
14 Flag of India.svg Parth GhorpadeCCCRet51087555
15 Flag of India.svg Akash GowdaCCCRetRet4P25DNS54
16 Flag of India.svg Anindith Reddy CCC4Ret7RetDNS [b] DSQ348
17 Flag of the Philippines.svg Bianca Bustamante CCC5686DNSRet46
18 Flag of India.svg Rishon RajeevCCCRet626RetRet43
19 Flag of India.svg Sandeep Kumar8Ret8Ret7436
20 Flag of India.svg Anshul GandhiCCC5410RetDNSDNS34.5
21 Flag of Malaysia.svg Mitchell Gilbert CCC3DNS4RetRetDNS27
22 Flag of India.svg Yash AradhyaRet424
23 Flag of France.svg Lola Lovinfosse CCC7Ret3RetWDWD13.5
24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Canning4Ret12
Flag of France.svg Célia Martin CCCRetDNSRetRetRetDNS
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Oliver Webb CCCDNSRetDNSDNS
Flag of South Africa.svg Raoul Hyman CCCRetDNS
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jordan AlbertCCC
Flag of India.svg Vishnu PrasadCCC
Pos.Driver HYD1
Flag of India.svg
CHE1
Flag of India.svg
CHE2
Flag of India.svg
HYD2
Flag of India.svg
Points

Teams' standings

In the feature race, points were awarded to both drivers and were therefore doubled for the entry (e.g. a winning entry will receive 50+50 points) in addition to any extra points for pole position or fastest lap, which were only awarded to one driver.

Pos.TeamNo. HYD1
Flag of India.svg
CHE1
Flag of India.svg
CHE2 [c]
Flag of India.svg
HYD2
Flag of India.svg
Points
1 Godspeed Kochi 1CCC422695Ret26445.5
2CCC2RetRet134111
2Hyderabad Blackbirds9CCC11156145Ret367
10CCC74Ret37RetDNSDSQ3
3Goa Aces7CCCRetRetDNS7117232294
8CCCRet63Ret5336Ret
4Chennai Turbo Riders5CCC6Ret59108675227
6CCC83Ret82Ret744
5Bangalore Speedsters3CCCRet56286RetDNSRet147.5
4CCC5Ret410DNSRetDNSDNSDNS
6Speed Demons Delhi11CCCRetRetRet4125RetDNS141
12CCC3RetDNSRet4RetRetRetDNS
Pos.TeamNo. HYD1
Flag of India.svg
CHE1
Flag of India.svg
CHE2
Flag of India.svg
HYD2
Flag of India.svg
Points

† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified having completed 90% of the race distance.

Notes

  1. Half-points were awarded in Race 1 as less than 75% of the race distance was completed.
  2. As Lola Lovinfosse fell ill during the last round, her teammate Anindith Reddy was entered into both sprint races and drove the whole feature race.
  3. Half-points were awarded in Race 1 as less than 75% of the race distance was completed.

References

  1. 1 2 Bhadra, Akaash. "Formula Regional Indian and Formula 4 are the first FIA-sanctioned championships in India to qualify for Formula 1 super license points". Evo India. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  2. Wood, Ida (3 November 2022). "India's FRegional and F4 series called off, IRL and MRF Challenge return". Formula Scout. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  3. "Indian Racing League: All you need to know ahead of race weekend". Evo India. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  4. "Debut Indian Racing League calendar announced. Full details here". TimesNow. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  5. 1 2 "New Indian Racing League dates announced; Formula Regional, F4 India postponed". Autocar India. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  6. "And now presenting Bangalore's own team- the Bangalore Speedsters!". Indian Racing League on Instagram . Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  7. "Presenting Godspeed Kochi!". Indian Racing League on Instagram . Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  8. "Kochi, say hello to the latest addition to your team, Introducing Fabienne wohlwend". Twitter. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  9. "Kochi, say hello to the latest addition to your team, Introducing alisteryoong". Twitter. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  10. Indian Racing League 2022 R3 - MIC Chennai , retrieved 3 December 2022
  11. "2022 Formula Regional India updated calendar revealed". Autocar India. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  12. Aravind, V. S. (20 November 2022). "Indian Racing League called off abruptly". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  13. Reddy, Raghuvardhan (17 November 2022). "Indian Racing League - Hyderabad Weekend Ticket Price" . Retrieved 9 April 2023.