The 2023 Indian Racing League is a single seater motor racing championship held across India.[1]

Teams and drivers

All drivers compete with single-seater Wolf GB08 Thunder cars, fitted with a 215 bhp (160 kW) Aprilia engine.[2]

Team No. Driver Rounds
Hyderabad Blackbirds 1 Portugal Álvaro Parente[3] 1
India Akhil Rabindra[4] 1
Switzerland Neel Jani[5] TBCA
9 Spain Laura Camps Torras[6] 1
India Anindith Reddy[7] 1
Godspeed Kochi 2 India Nikhil Bohra[8] 1
Malaysia Alister Yoong[9] 1
5 India Ruhaan Alva[10] 1
Liechtenstein Fabienne Wohlwend[11] 1
Chennai Turbo Riders 6 Canada Nicole Havrda[12] 1
India Mohamed Ryan[13] 1
33 United Kingdom Jon Lancaster[14] 1
India Sai Sanjay[15] 1
Goa Aces 7 Czech Republic Gabriela Jílková[16] 1
India Amir Sayed[17] 1
24 South Africa Raoul Hyman[18] 1
India Sohil Shah[19] 1
Bangalore Speedsters 16 India Ashwin Datta[20] 1
United Kingdom Oliver Webb[21] 1
70 India Kyle Kumaran[22] 1
United Kingdom Sarah Moore[23] 1
Speed Demons Delhi 22 India Akash Gowda[24] 1
United Kingdom Chloe Chong[25] TBCB
86 Malaysia Mitchell Gilbert[26] 1
India Sandeep Kumar[27] 1

Team changes

Chennai Turbo Riders were initially confirmed to be re-named "Chennai Supersonics", but the "Turbo Riders" moniker was later reinstated.[28]

Driver changes

Oliver Webb was the only returning driver at Bangalore Speedsters. Bianca Bustamante, Rishon Rajeev, Anshul Gandhi and Webb's substitute driver Yash Aradhya all left the team. The team signed W Series driver Sarah Moore and MRF F2000 drivers Kyle Kumaran and Ashwin Datta to replace them.

Chennai Turbo Riders replaced their Indian drivers. Parth Ghorpade, Vishnu Prasad and his injury substitute Sandeep Kumar were replaced by 2022–23 MRF F2000 champion and runner-up Sai Sanjay and Mohamed Ryan. Kumar moved to Speed Demons Delhi as a last-minute replacement for Shahan Ali Mohsin, who moved to the F4 Indian Championship, whilst F1 Academy driver Chloe Chong replaced Célia Martin as original signing Belén García did not compete.[29]

Raoul Hyman rejoined Goa Aces after having to sit out the second half of the 2022 season to conduct Super Formula testing. This saw his replacement, Kevin Mirocha, leave the series.

British GT driver Jordan Albert, who was entered for reigning Teams' Champion Godspeed Kochi for the cancelled opening round of the 2022 season, did not return to the series.

Hyderabad Blackbirds announced GT driver Álvaro Parente for the first half of the season, replacing Thomas Canning. Neel Jani is expected to return to the team in the second half having contested most of the 2022 season. Lola Lovinfosse was originally confirmed to be competing for the team, but was replaced with Laura Camps Torras the day before the season started.

Calendar

All events are held in India. Rounds 1, 2 and 4 are run in tandem with the F4 Indian Championship.

No. Circuit Date Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Madras International Circuit, Irungattukottai 4 November
R2 5 November
2 R1 1–2 December
R2
3 R1 3 December
R2
4 R1 Chennai Formula Racing Circuit, Chennai 9–10 December
R2

Calendar changes

Duplicate rounds in Hyderabad and Irungattukottai were initially dropped in favour of new races at the Buddh International Circuit and a new street circuit around Island Grounds in Chennai.[30][31] An updated calendar was released later on that dropped the planned round at Buddh International Circuit in favor of a second round at Irungattukottai.[32] In the week leading up to the opening round, the first round was announced to also be moved to Irungattukottai because of the code of conduct surrounding elections in Telangana.[33]

Format changes

Unlike the previous season, two qualifying sessions and two races are held per event – with the "feature race" including driver swaps discontinued. Two drivers are entered in each car, with each driver contesting one of the two event days – consisting of one 20-minute practice session, one 10-minute qualifying session and a 25-minute + 1 lap race per day.[34]

Season summary

The 2023 season began as the 2022 season left off – under a cloud of mismanagement, as the first round had to be relocated from the Hyderabad Street Circuit to the Madras International Circuit less than a week before the start of the season due to the knock-on effects of the 2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly election.[35] The first race of the season was postponed by a day due to torrential rain, with Ruhaan Alva claiming a lights-to-flag victory as reigning champion Akhil Rabindra (replacing Álvaro Parente who returned to Portugal after the death of his father) crashed with Alva's team-mate Alister Yoong on the opening lap. Sarah Moore became the series' first female race winner in the wet second race, following both pole-sitter Sohil Shah and Nikhil Bohra spinning out of the lead early in the race before Bohra punted Gabriela Jílková out of the race lead on the final lap.

Results and standings

Results summary

Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team
1 R1 Madras International Circuit India Ruhaan Alva South Africa Raoul Hyman India Ruhaan Alva Godspeed Kochi
R2 India Sohil Shah India Nikhil Bohra United Kingdom Sarah Moore Bangalore Speedsters
2 R1
R2
3 R1
R2
4 R1 Chennai Formula Racing Circuit
R2

Championship standings

Drivers' championship
Pos Driver IRU1 IRU2 IRU3 CHE Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
=1 India Ruhaan Alva 1 25
=1 United Kingdom Sarah Moore 1 25
=3 South Africa Raoul Hyman 2 18
=3 India Akash Gowda Ret 2 18
=5 United Kingdom Jon Lancaster 3 15
=5 India Sai Sanjay 3 15
=7 United Kingdom Oliver Webb 4 12
=7 India Nikhil Bohra 4 12
=9 India Kyle Kumaran 5 10
=9 Spain Laura Camps Torras 5 10
=11 India Anindith Reddy 6 8
=11 India Ashwin Datta 6 8
=13 India Amir Sayed 7 6
=13 Czech Republic Gabriela Jílková 7 6
15 India Sandeep Kumar 8 4
India Akhil Rabindra Ret Ret
India Mohamed Ryan Ret
Malaysia Alister Yoong Ret
Liechtenstein Fabienne Wohlwend Ret
India Sohil Shah Ret
Malaysia Mitchell Gilbert Ret
Canada Nicole Havrda Ret
Portugal Álvaro Parente WD1
Pos Driver R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
IRU1 IRU2 IRU3 CHE
  • ^1 – Parente qualified and Rabindra raced.
Teams' championship
Pos Driver IRU1 IRU2 IRU3 CHE Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 Bangalore Speedsters 4 1 55
5 2
2 Godspeed Kochi 1 4 37
Ret Ret
3 Goa Aces 2 7 30
7 Ret
4 Chennai Turbo Riders 3 3 30
Ret Ret
5 Speed Demons Delhi 8 2 22
Ret Ret
6 Hyderabad Blackbirds 6 5 18
Ret Ret
Pos Driver R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
IRU1 IRU2 IRU3 CHE

Notes

  • ^ Parente is expected to compete in Rounds 1 and 2, Jani is expected to compete in Rounds 3 and 4.
  • ^ García is expected to compete in Round 1, Chong is expected to compete in Rounds 2, 3 and 4.

References

  1. "Indian Racing League". RPPL Motorsports. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  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.
  3. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 16 October 2023.
  4. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 16 October 2023.
  5. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 16 October 2023.
  6. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 3 November 2023.
  7. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 16 October 2023.
  8. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 11 October 2023.
  9. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 11 October 2023.
  10. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 11 October 2023.
  11. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 11 October 2023.
  12. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 18 October 2023.
  13. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 18 October 2023.
  14. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 18 October 2023.
  15. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 18 October 2023.
  16. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 12 October 2023.
  17. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 12 October 2023.
  18. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 12 October 2023.
  19. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 12 October 2023.
  20. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 13 October 2023.
  21. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 13 October 2023.
  22. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 13 October 2023.
  23. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 13 October 2023.
  24. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 17 October 2023.
  25. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 17 October 2023.
  26. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 17 October 2023.
  27. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 30 October 2023.
  28. "ANNOUNCEMENT - TEAM NAME CHANGE". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 3 November 2023.
  29. "📢 DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT". Indian Racing League on Instagram. 27 October 2023.
  30. "New Chennai street circuit to host F4 India night race". Autocar India. 17 August 2023.
  31. "FMSCI: 2023 Provisional Calendar of Events" (PDF).
  32. "Indian Racing League Official on Instagram: "Save the dates"". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  33. "Indian Racing League on X: "Press release"". X. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  34. "Indian Racing Festival 2023 - Hyderabad". insider.in. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  35. "Election issue leads to Indian F4 relocating this week's inaugural round". Formula Scout. 31 October 2023.
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