Indian Racing League

Formula 4 League

Not to be confused with i1 Super Series.

Indian Racing League

Category| Group CN
Country| India
Drivers| 30
Official website| rpplind.com
Current season

The Indian Racing League (formerly known as the X1 Racing League) is an auto racing championship based in India.

It is unrelated to the proposed i1 Super Series that was based on a similar idea.

## History

[edit]

It is co-founded by Indian professional drivers, Aditya Patel and Armaan Ebrahim.[1]

For the first season in 2019, the series operated decade-old Formula BMW machinery having originally planned to run Radicals. Just two events were held having scheduled four, and track-time at the second and final round was condensed due to travel constraints. A number of the cars suffered from mechanical problems, halving the field from 12 cars to 6 at the second and final event.[2] A number of drivers also abandoned the championship between the events on safety grounds – including Christina Nielsen and Mathias Lauda, who reported that their race-suits had been soaked by a fuel leak during a qualifying session.[3] The Bangalore Racing Stars team were crowned champions.[4]

After delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the championship returned in late-2022 having been renamed the Indian Racing League. The series was scheduled to be held alongside the Formula Regional Indian Championship before moving to a standalone schedule, whilst organisers imported a fleet of Group CN-class Wolf GB08s to avoid the technical issues that beset the first season.[5] Despite this, all of the races at the first event in Hyderabad were cancelled after Vishnu Prasad broke his leg in a practice crash.[6] Two events were held at the Madras International Circuit before returning to Hyderabad, and whilst the Hyderabad Blackbirds team dominated the Irungattukottai rounds with the help of experienced driver Neel Jani, the new Godspeed Kochi franchise overhauled them with a dominant display at a wet-dry finale. The season however was an administrative nightmare; suffering from a lack of public communication regarding the opening round, confusion over whether or not a drivers' championship was to be awarded, the final points tally not aligning with the provided points system, and mechanical issues with the cars (wheels falling off at the first Irungattukottai event and engines flooding during the rolling starts at the finale).[7]

Sandeep Kumar competing for Speed Demons Delhi in the 2023 Indian Racing League.

With an updated format, and a calendar including the Buddh International Circuit as well as a new street course around Chennai's Island Grounds, the championship appeared to be in better shape approaching their third season in 2023.[8] However, issues immediately arose as the first round was moved from Hyderabad to Irungattukottai less than a week out due to local elections, whilst Buddh disappeared off the calendar entirely.[9] Ultimately, the championship hosted all three of its events at Irungattukottai due to infrastructure damage caused by Cyclone Michaung, with bad weather from the system impacting several races as well. Two race wins for Raoul Hyman helped he and co-driver Sohil Shah to the drivers' championship, whilst Bangalore Speedsters claimed the teams' championship aided by Sarah Moore's victory in the first round – Moore becoming the first woman to win a race in the series.[10]

The 2024 season started in remarkably organised fashion, with the first two races at Irungattukottai going off without a hitch – Jon Lancaster scored his and the Chennai Turbo Riders' first race win in the season-opener after Neel Jani retired from the lead with a handful of laps remaining, whilst Alister Yoong won the second race for the rebranded Rarh Bengal Tigers; Sourav Ganguly and the Shrachi Group purchased the Godspeed Kochi franchise in the off-season.[11] The series hosted its first night event around the Island Grounds a week later, with the wins shared by Raoul Hyman and Álvaro Parente after track action was delayed due to issues with circuit homologation.[12][13]

## Format

[edit]

Teams are franchise-based and represent Indian cities. Each team has two cars and four drivers; two drivers must be Indian or of Indian descent, and the other two drivers – one male and one female – must come from outside of India. Two drivers compete in each car, with the line-ups determined by the teams.

In 2019, each event consisted of three 30mins + 1 lap races. The races were relays, with a mandatory pit-stop for a driver change in each.

In 2022, three races will again be held per round – but the first two of these will be 25min + 1 lap "sprint races" and the third is a 45min + 1 lap "feature race". As there are two drivers per car, for Race 1 Driver A will qualify and Driver B will start, for Race 2 Driver B will qualify and Driver A will start, and the feature race will see the grid determined by aggregate event points with both drivers competing by way of a mandatory driver change.[14]

In 2023, two qualifying sessions and two races were held per event – with the "feature race" including driver swaps discontinued. Two drivers were 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 20-minute + 1 lap race per day.[15] This format was retained in 2024, with the race length increased by 5 minutes.[16]

## Champions

[edit]

Season  | Driver  | Team and contributing drivers

|
|

2019 | not awarded | Bangalore Racing Stars  |  Nayan Chatterjee
Michelle Gatting
Arjun Maini
Vishnu Prasad
Oliver Webb
2020

2021  | not held
2022 |  Akhil Rabindra
Hyderabad Blackbirds | Godspeed Kochi |  Jordan Albert[a]
Ruhaan Alva
Nikhil Bohra
Fabienne Wohlwend
Alister Yoong
2023 |  Raoul Hyman
Sohil Shah
Goa Aces | Bangalore Speedsters  |  Ashwin Datta
Kyle Kumaran
Sarah Moore
Oliver Webb
2024 |  Raoul Hyman
Sohil Shah
Goa Aces | Goa Aces  |  Raoul Hyman
Gabriela Jílková
Shahan Ali Mohsin
Sohil Shah

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Albert was entered in the first round in Hyderabad, in which practice sessions were held but qualifying and race sessions were cancelled.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "X1 league will help change India's motorsport profile:Ebrahim". 29 October 2019 - via Business Standard.
2. ^ "X1 Racing League: An unfortunate letdown".
3. ^ "X1 Racing league, everything that went down at the first round at BIC". 2 December 2019.
4. ^ "Bangalore Racing Stars crowned X1 Racing League Season 1 champions".
5. ^ "Indian Racing League from November 19". 14 November 2022.
6. ^ Aravind, V. S. (2022-11-20). "Indian Racing League called off abruptly". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
7. ^ "GodSpeed Kochi wins inaugural Indian Racing League". Autocar India. 12 December 2022.
8. ^ "Indian Racing League: 2023 preview". Racers: Behind the Helmet. 30 October 2023.
9. ^ "Election issue leads to Indian F4 relocating this week's inaugural round". Formula Scout. 31 October 2023.
10. ^ "Sarah Moore shines in Indian Racing League". The New Indian Express. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
11. ^ "Jon Lancaster and Jaden Pariat bag top honours at Round 1 of the 2024 Indian Racing Festival". Evo India. 26 August 2024.
12. ^ "Alvaro Parante of Speed Demons Delhi take top honours at Indian Racing Festival as Chennai's Night Circuit Spectacle concludes". Times of India. 3 September 2024.
13. ^ "F4 Chennai street race: FIA suggests changes; RRPL seeks time from HC". DTNEXT. 2024-08-31. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
14. ^ "Indian Racing League - Hyderabad Weekend Ticket Price". 23 April 2023.
15. ^ "Indian Racing Festival 2023 - Hyderabad". insider.in. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
16. ^ "@indianracingleagueofficial on Instagram". @indianracingleagueofficial on Instagram. 12 August 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Motorsport in India

* Motorsports Association of India
* Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India

Grand Prix|

| Formula One Indian Grand Prix|

* 2011
* 2012
* 2013

|

MotoGP Indian motorcycle Grand Prix|

* 2023

ePrix|

| Formula E Hyderabad ePrix|

* 2023

|

National
Championships|

| Current|

* Indian National Rally Championship
* Indian Racing League
* F4 Indian Championship
* Indian Touring Car Championship
* JK Tyre National Racing Championship
* MRF Challenge

|

Cancelled|

* i1 Super Series

Others|

* Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare
* Formula Rolon
* Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm
* Raid De Himalaya
* T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship

Proposed|

* Formula Regional Indian Championship

Circuits|

| Current|

* Madras International Circuit, Chennai
* Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore
* Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida
* Chennai City Circuit, Chennai

|

Defunct|

* Cholavaram Airstrip, Chennai
* Hyderabad Street Circuit, Hyderabad

Teams|

* Mahindra Racing
* MRF Racing
* Mumbai Falcons
* Force India
* A1 Team India

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

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