Coimbatore, Oct 19 (IANS) Chennai Turbo Riders continued their relentless assault on the championship by clinching their fourth win of the season through veteran Britisher Jon Lancaster as the Round 4 of the Indian Racing League got off to a thrilling start at the Kari Motor Speedway, here on Saturday.
The 35-year-old Lancaster produced moments of magic to hold off pole-sitter and former Formula 1 test driver Neel Jani of Hyderabad Blackbirds, returning to the Indian Racing League championship after missing the previous two rounds, in a tight finish. In P3 behind the two veterans was India’s Sohil Shah of Goa Aces JA Races.
In a race that kept spectators on their toes, Jani, the 40-year-old from Switzerland, starting from pole position, opened a near five-second gap over Lancaster while 23-year-old Bengalurean Shah made places with some super aggressive moves to tuck himself in P3.
Midway through the race, Jani slowed down considerably after getting stuck in a gear and Lancaster moved into the lead and quickly pulled an eight-second lead at one stage. However, Jani found his second win and swiftly caught up with the 35-year-old Lancaster but could not pass him with the Britisher displaying amazing skills to keep his P1 spot in which he finished. Jani had to be content with second place ahead of Shah.
Meanwhile, in the Formula 4 Indian Open, South African Aqil Alibhai of Hyderabad Blackbirds notched his third win of the season with a near-flawless drive starting from P2 on the grid. With a daring move at Turn-1 on the very first lap, Alibhai went past pole-sitter Ruhaan Alva of Shrachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers and never looked back for a deserving win which saw him consolidate his position at the head of the leaderboard.
While Alibhai disappeared into the distance, there were furious battles up and down the grid on a tight and tricky 2.2 km circuit that presented only a couple of overtaking opportunities. Alva, the teenager from Bengaluru, just about held on to his P2 after coming under pressure from Shillong’s Jaden Pariat of Bangalore Speedsters as the duo completed the podium behind Alibhai who also picked up a bonus point for the best lap of the race.
The Safety Car was deployed twice, and it left the drivers to do a one-lap sprint at the end of the 25-minute race duration.
Veteran Diljith TS (Dark Don Racing) from Thrissur made the best of a gift from leader Tijil Rao (Dark Don Racing) to win the JK-LGB Formula 4 race while Dhruvh Goswami (MSPORT) came in second. Tijil, who was comfortably ahead, ran wide while negotiating a backmarker in the closing stages of the race and it allowed Diljith the space to take the lead with Dhruvh in tow. Tijil recovered to come in third.
Results (Provisional):
Indian Racing League (Race-1, Driver-A) 25 mins+1 lap: 1. Jon Lancaster (UK, Chennai Turbo Riders) (26mins, 54.251secs); 2. Neel Jani (Switzerland, Black Birds Hyderabad) (26:54.587); 3. Sohil Shah (India, Goa Aces JA Racing) (26:54.965).
Formula 4 Indian Open (Race-1, 25mins+1 lap): 1. Aqil Alibhai (South Africa, Black Birds Hyderabad) (26:34.669); 2. Ruhaan Alva (India, Srachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) (26:35.335); 3. Jaden Pariat (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (26:35.887). Best Lap: Aqil Alibhai (01:06.767).
FMSCI National Racing Championship: LGB Formula 4 (Race-1, 15 laps): 1. Dilith TS (Thrissur, Dark Don Racing) (19:19.910); 2. Dhruvh Goswami (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (19:23.850); 3. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Dark Don Racing) (19:29.574).
Continental GT Cup (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Yogesh P (Bengaluru) (13:42.862); 2. Johring Warisa (Umrangso) (14:00.662); 3. Johnson Saldanha (Mangaluru) (14:13.184).
–IANS
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