Indian Racing Festival Round 4: Raoul Hyman's all-round show confirms convincing win for Goa Aces

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 20 : Raoul Hyman, the 28-year-old from the United Kingdom, delivered a second podium for Goa Aces JA Racing with a comfortable lights-to-flag victory in the fourth round of the Indian Racing Festival which concluded at the Kari Motor Speedway in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore on Sunday.
Hyman, in the process, picked up the full quota of points from pole position, race win and best lap of the race, and his success followed his team-mate Sohil Shah's P3 finish on Saturday in the first race of the Indian Racing League.
Finishing second behind Hyman was Ruhaan Alva of Shrachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers and Portugal's Alvaro Parente for Speed Demons Delhi. Incidentally, Parante profited when Hyman's teammate Gabriela Jilkova's car encountered a problem when running P3 in the closing stages. Further, Jilkova was handed a 20-second penalty for a false start and it pushed her down to seventh at the finish.
Pole-sitter Hyman capitalised on a good start throughout the race. Down the grid, Alva, starting from P2 dropped a couple of places at the very start before recovering to regain his second spot, but way behind Hyman. Jilkova looked certain for a podium spot until her car suffered an issue and Parante moved up a spot to P3 where he finished.
The fifth and final round of the festival will be held in Coimbatore from November 16-17, 2024.
Three teenagers, South African Aqil Alibhai of Black Birds Hyderabad, and Indians Ruhaan Alva from Shrachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers and Jaden Pariat of Bangalore Speedsters extended their domination of the Formula 4 Indian Open Championship by finishing on the podium in all three races this weekend.
Alibhai won all three races, including two today. The trio had too much pace and racecraft for the rest of the pack which was left chasing the shadows of the front-runners.
"It was a perfect weekend for me, winning all three races. I hope to continue this form in the final round and seal the championship," said Alibhai after posting his fourth win in a row, including one in the previous round and three this weekend, as quoted by the Indian Racing Festival (IRF)
The day's final race typified the weekend's proceedings. Alibhai capitalised on his pole position start while Alva recovered from a poor start to get back to P2, ahead of Pariat. The trio did not face any challenge once they settled into their respective track positions to secure the top three spots on the podium.
Earlier, Alibhai won his second race of the weekend comfortably despite starting P6 on the reverse grid, while Pariat and Alva, who both made places immediately after the start, came in second and third respectively. As before, Alibhai's pace proved decisive. With about eight minutes and a lap left in the race, Alibhai led by about eight seconds, but the lead was wiped out when the Safety Car was deployed. On resumption though, the South African jetted away from the pack, yet again underlining the impressive pace.
In the 27th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship - the Bengaluru trio swept the podium. Racers from Bengaluru, Abhay Mohan (MSPORT), championship leader Tiljil Rao (Dark Don Racing) and Chetan Surineni (Ahura Racing), who started from P23, swept the podium spots in that order in the fiercely contested LGB Formula 4 race.
Starting from pole position on the reverse grid, teenager Abhay Mohan pulled away from the pack while behind him, a four-way tussle involving veteran Raghul Rangasamy (MSPORT), and the Dark Don trio of Bala Prasath, Tijil Rao and Diljith TS. As the 20-lap progressed, Abhay Mohan continued to extend his lead while track positions were trading behind him.
Eventually, Tijil moved to P2 after getting past Bala Prasath, whose car lost the front cone following contact with another vehicle, and Rangasamy. Meanwhile, Viswas Vijayaraj (Dark Don Racing) and Surineni, who both started from the back row of the 23-car grid, joined the lead back behind Abhay Mohan. Surineni benefitted when Vijayaraj and Rangasamy knocked each other out at Turn 1 with three laps remaining before the race ended behind the Safety Car.
In the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, Rohan R (Coimbatore) and Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) won a race apiece in the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup after surviving close battles. In fact, Rohan, after winning today's first race, looked set for a double, but Navaneeth Kumar, with a late burst, denied him with a late burst in the second outing.
The results (Provisional):
Indian Racing League (Race-2, Driver-B) 22 mins+1 lap: 1. Raoul Hyman (UK, Goa Aces JA Racing) (23mins, 40.164secs); 2. Ruhaan Alva (India, Shrachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) (23:52.434); 3. Alvaro Parante (Portugal, Speed Demons Delhi) (23:54.337). Best Lap: Raoul Hyman (01:03.917).
Formula 4 Indian Open (Race-2, 25mins+1 lap): 1. Aqil Alibhai (South Africa, Hyderabad Blackbirds) (26:16.904); 2. Jaden Pariat (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (26:18.991); 3. Ruhaan Alva (India, Srachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) (26:19.996). Best Lap: Alibhai (01:06.693). Race-3: 1. Aqil Alibhai (South Africa, Black Birds Hyderabad) (26:54.554); 2. Ruhaan Alva (India, Srachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) (27:03.942); 3. Jaden Pariat (India, Bangalore Speedsters) (27:09.106); 3. Ruhaan Alva (India, Srachi Rarh Royal Bengal Tigers) (26:19.996). Best Lap: Alibhai (01:06.615).
27th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship:
LGB Formula 4 (Race-2, 20 laps): 1. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (27:37.914); 2. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Dark Don Racing) (27:38.085); 3. Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru, Ahura Racing) (27:38.162). Rookie: 1. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (27:37.914); 2. Dhruvh Goswami (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (27:39.889); 3. Monith Kumaran Srinivasan (Chennai, Ahura Racing) (27:43.006).
Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup (Race-2, 5 laps): 1. Rohan R (Coimbatore) (06:39.768); 2. Kayan Patel (Mumbai) (06:40.124); 3. Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) (06:40.214). Race-3 (10 laps) - Professionals: 1. Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) (13:04.139); 2. Rohan R (Coimbatore) (13:04.620); 3. Jagadeesh Nagaraj (Bengaluru) (13:07.724). Amateurs: 1. Yogesh P (Bengaluru) (13:31.365); 2. Johring Warisa (Umrangso) (13:54.196); 3. Prashant C (Chennai) (14:03.400).