Akhil Rabindra, Neel Jani star in Black Birds sweep: Indian Racing League

Irungattukottai (Chennai), 27 Nov 2022: Indian Racing star Akhil Rabindra displayed excellent driving skills and consistency to post a victory in the Sprint Race 2 and later combined with teammate Neel Jani, sharing the car, to win the Feature Race. The duo put strong contenders Black Birds Hyderabad on top of the championship table with a clean sweep of all the three races in the second round of the inaugural Indian Racing League at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday.

Godspeed Kochi’s Ruhaan Alva and Fabienne Wohlwend came second in the Feature Race clocking 37 minutes, 05.957 seconds, followed by Amir Sayed and Shohil Shah of Goa Aces who timed 37:23.507 for their third place. Winners Akhil and Neel posted a winning time of 36:55.401. Each of the 12 cars in the Feature race saw a driver change after a mandatory pit stop. Neel Jani also set the fastest lap in the Feature Race 1:31.274.

Talking to INDIAinF1.com, Neel Jani said: “It was great to see IRL finally lifting off, after a  bumpy start! Obviously, I am very happy about the 3 wins that Akhil and I could give to Team Hyderabad Black birds!

“We had our fair share of issues in free practice but we managed to go through them step by step, and by qualifying we started to get ontop of things. Clean sweep this weekend, could not have hoped for more!”

“It is special as this is my first win on Indian soil,” the Swiss driver, whose father is of Indian origin, added.

Sprint Race 2

Earlier Rabindra, the 26-year old Bengaluru-born Aston Martin Racing Academy driver, who is a regular in the GT4 Euro Series, began the day with a deserving win in the Sprint Race 2, dominating from pole to flag. He clocked 46:48.660. The race saw a Safety Car period after an incident where Raoul Hymen of Goa Aces and Shahan Ali Mohsin of Speed Demons Delhi had a contact but later with about four minutes to go, the race was red flagged when Celia Martin of Speed Demons Delhi lost control, spun and slid backwards crashing on to the tyre barriers. All the drivers escaped unhurt.

Godspeed Kochi’s Fabienne Wohlwend from Liechtenstein came second in 46:49.383, defending admirably against a marauding Jon Lancaster of Chennai Turbo Riders, who clocked 46:49.963. Rabindra set the fastest lap at 1:32.108.

Feature Race

Black Birds dominated the week-end and now top the table with 118 points, with their Team A comprising of Akhil and Neel, garnering full 100 points that are on offer from three races. But they had a heart-break when their second driver combo of Anindith Reddy and Lola Lovinsfosse, who garnered 18 points in the two sprint races together, were well on course for a podium finish but Lola outbraked and lost balance, suffering a DNF on the last lap.

A brilliant drive by 16-year old Ruhaan Alva and teammate Fabienne Wohlwend got them a well-deserved second place in the Feature race and they put Godspeed Kochi in second place with 84 points. Fabienne put the #1 Blue-coloured machine into fourth place after starting from P9, and handed over to Ruhaan in the 15th minute. Then Ruhaan stepped up the pace and overtook a couple of more cars to get into the podium zone and finished a creditable second.

“It was an amazing race, a great start from Fabienne getting up to p4 on the first lap. Then I had to really push in the second stint to get into the top 3 because we were trying to undercut the others. We weren’t as quick as we would have liked but we were always there, playing it smart in the races and fighting it out. So I’m pretty happy with the performance,” said Ruhaan Alva, who just returned from the World Motorsport Games a few days back.

Amir Sayed and Sohil Shah of Goa Aces, despite a 15-sec penalty came third. Yash Aradhya and Anshul Gandhi of Bangalore Speedsters came fourth to bag a valuable 24 points that pushed them to third in the championship table with 60 points. Only six of the 12 teams completed the Feature race which saw many incidents including safety car periods.

The first round in Hyderabad on Nov 20 was cancelled due to safety issues.

Provisional Results (Round 2):

Sprint Race:

1. Akhil Rabindra (Black Birds Hyderabad) 46:48.660;

2. Fabienne Wohlwend (Godspeed Kochi) 46:49.383;

3. Jon Lancaster (Chennai Turbo Riders) 46:49.963;

Fastest lap: Akhil Rabindra (BB Hyderabad) 1:32.108.

Feature Race;

1. Neel Jani/ Akhil Rabindra (BB Hyd) 36:55.401;

2. Ruhaan Alva/ Fabienne Wohlwend 37: 05.957;

3. Amir Sayed /Shohil Shah (Goa Aces) 37:23.507;

Fastest Lap: Neel Jani (BB Hyd) 1:31.274.

INDIAN RACING LEAGUE – Points Standings after Round 2 at MIC