Alexandra Hervé makes Indian Racing League debut with top-5
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French racer Alexandra Hervé made a remarkable debut in the Indian Racing League, overcoming a challenging start to the weekend marked by technical issues that limited her track time, effectively learning a new car and circuit during the opening race of the season, where she emerged with a top-five finish in extremely tricky weather conditions.
French racer Alexandra Hervé made a remarkable debut in the Indian Racing League, overcoming a challenging start to the weekend marked by technical issues that limited her running in practice and qualifying. Effectively learning a completely new car and circuit during the opening race of the season, she emerged with a top-five finish in extremely tricky weather conditions.
The Indian Racing League kicked off its 2025 season with an action-packed first round at Kari Motor Speedway, where six teams – each featuring two local talents, an international driver, and a female driver – returned to battle in the fourth season of India’s premier racing championship.
All drivers competed in the single-seater Wolf GB08 Thunder, powered by a 215 hp Aprilia engine. The calendar includes five events: two rounds at Kari Motor Speedway, one at Madras International Circuit, and two more still to be confirmed.
The drivers’ lineups, selected via a draft on July 15th, therefore feature six female drivers – a mix of returnees and new entries. Fabienne Wohlwend and Gabriela Jílková both switched teams but brought the most IRL experience, while Caitlin Wood and Laura Camps Torras returned as well. Two rookies joined the roster: Jem Hepworth and Alexandra Hervé.
Nineteen-year-old Hervé, from France, made her IRL debut with Kolkata Royal Tigers, sharing the #18 machine with Sandeep Kumar. Hervé was also one of the least experienced drivers on the grid and aimed to gain mileage quickly. She previously competed in the 2023 Formula Renault Cup by TTE in the highly formative Formula Renault 2.0, and also made appearances in the Ultimate Cup Series in the demanding Formula Regional Tatuus car. In 2024, she added SuperKarts to her résumé and now embarks on the new challenge of her rookie IRL season.
It was therefore crucial for Hervé to gain experience early in the weekend, starting from the pre-season tests in the Wolf GB08 Thunder car. Unfortunately, her running was extremely limited, as an engine failure prevented her from driving on both test days leading up to the season opener.
Also in Driver Group A, which would contest Saturday’s first race, was also Gabriela Jílková – the highly experienced Czech racer who has been competing in IRL since 2022 and is one of the most successful female drivers in the championship with six podiums and a pole position to her name, finishing fifth in last year’s standings.
Jílková switched to Black Birds Hyderabad in 2025, sharing the #31 car with Akshay Bohra in one of the series’ most promising lineups. Jílková also races in the highly competitive GT4 European Series and is a Porsche development driver.
On Saturday, in the sole official practice, Jílková ran strongly and set the fifth fastest time with a 1:07.708 lap. For Hervé, it was effectively her first session; despite completing just a handful of laps after the engine change, she could not yet push as she was still learning the circuit.
“At the very first practice of the pre-season test, my engine broke. I did not do a single lap on Thursday and Friday, and I just watched the others drive,” Alexandra explained, as one of the rookies most in need of track time. “I got my first push lap during a few laps of practice on Saturday, and since they changed the engine, I had to drive carefully.”
Qualifying followed, using the series’ challenging single flying-lap format to set the grid. Despite some cars still suffering from technical issues, Kyle Kumaran provisionally took pole from Raoul Hyman by just 0.005 seconds – the closest margin in IRL history – before his lap was deleted for track limits, dropping him to the back of the field. Hyman inherited pole, with Jon Lancaster third.
Jílková set a 1:07.142, which put her eighth on the grid after some technical difficulties.
Still effectively learning both car and track, Hervé couldn't quite put together a representative lap and clocked a 1:14.054 which left her starting from P11.
Hyman, who shares the #5 Goa Aces car with Fabienne Wohlwend, would therefore line up on pole for the season opener, which featured two female drivers in action on Day 1: Jílková and Hervé.
Race 1 - Driver A
As the lights went out for a rolling start in extremely challenging wet conditions, Hyman and Lancaster led the field into Turn 1, while Jílková made a bold dive and gained several positions. With conditions worsening, cars were sliding everywhere, and one spun around. Hyman held on brilliantly at the front, with Jon Lancaster and Alister Yoong right behind. Lancaster briefly attempted a move around the outside of the leader, but Hyman soon stretched his advantage.
Jílková, now up to fifth after a superb wet-weather drive, passed Alva and defended well under pressure. Hervé, meanwhile, wastasked with learning the car in the rain, but found her rhythm and began to move forward, overtaking Ali Mohsin and climbing into ninth place.
Ahead, the battle between Jílková and Kumaran for fourth was intense. Kumaran initially stayed ahead, as Jílková then had to defend from Alva. A small mistake under braking with 16 minutes to go saw the Czech driver run slightly deep, allowing Alva to slip past.
At the front, Hyman set fastest laps and extended his lead further, while the fight for third intensified between Akhil Alibhai and Kumaran. Lancaster had in fact hit trouble, dropping down the order.
Hervé capitalized and moved up into eighth, battling with Surineni in a spirited scrap that saw them exchange places before she settled into ninth again as the track dried.
With eight minutes to go, Jílková’s luck ran out as she was forced to pit with an issue, ending her strong run.
Hervé briefly climbed into eighth, though Lancaster recovered and found a way back past.
Meanwhile, Yoong, running second, made a mistake and ran wide, dropping behind the charging Kumaran. Soon after, Alva also hit trouble and retired with just three minutes to go.
At the front, Hyman remained unchallenged, pulling away to a dominant 30-second advantage. In changing and tricky conditions, he took a commanding sixth career IRL victory, delivering Goa Aces and teammate Fabienne Wohlwend another top result. Kyle Kumaran finished second after storming through from the back of the grid, while Aqil Alibhai completed the podium on his series debut.
On her first start, Alexandra Hervé finished fifth, a remarkable result given her lack of track time. From learning the car and circuit during the opening race laps to handling slicks in the rain, Hervé kept it on track, made no mistakes, and demonstrated excellent adaptability. The young French rookie bounced back from a difficult weekend start to score a valuable top-five finish.
“In Race 1, it was light raining but I chose to put slicks,” Hervé explained, having started karting in France in categories without wet-weather tyres, she had developed good car control in slippery conditions. “On the start, it was very slippery and I was struggling to get to know the car and the track. I was lost. The circuit was drying, I was gaining places, then it rained and became super slippery again, then it dried. I managed to stay on track on slicks in any conditions.”
On Sunday, Hervé’s teammate Sandeep Kumar had a solid run and finished sixth, securing more valuable points for the Kolkata Royal Tigers.
However, there was no luck again for Jílková. Her teammate Akshay Bohra secured pole position in the second qualifying, earning them an extra point. Bohra led early in the race but was again forced to retire with a technical issue, wrapping up an extremely challenging season opener for the Hyderabad duo.
The next round of the Indian Racing League will take place next week, on 22–24 August, at Madras International Circuit.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity the Indian Racing League gave me, and visiting India as well is so enriching,” Hervé concluded, as she looks to carry her momentum into the rest of her rookie campaign.