Fabienne Wohlwend takes historic win in IRL Goa feature race, Caitlin Wood secures podium
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Fabienne Wohlwend claimed her first Indian Racing League win at the first ever Goa Street race, moving to the top of the championship standings. Caitlin Wood bagged solid points and her first podium, while Gabriela Jilkova was unfortunate not to capitalize on a pole position.
The fourth round of the 2025–26 Indian Racing League season will go down as one of the most historic weekends in the championship’s history: not only did the series stage its first-ever street race in Goa, but it also witnessed the second female overall victory in IRL history, as Fabienne Wohlwend claimed a sensational feature race win. Alongside teammate Raoul Hyman, the pair now lead the championship standings heading into the final round.
The weekend also featured other major milestones for female drivers, as Caitlin Wood secured a podium finish, while Gabriela Jilkova claimed pole position in the sprint race.
Following a calendar adjustment, the long-awaited Goa Street Circuit finally came to life. The 2.064 km, 12-turn layout winds around Manohar International Airport and marked the first street event ever held in the city by India’s premier racing series.
As per IRL regulations, each team fields a female driver, resulting in a grid stacked with elite international talent. Prior to Goa, home team's Wohlwend and Hyman had performed strongly at Kari in the season opener, taking a win and second place in the non-championship round. Hyman then added another victory at Kari in Round 3, but Wohlwend endured technical issues that limited her points haul entering Round 4.
Gabriela Jilkova had also been consistent, coming off a fourth-place finish and strong track record in the series. Caitlin Wood had been one of the most consistent performers all season for Speed Demons Delhi, regularly finishing inside the top five, while teammate Alister Yoong had also added a podium to the team’s tally.
Jem Hepworth, in her rookie IRL season, had experienced mixed fortunes, though teammate Kyle Kumaran’s win had kept them in contention. Rookie Alexandra Hervé had started strongly with a top five but suffered technical setbacks, while Laura Camps Torras returned with Hyderabad Blackbirds, also hindered by reliability issues despite some impressive recovery drives.
Goa now marked the debut of Jemma Moore, stepping in for Hervé. Moore is the sister of Sarah Moore, the first woman to win a race in IRL history.
Adding further challenge, the series introduced Ligier Formula 4 machinery for the weekend. For several drivers, this effectively marked their F4 debut.
After some delays for the track preparation, Saturday began with practice and the one-lap qualifying format for Group A drivers. Aqil Alibhai claimed pole with a 56.612, edging Raoul Hyman by less than a tenth. Tom Canning qualified third. Caitlin Wood secured eighth with a 59.358, while Laura Camps qualified tenth.
At lights out, chaos erupted immediately: Alibhai made contact at Turn 1 and dropped to third as Hyman seized the lead. Ishaan Madesh launched brilliantly from fourth to second, also clearing Canning, who fell to fifth after a difficult start.
Caitlin Wood held eighth on Lap 1, while Camps dropped to tenth as Akash Gowda moved ahead.
On Lap 2, Wood made up two places as an incident between Kumaran and Nandan on Lap 3 elevated the Australian to fifth. It was a clean and composed run for Caitlin, who navigated the challenging track layout with experience.
Camps meanwhile capitalised on the same incidents, climbing back to ninth and then seventh by Lap 3.
As the race settled, Wood steadily improved her pace, dipping below 58 seconds and then consistently into the 57s. Her pace was strong enough to fend off Gowda despite his recovery attempts.
Camps found her rhythm as well, setting a best of 57.9. However, Kumar - recovering from earlier issues - lapped in the 57.0 range and began closing in. Ahead, Hyman remained unchallenged at the front until Lap 11 when Mohamed Ryan halted, forcing the field to slow with a safety car.
At the restart, Camps came under pressure from Sandeep Kumar and eventually lost eighth on Lap 14.
Divy Nandan, lapping under 57 seconds, began pressuring Camps; the two exchanged positions before Nandan reclaimed the place on Lap 18, dropping Camps to ninth.
Ahead, Wood continued improving, setting a personal best 56.5 on Lap 16 and holding firmly to fifth.
A large gap had formed between Hyman, Alibhai, and Canning. However, late drama saw Canning collide with Madesh, sending the latter into the barriers and triggering a red flag that ended the race.
Caitlin Wood secured a superb fifth-place finish, while Laura Camps completed a positive first-ever F4 race in ninth.
"With only one free practice session, we went straight into a one-lap qualifying shootout. Raoul [Hyman] did a great job and managed to win the race starting from P2", said his teammate Wohlwend.
In Group B practice, Sohil Shah was quickest, but Gabriela Jilkova impressed with a 55.2 lap. Jemma Moore, on F4 debut, was fourth fastest. Fabienne Wohlwend was close behind.
In the one-lap qualifying, Jilkova delivered brilliantly to secure her second IRL career pole, beating Yoong by just 0.059 seconds. Wohlwend was third fastest in 57.2, Hepworth seventh and Jemma Moore eighth.
Jilkova led from pole but locked up at Turn 1 while defending, running deep and falling to fourth behind Yoong, Wohlwend, and Surineni.
While in contention for a podium, Wohlwend received a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line at pit exit on the formation lap, dropping her to the back of the field and forcing the Liechtenstein's driver to a recovery.
On Lap 4, Jilkova repassed Surineni for second. However, on Lap 5 she was pushed into the wall, bending her suspension and forcing retirement, in a major championship blow for the Czech star.
Caitlin Wood's teammate Yoong built a seven-second lead over Shah. Moore charged forward, climbing to fifth and passing Hepworth, then overtaking Tijil Rao for fourth on Lap 9.
Wohlwend, meanwhile, was lapping in 57.1 - over two seconds quicker than cars ahead - and then under 56 seconds, including consistent 55.7s, closing the gap from over 20 to eight seconds.
Hepworth also ran under the 56 seconds mark and pressured Moore before Moore encountered issues on Lap 23 and dropped down the order. Wohlwend overtook Rao and Moore to reach sixth, closing to within four seconds of Surineni before the race ended under Safety Car.
Alister Yoong won ahead of Sohil Shah and Ruhaan Alva; Jem Hepworth finished fourth but was later demoted to eighth. Fabienne Wohlwend thus completed a remarkable recovery to fifth place, bagging important points despite the initial penalty.
"I secured P3 on the grid and had a mega start", Fabienne said. "While running in P2, I received a drive-through penalty because I crossed the white line after the pit exit during the warm-up lap. A very harsh penalty — it normally shouldn’t happen, but there were many lines on the ground and it wasn’t clearly visible. Thanks to the Safety Car, I was able to close the gap again and, with some strong overtaking moves, bring the car home in P5."
Jemma Moore’s strong debut ended unfortunately, while Jilkova’s DNF carried heavy championship implications.
Sunday began with Group A practice, topped by Wohlwend's teammate Hyman. Wood was ninth and Camps eleventh. Hyman would then secure pole with a 54.428, three tenths ahead of Madesh. Wood qualified eighth (56.902), Camps ninth.
In Group B practice, Ruhaan Alva led, but Jemma Moore impressed again with a 54.384 that placed her third fastest. Wohlwend was sixth (55.527), Hepworth eighth, Jilkova tenth.
Qualifying followed shortly after, and Kichcha's Kings Bengaluru's Alva took pole with a 55.011 lap. Jemma Moore starred again with fourth (55.631), ahead of Jilkova and Wohlwend.
Combined qualifying times thus set the grid: Canning/Shah would claim pole position, preceding Hyman/Wohlwend in second place. Kumar/Moore lined up fifth, Wood/Yoong sixth, Kumaran/Hepworth eighth, Jilkova/Nandan tenth and Camps/Vijayaraj eleventh.
Raoul Hyman immediately took the lead at the start of the 40 minute feature race that would feature a unique driver change; Caitlin Wood, also contesting the opening stint, slotted into seventh while Laura Camps passed Kumaran for tenth.
Hyman extended his advantage with a 54.7 fastest lap, building 1.5 seconds over Madesh, and his advantage stretched to over five seconds by Lap 10. Camps climbed to ninth, then eighth as Mohamed Ryan dropped back. She began closing in on Wood and Kumar, who had been engaged in a sustained duel, both running 56.8 laptimes and with the Australian maintaining relentless pressure.
On Lap 14, Canning retired, promoting Caitlin Wood to sixth and Laura Camps to seventh. By Lap 17, the Spanish driver had reduced the gap to Wood to just two seconds, gaining a second on that lap alone. A few seconds ahead, Madesh and Alibhai battled for second, allowing Hyman to extend his lead beyond 20 seconds by Lap 21.
Driver changes occurred on Lap 22: Satchel Rotgé, on his IRL debut, was the first driver to dive into the pitlane for the mandatory stop, followed by most of the field the following lap.
Wood handed over in P5 after gaining positions through her stint. Camps was however the biggest mover, having picked up five places in her driving time and handed over in P6.
Race leader Raoul Hyman handed the #5 car to Fabienne Wohlwend and the team performed a quick and precise pit stop. After the driver changes, Wohlwend led by eight seconds over Ali Mohsin and Ruhaan Alva. Behind them, Alister Yoong pushed hard but faced a 36-second gap to Rao in the battle for fourth. Jem Hepworth got behind the wheel and overtook Surineni for seventh, while Vijayaraj, having taken over from Laura Camps, hit the wall, triggering the Safety Car.
The neutralization erased Wohlwend’s nearly 10-second advantage: at the restart, she would face Ali Mohsin and Alva directly behind. Fabienne however executed a flawless restart, immediately lapping under 56 seconds and then a 54.6, rebuilding a three-second cushion.
Behind her, Yoong attacked Rao for fourth, with Jemma Moore also aggressively pressuring both in a fierce battle for the top five. Madesh dropped from second, promoting Alva. There was drama however as Jemma Moore, again in prime position for a top five finish, hit the wall and retired. The late Safety Car eventually froze the field for the final lap.
Never under pressure despite the earlier neutralization, Fabienne Wohlwend crossed the line to claim a dominant first Indian Racing League victory - her first F4 win and the first by a driver from Liechtenstein in Formula 4 competitions.
"In combined qualifying, Raoul and I secured P2 on the grid. Raoul had a great start and took the lead right away", Fabienne summed up. "After 20 minutes, it was time for the driver change — thanks to a strong pit stop, I was able to keep the lead and build a safe gap."
"Then, unexpectedly, the Safety Car came out 10 minutes before the end — my gap was gone. I kept my nerves, executed a strong restart, created a gap to P2 and brought the win home in a dominant style."
Ruhaan Alva finished second, with Rao third on track, but a post-race penalty promoted Caitlin Wood and Alister Yoong to third overall, securing Wood a highly valuable podium result.
"We had a solid points haul this weekend at Goa", Wood commented. "I finished fifth in my sprint race, whilst my teammate Alister won which was amazing. And then in the first F4 driver change feature race we ended up on the podium in P3! Definitely can't complain, especially on a street circuit with the new F4 cars instead of the Wolf's. Really enjoyed it as the track developed over the weekend, and can't wait to do it all over again in Mumbai!"
Jem Hepworth secured her first top-five finish in fifth. Jemma Moore and Laura Camps were unfortunately out of the feature race, while Jilkova did not get the opportunity to drive.
Fabienne Wohlwend’s breakthrough victory elevates her to the top of the championship standings with one round remaining. The Indian Racing League season will in fact conclude on March 22-23 with another street race, this time in Mumbai.