The second round of the 2024 Indian Formula 4 championship in Chennai, featuring India’s first-ever night street race, highlighted impressive performances from Alba Hurup Larsen, who secured her first top-6 and Rookie of the Race award. Aiva Anagnostiadis also continued the points-scoring streak with two top-10s.
The second round of the 2024 Indian Formula 4 championship was a historic weekend for Indian motorsport, as it was held on the streets of Chennai, on the new Formula Racing Circuit, marking the first-ever night street race in the country.
The series began a week earlier at the permanent Madras International Circuit, featuring four female drivers: Danish Alba Hurup Larsen, making her debut in single-seaters as the final winner of the Girls on Track - Rising Stars program; Aiva Anagnostiadis, also making her F4 debut; and Indian racers Mira Erda and Shriya Lohia.
Lohia, who contested one round last year and became the first woman to score points in the series, had a strong start to the 2024 campaign with three top-ten finishes at Madras, including an eighth place as her personal best. Young Australian Anagnostiadis also kicked off her season well, with a seventh and a ninth place. Despite some technical issues, Alba Hurup Larsen showcased enough pace to battle just outside the top five but had to settle for a tenth place in race 3.
Erda, making her debut in the F4 machine, had great battles and made notable improvements, securing a top ten finish in her first race.
Having all scored points at the opening event, the four female drivers were aiming to maintain their momentum just a few days later—though for most, it would be a debut on a street circuit.
Despite some delays on the opening day, resulting in a slightly altered schedule, the Chennai Formula Racing Circuit proved to be a very technical and demanding layout, with fast yet bumpy sections that benefitted the most experienced drivers.
Qualifying took place on Sunday, with former FIA F3 driver Hugh Barter setting the fastest time in Q1 to secure pole for the first race of the weekend, ahead of Ruhaan Alva and Aqil Alibhai. The gaps were significant throughout the field, with some drivers unable to set a fastest lap during the entire session.
Q2 saw more drama as Barter crashed and was unable to set a single lap time, with Divy Nandan taking pole for race 2 ahead of Jaden Pariat and Alibhai in third.
Barter and Alva dominated race 1, lapping around two seconds faster each lap than the rest of the field. Barter took the victory with a margin of more than 7 seconds ahead of Alva, with Abhay Mohan finishing third, more than 25 seconds behind the winner.
Race 2, held under the lights in a very scenic settings, saw Barter starting from last but moving up to 5th place during the race. Alibhai took the victory, putting pole-sitter Nandan under pressure and ultimately passing him on the final lap. The last podium spot went to Pariat, who was close behind the leading pair but couldn't make a move for the win.
One of the stars of the weekend, however, was certainly Alba Hurup Larsen, as the 15-year-old Dane made another impressive step forward in only her second weekend in the car and achieved a sixth and an eighth place finishes – also claiming the top rookie honors.
Hurup Larsen impressively improved throughout the Chennai race weekend and, with no mistakes, she scored points in both races. In practice, Alba showed strong potential by consistently placing in the top 10, despite the challenge of adapting to the new circuit.
During qualifying, she made a significant strides by setting a fast early pace and eventually securing 8th place in Q2. Her ability to adapt and find time despite the red-flag disrupted sessions set the stage for competitive races.
In Race 1, Alba demonstrated her racecraft by recovering from 9th on the grid. After an early safety car restart, she made notable progress and charged to 6th, picking up positions with smart driving.
Race 2 saw Alba starting from 8th position, where she maintained a strong and competitive pace. While she initially settled in ninth, strong pace allowed her to recover to seventh, before the charging Barter got past. She nevertheless held position and was catching Sheth for seventh before a late-race Safety Car neutralized and ended the race.
Her performance in both races showcased her ability to handle the pressure and highlighted her as one of the most improved drivers of the weekend.
“It has been a fantastic experience, both achieving the results on the track and coming to India and meeting a lot of new interesting people. I am incredibly proud of my progress, which I especially owe to my engineer and the rest of the team. Three weeks ago, we had no idea that I would debut in Formula 4 this year, and now I have completed two rounds of a championship and been on the podium. It’s pretty cool, and I’m pretty happy,” she commented, having brought home the rookie win in race 2.
Earning valuable points, Hurup Larsen now sits ninth in the championship standings with 13 points.
Aiva Anagnostiadis also made an impressive step forward on her second weekend in the Indian F4, again scoring two Top10 finishes while starting the races from P14 and P9. The Australian battled here way up the ranks to finish ninth in both contests – and was second in the Rookie class in Race 2.
"Bit of a hectic weekend but so much fun. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. So grateful to have had the chance to drive on a street circuit so early in my formula career."
In the practice session on Sunday morning, Aiva was just outside the top 10, demonstrating promising speed but still facing some gaps to the leading drivers. During qualifying, Aiva managed to secure 9th place in Q2, showing a notable improvement from her practice session.
In Race 1, Aiva started from 12th and worked her way up the order, ultimately finishing ninth. Her efforts were highlighted by again improving her personal best laps.
Race 2 saw Aiva starting further up the order following her Q2 run. Despite falling to eleventh in the opening stages, she run closely to Erda, then passed Muthiaiah to reclaim ninth with 15 minutes to go, while maintaining a competitive pace.
Aiva’s weekend was marked by steady progress and recovery drives which gained her more crucial points. Her consistent lap times and improvement over the weekend reflected her development in the first rounds of her rookie season in F4.
Shriya Lohia had a demanding start of the weekend, after a first practice crash that hindered her early progression. Nevertheless, Lohia learned quickly and her times dropped consistently in each sessions as she significantly reduced the gaps.
Technical issues in the races, however, marred her end results and she finished both races in P12.
"Unfortunately, a nightmare of a weekend for me with mechanical issues that left me without points at the end of the weekend", she commented. "Disappointed since this was a weekend I wanted to get some much better results but sadly this is motorsports and things like these can happen."
Race 1 saw Shriya starting from the back of the field, but managed to make up some ground early in the race, as she overtook Mira Erda on lap 1. The two battled for most of the first contest for P13 and she eventually held on to the position.
In Race 2, Lohia lined up from 14th; she had a good getaway and gained over Muhammed and Korada, although she would settled back into P14.
Despite the challenges, Lohia demonstrated perseverance and picked up a couple more positions in the end to finish P12, as she continued to gain valuable experience.
Mira Erda also gained more experience in the F4 car on the weekend at Chennai, learning each lap and enjoing the night racing in India.
Erda’s weekend was marked by a mix of technical challenges and commendable improvements. During the first practice session on Saturday, Mira was soon in the top ten in the early stages, them finished P15 in the second practice. In the first qualifying, Mira struggled to get up to speed, but she made a big leap forward in the second session, when she set a 1:53.226 that placed her 13th on the starting grid of race 2.
With Alibhai and Mohammed soon out of race 1, Erda was up into P13 and spent most of the race battling with compatriot Shriya Lohia. She ultimately took the chequered flag in P13.
Race 2 saw Mira starting from 13th and made gradual progress through the race, showing determination and improved pace.
In the early stages, Erda put pressure on Anagnostiadis for eleventh following a strong start – and was slightly quicker than her opponent on lap 3. Taking advantage of attrition ahead, she settled in P11, although she lost out to Artho with 3 minutes left on the clock.
However a late technical issue meant that she couldn not finish the race, leaving the second round without points but with valuable experience under her belt.
The next event of the Indian F4 series will take place at Kari Motor Speedway from 13th to 15th September.
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