Indian Racing League announces new driver line ups for 2025 season

Indian Racing League returns for its fifth season with new driver line-ups and teams; here are the six female drivers set to compete.

Photo credits: IRL

The Indian Racing League returns for its fifth season with a refreshed driver line-up and new teams. Six female drivers are set to enter the premier Indian motor racing championship, which kicks off in mid-August at Kari Motor Speedway, featuring a five-round calendar.

The championship adopted its current format in 2022 and has since established itself as a competitive platform, adding Indian F4 to its weekend. It has successfully built both a pathway for local racers and a springboard for international talents, with several motorsport stars having raced in the series over the seasons.

One of the pillars of the Indian Racing League has always been its gender equality approach: it is in fact one of the few championships worldwide to require one female driver in each team’s line-up.

Each team features a male international driver, a female driver, and two local drivers—a format that has proven instrumental in developing young talents from the region.

Six female drivers have been announced for the 2025 campaign, including two newcomers making their IRL debuts, alongside four returnees. Teams have undergone a reshuffle from previous seasons, with the innovative concept of a driver draft introduced, held on 15th July in Mumbai.

Frequent podium finisher Fabienne Wohlwend, entering her fourth season in IRL, was third in the 2024 championship standings, having raced at the front in most events. The Liechtenstein driver—a former Ferrari Challenge World Champion and W Series podium finisher—will now race for Goa Aces, joining reigning champion Raoul Hyman, Akash Gowda, and Chetan Surineni. Having led the standings for most of last season, Wohlwend—who currently also races in the NLS series—aims to carry that momentum into 2025.

Previously at Goa Aces, IRL veteran Gabriela Jílková will switch to Black Birds Hyderabad, joining Jon Lancaster, Akshay Bohra, and Mohamed Ryan. Jílková scored four podiums in five races last year and has consistently been one of the top performers in the series. She is currently racing in the highly competitive GT4 European Series and is a Porsche development driver. Jílková finished fifth in the 2024 IRL drivers’ standings.

Returning for her second season in IRL, Australian Caitlin Wood moves to Speed Demons Delhi, where she will team up with Alister Yoong, Sai Sanjay, and Shahan Ali Mohsin. Wood climbed the ranks of GT racing in GT4, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, and the Blancpain GT Series before being selected for the all-female W Series, where she raced in 2019 and 2021. She then returned to GT racing, competing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife and in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB. In 2024, Wood claimed a top-five finish but also faced reliability issues and will be aiming to bounce back this year.

Photo credits: IRL

Racing for Chennai Turbo Riders, Laura Camps Torras returns for a third season. The Spanish driver has a strong bond with the championship, which marked her racing debut in late 2023. A winner of the prestigious Girls on Track – Rising Stars program and a former Ferrari Driver Academy member, Camps Torras tested F4 machinery but then made her competitive racing debut in the IRL, where she immediately scored a top-five result. In her second campaign, she consistently ran in the top ten but was often plagued by technical issues that hindered her from showcasing her full potential.

Making her IRL debut in 2025, Jem Hepworth joins new team Kichchas Kings Bengaluru, alongside Le Mans legend Neel Jani, race winner Ruhaan Alva, and Kyle Kumaran. The British racer is part of the RAFA Racing Club program, with which she has competed in McLaren Trophy Europe—just missing out on the title—GT4 European Championship, and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, where she is currently closing in on her first class win after a string of podiums that brought her to third in the standings. Hepworth has also experienced success in prototypes and will look to continue her positive trajectory in IRL.

Last but not least, 19-year-old Alexandra Hervé from France is set to make her IRL debut with Kolkata Royal Tigers, joining Tom Canning, Sohil Shah, and Sandeep Kumar. Hervé competed in the 2023 Formula Renault Cup by TTE, driving the highly formative Formula Renault 2.0, and also made appearances in the Ultimate Cup Series, piloting 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.

All drivers will race 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 rounds still to be confirmed. After the opening two rounds in August, the series will resume in October and November.