RACERS

Dec 11, 20229 min read

IRL: Jílková takes 3 podiums out of 3, Wohlwend seals teams' title for Godspeed Kochi

With an outstanding Sunday at the Hyderabad Street Circuit, Gabriela Jílková claimed three podiums out of three in the Indian Racing League season finale, while Fabienne Wohlwend and Godspeed Kochi's teammates clinched the teams' title at the end of four thrilling weeks.

Four intense weeks: from the hectic inaugural weekend, to the spectacular races at Madras International Circuit, and back to the scenic venue of the Hyderabad Street Circuit, the Indian Racing League has provided plenty of interesting talking points despite its short schedule.

With its innovative format, IRL has introduced highly interesting features in motor racing - such as sprint races where drivers qualify the car for their teammates, feature races with driver change in single-seaters, and a mix of international and local drivers that is set to shine a light on Indian up-and-coming talents and allow them to develop alongside established athletes.

Among the top features of the championship is obviously also its gender equality format, as IRL became one of the few series globally to require the presence of a female racer in each team. Drivers of the likes of Fabienne Wohlwend, Bianca Bustamante, Lola Lovinfosse, Gabriela Jílková, Célia Martin and Nicole Havrda joined the 4-event championship, with many of them getting the chance to step on the podium following remarkable performances.

Frenchwoman Célia Martin was third alongside her Speed Demons Delhi's teammate Mitch Gilbert in the opening sprint race, while W Series star Fabienne Wohlwend claimed two second places in her sprint and feature races at Chennai, which resulted in the Godspeed Kochi team moving into second place in the championship standings.

At the third round - the second at the technical Chennai track - it would be Lola Lovinfosse to clinch her maiden podium, after an impressive run in her 20-minute + 1 lap sprint race that saw the 17-year-old Blackbird Hyderabad's driver surviving a sudden downpour with masterful a drive. But it was not just a lucky race for Lovinfosse, who had arguably deserved a podium in the previous feature race, before she was crashed out of the race on the final lap while in the top three.

In the final Sunday races at Chennai, young Filipina driver Bianca Bustamante - at her first ever season in car racing - completely stole the show: the W Series Academy rookie drove to two third place finishes in both the sprint and feature races, showing speed and racecraft - but unfortunate post-race penalties denied her of both results.

While it was heartbreak for Bustamante, who eventually finished sixth and seventh, Fabienne Wohlwend made the most of the situation once again and scored a top-five in the feature race, while Gabriela Jílková was could finally secure her first top ten after an unbelievable streak of bad luck.

The always solid Nicole Havrda - the youngest of the female drivers at only 16 years of age - also scored good points for the championship, as the teams geared up for the exciting final round of the season at the Hyderabad Street Circuit.

On Saturday, the racing schedule suffered delays and cars could take to the track only for a single 1-hour practice session. Bangalore Speedsters' Oliver Webb and Anshul Gandhi led the timing sheets with a 1:15.982 lap, two tenths clear of the Godspeed Kochi's duo of Nikhil Bohra and Alister Yoong. Fabienne Wohlwend was once again among the front runners, with a 1:16.958 that put the second Kochi car in fourth place.

Qualifying and the three races were rescheduled for Sunday - in a busy day that would assign the inaugural Indian Racing League titles.

Sprint Race 1

Drivers returned to the track on Sunday morning with a surprise: they would have to face one more difficulty - the wet weather.

After one more practice session led by the Nikhil Bohra/Alister Yoong duo, the single lap qualifying format confirmed Godspeed Kochi team as the one to beat: Bohra took pole position in Q1, preceding teammate Ruhaan Alva - who qualified the #1 car for Fabienne Wohlwend on the front row of the grid. Gandhi and Ali Mohsin shared the second row, while Kevin Mirocha put Gabriela Jílková in fifth place for race 1. The seventh fastest lap by Mitchell Gilbert was also good news for Célia Martin, who would start ahead of series newcomer Tom Canning.

In Q2, Fabienne Wohlwend could finally showcase her skills in rain conditions and battled for pole position - eventually finishing second by 0.519 of a second of Kochi's teammate Alister Yoong. Gabriela Jílková was third when the chequered flag fell, but her fastest lap was deleted for track limits - which left Jílková again in fifth place. Célia Martin was also seventh fastest, ahead of Nicole Havrda (Chennai Turbo Riders). Technical issues left Bianca Bustamante's teammate out of the session, as well as Lola Lovinfosse who was out for the whole day having felt sick since Friday.

On a still wet track, cars lined up on the grid a few minutes later, giving no chance to start the race to the damaged car of Oliver Webb.

Now effectively third, Akash Gowda also slowed down on the formation lap - with Jílková making up positions even before the green flag. Célia Martin also had problems at lights out and dropped down the order, at the first historic start of a street circuit race in India.

On the other hand, Fabienne Wohwlend had a brilliant start, but Yoong kept the lead in a Godspeed Kochi 1-2.

It all went wrong for Rishon Rajeev, who hit the wall on the first lap having been caught out by the tricky wet conditions; Canning attacked Jílková in the final sector, but the Czech racer switched back, just before the Safety Car was deployed and picked up the leaders - the two Wolf Thunder cars of Yoong and Wohlwend.

At the restart, Martin recovered a few positions, passing Kumar and Gowda for seventh.

Jílková was again under pressure from Blackbird Hyderabad's Tom Canning, but she managed to open a safe gap by setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 5, while Wohlwend was getting closer to Yoong.

With 5 minutes to go, Wohlwend's car broke down, just as the racing star from Liechtenstein was cruising to her third second place finish of the season. Jílková moved into second, just two seconds off of race leader Alister Yoong. With two minutes to go, another technical issue took out Célia Martin as well, as she parked in a safe place on the main straight.

Yoong took his second race victory in a sprint race with a lights to flag win, followed by Gabriela Jílková - in her first podium finish - and Sohil Shah, who set the fastest lap after having overtaken Tom Canning for the final podium spot with a bold move. Akash Gowda rounded out the top five, ahead of Nicole Havrda and Sandeep Kumar - with seven cars making it to the finish line.

1	2	Yoong/Bohra	Godspeed Kochi	16:52.228
2	7	Jílková/Mirocha	Goa Aces	+2.913
3	8	Shah/Sayed	Goa Aces	+5.484
4	9	Canning/Rabindra	Blackbirds Hyderabad	+7.133
5	11	Gowda/Ali Mohsin	Speed Demons Delhi	+17.335
6	5	Havrda/Ghorpade	Chennai Turbo Riders	+32.335
7	6	Kumar/Lancaster	Chennai Turbo Riders	+38.147
8	12	Martin/Gilbert	Speed Demons Delhi	DNF
9	1	Wohlwend/Alva	Godspeed Kochi	DNF
10	3	Rajeev/Bustamante	Bangalore Speedsters	DNF
11	4	Webb/Gandhi	Bangalore Speedsters	DNF
12	10	Lovinfosse/Reddy	Blackbirds Hyderabad	DNF

Sprint Race 2

Teammates Nikhil Bohra and Ruhaan Alva shared the front row for the final sprint race of the IRL season, preceding championship leader Akhil Rabindra and Amir Sayed.

Bianca Bustamante - the only female driver scheduled to take part in Race 2 - was supposed to line up in P10 after an unlucky qualifying, where she kissed the wall in order to avoid a spinning car in front of her.

Unfortunately, Rajeev's accident in Race 1 meant that Bustamante could not take the start in Race 2, just like their Bangalore Speedsters teammates Anshul Gandhi and Oliver Webb, also following a qualifying crash.

Bohra held off Alva at the start, also surviving a first lap mistake at the chicane; having joined the field late due to repairs, Mitch Gilbert started last but soon overtook Reddy.

The leading duo pulled away, as Rabindra was almost two seconds per lap slower than the Kochi cars. Sayed had to defend from Kevin Mirocha and the Polish driver ultimately made a move stick on lap 4 at the hairpin, also giving Jon Lancaster a chance to get by Sayed for fifth place a few corners later.

Ruhaan Alva was the fastest man on track but, just when he was closing in on the race leader, came to a halt on track just like had happened to his teammate Wohlwend in race 1. Alva, though, could get going again and dropped down to fifth. 13 seconds down the road, Akhil Rabindra inherited second place, with Kevin Mirocha also looking to emulate his teammate Jílková and clinch another podium.

Alva, though, was not out of contention yet: on lap 9, the young Indian talent recovered positions on Lancaster and Rabindra - with the latter slipping from second to fifth. On the final lap, Alva managed to pass Mirocha as well, reclaiming second place in an impressive recovery drive.

Almost 20 seconds up the road, Nikhil Bohra won unchallenged, claiming the second win of the day for the #2 Godspeed Kochi car.

Thanks to their qualifying efforts, Fabienne Wohlwend and Gabriela Jílková shared the podium with their teammates Ruhaan Alva and Kevin Mirocha, respectively second and third. For Wohlwend, it was her third podium in the series. Jon Lancaster and Akhil Rabindra completed the top five; Anindith Reddy was disqualified after the race for receiving assistance after his car had come to a stop at Turn 5.

1	2	Bohra/Yoong	Godspeed Kochi	17:14.351
2	1	Alva/Wohlwend	Godspeed Kochi	+17.038
3	7	Mirocha/Jílková	Goa Aces	+19.883
4	6	Lancaster/Kumar	Chennai Turbo Riders	+20.354
5	9	Rabindra/Canning	Blackbirds Hyderabad	+26.265
6	8	Sayed/Shah	Goa Aces	+30.043
7	5	Ghorpade/Havrda	Chennai Turbo Riders	+1:31.117
8	3	Ali Mohsin/Gowda	Bangalore Speedsters	DNF
9	4	Gilbert/Martin	Speed Demons Delhi	DNF
10	3	Bustamante/Rajeev	Bangalore Speedsters	DNS
11	4	Gandhi/Webb	Speed Demons Delhi	DNS
12	10	Reddy/Lovinfosse	Blackbirds Hyderabad	DQ

FEATURE RACE

All was set for the final 35 minute +1 lap race that would assign the first ever Indian Racing League titles.

Taking advantage from an unfortunate weekend for home heroes Blackbirds Hyderabad, Godspeed Kochi's Nikhil Bohra and Ruhaan Alva shared the front row with the clear aim of maximising points and snatching the lead in the teams' standings from their rivals, now only 23.5 points ahead. In an equally strong weekend for Goa Aces' Kevin Mirocha and Gabriela Jílková, the #7 machine started fourth, targeting three out of three podiums in the final weekend.

Unfortunately, due to the rapid succession of sessions, Webb/Gandhi, Ali Mohsin/Gowda and Gilbert/Martin could not take the start in the final feature race.

With a few cars out of position at the start, a new formation lap was required; a few seconds later, though, there was big drama with Akhil Rabindra slowing down and almost coming to a halt. He eventually rejoined the pack, but there was further chaos when Nikhil Bohra also had the same issue at the second start, which was again aborted. This time, a red flag brought everyone back on the starting grid.

The race time was then shortened to 30 minutes plus one lap; after 5 formation laps, the lights on the main straight finally turned out and the race was underway: Alva went deep into the hairpin and Kevin Mirocha slotted into second, while all the pressure was on Hyderabad's Rabindra, who spun after being tagged by Jon Lancaster. The safety car was deployed, but the green flag was back in the air one lap later.

There was ultimately no driving time on Sunday for Bianca Bustamante, as her teammate Rajeev slowed down on the main straight and retired.

Alva was on fire and attacked Mirocha - but the Polish driver defended well, as Alva lost momentum and was overtaken at Turn 1 by Jon Lancaster for third. The battle for the podium, meanwhile, gave Nikhil Bohra the opportunity to pull away.

Having dominated the weekends at Chennai, Hyderabad's Rabindra pulled into the pits and retired the #9 car - putting the title in jeopardy for his team.

Unable to get by the fighting Mirocha and Lancaster, Ruhaan Alva took to the pitlane to hand over to Fabienne Wohlwend - crucially when the pit window was not open yet.

Mirocha meanwhile had dropped behind Lancaster, just as driver change stops started. Nicole Havrda drove a very good first stint to P5 before handing over to Parth Ghorpade. Alister Yoong took over from Nikhil Bohra on lap 13 after a flawless opening stint, as also Mirocha pitted for Jilkova and Jon Lancaster remained the only driver yet to stop.

The longer opening stint by the Chennai Turbo Riders put Sandeep Kumar in the race lead, followed by Yoong and Wohlwend. Fabienne was faster but, with an impending penalty, eventually opted not to fight her teammate. With two minutes to go, Kumar saw Alister Yoong getting closer and closer - at the rate of a couple of seconds per lap. But the strategy played out in favor of Chennai's Jon Lancaster and Sandeep Kumar, who preceded Nikhil Bohra/Alister Yoong and Kevin Mirocha/Gabriela Jílková across the finish line.

'Quick Gabi' in fact inherited third place when Fabienne Wohlwend received a 70 second time penalty for pitting outside the pit window - and then moved up to second when the race winners were handed a 30 second penalty for causing the collision on the opening lap.

Nikhil Bohra and Alister Yoong therefore took their third win of the weekend, preceding Mirocha/Jílková and Anindith Reddy, in his solo run to third.

Wohlwend ended up sixth - but her points were enough to seal the team's championship for Godspeed Kochi, who claimed the title by 78.5 points over Blackbirds Hyderabad.

With three race wins over the course of the season, Akhil Rabindra sealed the drivers' title with 143 points; unable to join the field at Hyderabad for the season finale, Rabindra's teammate Neel Jani was second in the championship table. Alister Yoong came just 5 points short and finished third. Three podiums gained Fabienne Wohlwend sixth in the drivers' championship, having scored a total of 92 points.

While Fabienne was the highest scorer among the female drivers, a brilliant final weekend resulted in 69 points and 10th place in the championship for Gabriela Jílková, one place ahead of the extremely consistent Nicole Havrda (65 points).

Bianca Bustamante and Lola Lovinfosse totalled 46 and 14 points respectively, with 27 drivers entering at least one round.

Albeit some reliability issues and a compressed schedule on the final day resulted in a few more DNFs, the Indian Racing League turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable racing series with potential to grow into a popular winter alternative for international drivers - men and women alike.

1	6	Bohra/Yoong	Godspeed Kochi	36:06.265
2	2	Mirocha/Jílková	Goa Aces	+5.656
3	7	Reddy	Blackbirds Hyderabad	+9.622
4	10	Lancaster/Kumar	Chennai Turbo Riders	+28.273
5	5	Havrda/Ghorpade	Chennai Turbo Riders	+39.240
6	1	Alva/Wohlwend	Godspeed Kochi	+1:17.446
7	8	Sayed/Shah	Goa Aces	DNF
8	3	Rajeev/Bustamante	Bangalore Speedsters	DNF
9	12	Gilbert/Martin	Speed Demons Delhi	DNS
10	11	Gowda/Ali Mohsin	Speed Demons Delhi	DNS
11	4	Webb/Gandhi	Bangalore Speedsters	DNS
12	9	Rabindra/Canning	Blackbirds Hyderabad	DQ