Photo: Indian F4
Indian Formula 4 managed to christen the new Chennai Formula Racing Circuit with its long-planned night race on Sunday, despite late setbacks.
The circuit is located near the Bay of Bengal using roads encircling the Island Grounds fairground as well as going around Chennai’s Victory War Memorial and crossing four bridges.
There was heavy rain on Saturday, and the series organiser requested an extension on securing FIA Grade 3 certification for the street circuit after changes were reccommended at one corner.
Once that arrived, drivers got their first running with a dusty but enjoyable practice session under the lights in the evening, while FP2 and the qualifying sessions were postponed to Sunday.
A one-lap shootout format was used for qualifying, and ex-Formula 3 racer Hugh Barter set a 1m43.158s in Q1 to take race one pole by a huge 1.548 seconds over Ruhaan Alva. Aqil Alibhai was 1.733s behind in third, and 0.017s ahead of Jaden Pariat. There was a difference of 7.688s between first and 10th place, and two of the 16 drivers failed to set a lap.
Barter was one of the three unable to put a laptime next to their name in Q2, and Divy Nandan – fifth fastest and 2.141s off the pace in Q1 – pipped Pariat to race two pole by 0.05s. Alibhai trailed by 0.972s in third, and Alva was 1.682s slower than Nandan in fourth. The field was less spread out than before as drivers got used to the track.
Race one took place in the early evening, and Alibahi was absent from the grid. That made Barter and Alva’s jobs easier, only having to focus on each other since they were around two seconds per lap faster than most of the field.
Impressively there was only one retiree, although Pariat also failed to see the chequered flag. He had an early spin, recovered several of the positions he lost but then his race ended two laps from the finish having been the third fastest man on track.
Barter won by a crushing 7.299s, with a huge gap of 18.77s between Alva in second and Abhay Mohan in third. Mohan had Veer Sheth in his mirrors at times, and Isaac Demellweek ran a few seconds behind them in fifth.
The floodlights illuminated the track fully for race two, and although the race was six laps longer it was still a tall ask for Barter to win again as he started in last place.
Poleman Nandan looked set to take victory until the final lap, when a lock-up under pressure enabled Alibhai to get past.
Alibhai admitted “I didn’t know whether it was going to stick” when he made the move, and he won by 0.259s. Nandan meanwhile called Alibahi “very confident in making his overtake”.
Pariat was just 0.968s off victory in third, with Alva and Barter 1.313s and 2.005s behind the winner respectively.
Demellweek lasted seven laps before his race ended then got disqualified, and three other drivers retired.
Results round-up
Race 1 (10 laps)
1 Hugh Barter 19m42.952s
2 Ruhaan Alva +7.299s
3 Abhay Mohan +26.069s
4 Veer Sheth +26.827s
5 Isaac Demellweek +28.456s
6 Alba Hurup Larsen +44.667s
7 Giancarlo Artho +45.825s
8 Divy Nandan +47.325s
9 Tarun Muthiaiah +56.485s
10 Aiva Anagnostiadis +57.349s
Pole: Barter, 1m43.158s
Fastest lap: Barter, 1m43.622s
Race 2 (16 laps)
1 Aqil Alibhai 30m03.445s
2 Nandan +0.259s
3 Jaden Pariat +0.968s
4 Alva +1.313s
5 Barter +2.005s
6 Mohan +5.576s
7 Sheth +6.440s
8 Larsen +8.556s
9 Anagnostiadis +9.452s
10 Artho +10.842s
P: Nandan, 1m44.690s
FL: Barter, 1m41.952s
Championship standings
1 Barter 81 2 Alibhai 66 3 Alva 66 4 Pariat 56 5 Nandan 54 6 Sheth 35 7 Mohan 34 8 Demellweek 33 9 Larsen 13 10 Anagnostiadis 11