Photo: Indian F4
Shane Chandaria was the star of Indian Formula 4’s relocated fourth round at Kari Motor Speedway last weekend.
The championship was supposed to race on a new street circuit in Goan city Vasco da Gama on November 1/2, but local opposition contributed to round four being relocated and postponed at late notice.
Before the paddock arrived at Kari, it was then announced there would also be a change to the end of season schedule. Rather than hold night races on the new Mumbai Street Circuit, Formula Scout understands round five will instead be held at Chennai on December 12-14.
Series returnee Arjun Chheda set the pace in Kari practice, a 1m06.682s earning him top spot by 0.167 seconds over Annabel Kennedy and 0.222s over Chandaria. Half a second split the top eight.
Chandaria moved to the top in qualifying for race one, leading title rivals Sachel Rotge and Ishaan Madesh. Saishiva Sankaran and Ghazi Motlekar were next up.
In qualifying two it was Chandaria who was quickest again, this time edging Madesh by 0.272s. Rotge was 0.336s off pole in third, and Motlekar pipped Chheda to fourth by 0.027s.
Race one ended Saturday’s action, and a rocket start by Rotge put him into a lead he grew out to 5.667s. Motlekar rose up the field and made it past Chandaria and Madesh to finish second.
In the reversed-grid race two, Luviwe Sambudla claimed his first victory of the season by 1.244s over Motlekar while Rotge had a nightmare and retired mid-race. Chandaria did not maximise on that, since he only finished fifth while Madesh made the podium.
The stakes were raised for race three, and there was more wheel-to-wheel action. This time Chheda was the driver whose race came undone, as he retired during the second half. Chandaria kept a dictance from the action, so much so that he ended up winning by a huge 14.727s. Motlekar also ended up with a big gap in second, as he was 12.892s ahead of Rotge.
Chandaria takes a 24-point lead into the season finale, with five drivers in title contention.
Results round-up
Race 1 (23 laps)
1 Sachel Rotge 26m50.931s
2 Ghazi Motlekar +5.667s
3 Shane Chandaria +6.863s
4 Ishaan Madesh +7.624s
5 Saishiva Sankaran +12.673s
6 Luviwe Sambudla +19.735s
7 Arjun Chheda +24.162s
8 Paige Raddatz +29.561s
9 Veer Sheth +30.289s
10 Ntiyiso Mabunda +32.991s
Pole: Chandaria, 1m06.592s
Fastest lap: Rotge, 1m06.960s
Race 2 (23 laps)
1 Sambudla 26m12.050s
2 Motlekar +1.244s
3 Madesh +4.271s
4 Sankaran +5.452s
5 Chandaria +5.953s
6 Sheth +6.331s
7 Aris Kyriakou +9.387s
8 Annabel Kennedy +13.638s
9 Clara Stiebleichinger +14.955s
10 Chheda +18.969s
FL: Kyriakou, 1m07.345s
Race 3 (24 laps)
1 Chandaria 26m53.930s
2 Motlekar +14.727s
3 Rotge +27.619s
4 Madesh +29.755s
5 Sankaran +30.442s
6 Sheth +31.504s
7 Mabunda +33.481s
8 Stiebleichinger +33.885s
9 Kyriakou +36.130s
10 Mahlori Motlhabani +36.836s
P: Chandaria, 1m06.458s
FL: Chandaria, 1m06.764s
Championship standings
1 Chandaria 158 2 Rotge 134 3 Madesh 127 4 Motlekar 124 5 Sankaran 103 6 Sambudla 84 7 Itsuki Sato 63 8 Mabunda 42 9 Vasileios Apostolidis 36 10 Wian Boshoff 36