Photo: Indian F4
Kenyan racer Shane Chandaria won the Indian Formula 4 title today in the relocated season finale at Chennai.
There was pre-event testing on Saturday, then finale action got underway with practice on Sunday morning. Ishaan Madesh set the pace, as 0.1 seconds split a top four completed by Ghazi Motlekar, Chandaria and Wian Boshoff.
Chandaria moved to the front in qualifying, edging main title rival Sachel Rotge by 0.195s. Boshoff qualified third, 0.319s off pole, and Veer Sheth trailed by 0.392s in fourth. Ishaan Madesh and Matlekar, the title outsiders, were sixth and eighth.
A mistake off the line at the start of race one meant Chandaria lost his pole advantage, and Rotge called his own launch “really good” and “was confident I could pull that move” into turn one where he took the lead.
The top two held their positions thereon, but a safety car period offered an opportunity for Chandaria to fight for the lead again and Rotge only held on to victory by 0.385s.
Boshoff was third for the first six laps, then Sheth made a “fun move” on him to make it into a podium position and he tried to stay with the victory contenders but finished 3.826s back.
Motlekar got up to sixth early on, then to fifth mid-race, but his title hopes ended when he retired. That lifted Madesh back up to sixth, but he and Rotge exited title contention at the finish as second place for Chandaria was enough to be crowned.
The reversed-grid race two had drama but actually ran for a longer distance than race one. Luviwe Sambudla took a dominant second victory of the season by 11.252s over Rotge, who just held off Chandaria again.
Madesh had started at the front, and lost the lead to Sambudla on lap six of 26. Boshoff would have been next to challenge him but he retired on lap 18. That meant only clean air existed between the championship’s top two and Madesh, and they both passed him on lap 23.
Aris Kryriakou was promoted to fifth by Boshoff’s retirement, but his own race ended a few laps from the finish so Saishiva Sankaran entered the top five. He started on the last row of the grid, but had charged up the order and was only 0.371s behind Madesh when the chequered flag waved.
Motlekar was the race’s first retirement, initially losing ground then moving up into the 10 before heading to the pits and then vacating his car.
After contesting practice, Annabel Kennedy missed the rest of the event.
Indian F4’s promoter RPPL has announced a global F4 test programme, accompanied by training camps, for 2026. There will be a shootout element for two tests, one in the Middle East in April and another at France’s Circuit du Var (May 18-20).
Results round-up
Race 1 (23 laps)
1 Sachel Rotge 26m22.674s
2 Shane Chandaria +0.385s
3 Veer Sheth +3.826s
4 Wian Boshoff +8.016s
5 Luviwe Sambudla +9.875s
6 Ishaan Madesh +15.466s
7 Paige Raddatz +19.648s
8 Aris Kryriakou +20.007s
9 Ntiyiso Mabunda +24.155s
10 Mahlori Motlhabani +26.632s
Pole: Chandaria, 58.613s
Fastest lap: Chandaria, 58.995s
Race 2 (26 laps)
1 Sambudla 26m04.304s
2 Rotge +11.252s
3 Chandaria +11.611s
4 Madesh +14.389s
5 Saishiva Sankaran +14.760s
6 Mabunda +18.105s
7 Raddatz +28.971s
8 Clara Stiebleichinger +29.220s
9 Motlhabani +33.420s
10 Enzo Rujugiro +1 lap
FL: Sheth, 59.193s
Championship standings
1 Chandaria 186 2 Rotge 168 3 Madesh 142 4 Ghazi Motlekar 124 5 Sankaran 109 6 Sambudla 104 7 Itsuki Sato 63 8 Mabunda 49 9 Boshoff 48 10 Sheth 45