Akhil Rabindra wins Drivers Championship in inaugural Indian Racing League

Godspeed Kochi took the title with a grand total of 445.5 points, followed by Hyderabad Blackbirds which secured 367 points to grab the second position in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Published : Dec 11, 2022 23:19 IST

Racers compete during the season finale of the Indian Racing League 2022 at the Hyderabad street circuit on Sunday.
Racers compete during the season finale of the Indian Racing League 2022 at the Hyderabad street circuit on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Ramakrishna G
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Racers compete during the season finale of the Indian Racing League 2022 at the Hyderabad street circuit on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Ramakrishna G

The roar of the racing cars’ engines reverberated around the NTR gardens as for the first time in the Hyderabad leg of the Indian Racing League (IRL) 2022, a handful of fans, scattered around the arena, were stuck in awe and excitement on an action-packed Sunday.

Cold conditions and a wet track, with a slight drizzle, prevailed in the race circuit. But that didn’t derail the season finale as the Godspeed Kochi drivers pressed down the throttle to cap off three straight wins on the final day to win the overall championship title.  

Home team Hyderabad Blackbirds took the second spot and was followed by Goa Aces who finished third in the championship table. Incidentally, Chennai Turbo Riders finished first at the end of the final race but its celebrations were cut short as the team was handed a time penalty by the race stewards.

Kochi took the title with a grand total of 445.5 points, followed by Hyderabad who secured 367 points to grab the second position. While Goa Aces notched 294 points, Chennai finished fourth with 227 points.

Hyderabad secured the drivers’ championship title with Akhil Rabindra pipping team-mate Neel Jani to win the title. Alister Yoong of Kochi made it to the podium as he finished third. 

Akhil, the only Indian and the first Asian to be selected by the Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy, capped off a brilliant championship race with 143 overall points. Jani, the Swiss racer representing Hyderabad finished with 137 points, while Yoong, Malaysia’s quickest teenager collected 132 points to take the third spot. 

The grand finale-

Manoeuvring tight corners and accelerating down the straights, the Kochi drivers exhibited panache, putting their driving skills into an exhibition as Nikhil Bohra and Ruhaan Alva took pole and second position respectively with a best lap time of 1:26.902s and 1:27.726s in the Qualifying 1 (Q1).

In Q2, Alister Yoong and Fabienne Wohlwend secured the first and the second spot with the lap time of 1:26.073s and 1:26.592s.

The twist happened in the feature race as the duo of Jon Lancaster and Sandeep Kumar representing Chennai was booked for time penalty which ultimately dragged down the yellow outfit by three places.

Kevin Mirocha and Gabriela Jilkova of Goa Aces drove with control and piloted sharp overtakes as Goa benefitted on the penalty to Chennai with sheer consistency all through the race to finish on the podium.

Hyderabad’s hopes of winning the title evaporated with ace driver Akhil suffering a car failure midway through the race. Although the Bangalore-born driver drove with sheer willpower with speed being his ally, the 26-year-old’s lead shrank drastically, as Kochi took the chequered flag to end the season finale on a high.

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