Chennai Street Circuit: A Weekend of Highs and Lows

New Chennai street circuit made its racing debut over the weekend of August 31 - September 1, hosting Round 2 of the Indian Racing Festival. The 3.5 km track, running in an anti-clockwise direction, had both excitement and a bit of challenges. While the circuit impressed many drives and witnessed some thrilling racing action, the event was not without any hiccups. Here's a look at some of the big key highlights from the weekend.

A track built for close racing

Despite some organizational issues, the track itself garnered rave reviews from many of the drivers. In the night lights, this circuit has an amazing view. Jon Lancaster from Chennai Turbo Riders shared his views of the circuit mentioning that riders have to be careful while driving as the difficulty level of the track is very high. He also mentioned that the track is perfect for racers who love to race their cars up to the top speed.  Lancaster, who has raced extensively in European GT4 and the McLaren Trophy series, enjoyed the challenge and the overtaking opportunities the track provided.

This is not an F1 track, but instead an F4 track for younger drivers. Young Indian drivers rarely get to train on a street circuit. For that reason, the event was an effective lesson. "This is a good chance for us. Usually, we do our practice on a regular circuit, but it's difficult to arrange a track of that sort. We don't get much track time there, so it's all about adapting quickly," said Mohammed Ryan of Chennai Turbo Riders.

Lancaster added, "If you're an aspiring international racing driver, you're going to race on street tracks at some point. It's a really good learning step in any driver's development. Even at normal tracks, you're going to carry that precision with you."

Action-packed races and results

There was plenty of overtaking all throughout the weekend, amidst some safety car interruptions. The event included a pretty fair deal given a green track surface and seriously limited practice time. But on track, things were pretty much okay as one could expect.

Indian Racing League standings

Race 1: First place went to Raoul Hyman from Goa Aces, second to Gabriela Jilkova of the same team, and third to Alister Yoong representing the Rarh Bengal Tigers.

Race 2: Speed Demons Delhi's Alvaro Parente took the top spot, followed by Goa Aces' Sohil Shah and Bangalore Speedsters' Rishon Rajeev.

Indian F4 championship:

Race 1: Godspeed Kochi's Hugh Barter won the race but had a poor Race 2, starting from the last position.
Race 2: Hyderabad Blackbirds' Aqil Alibhai made up for missing the first race due to car issues by winning the second race.

LGB F4 results:

Race 1 was taken by Dark Don Racing's Diljith TS.
Race 2 was taken by Tijil Rao of Dark Don Racing as he crossed the checkered flag first, thus reversing the Race 1 result.

Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers stay on top

Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers are still at the top with 93 points, followed by 83 points of Chennai Turbo Riders and Speed Demons Delhi with 74 points.

A lot left to be desired - Scope for improvement

Pulling off a successful street race in a country as populous as India is no small feat. Of course, there's much work to be done to be better infrastructure and organization-wise, but it was successful in bringing attention to the Indian Racing Festival. The high-speed cars racing in the golden hour of Chennai showed a glimpse of what this venue could, in fact, host in the future.

Jon Lancaster summed it up quite nicely: "This is the first big step in making the Indian Racing League huge. Its population size and interest in motorsport already make it fertile ground for growth. This event has set the platform for what can be a major series in the near future.

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Closing thoughts

The Chennai street circuit is one to remember, with some good lessons and excitement. Once the infrastructure and organization come up, it might well become one of India's largest motorsport events. It doesn't require a crystal ball to figure this one out-with the IRF gaining more steam and all, it has every potential to become one of the world's big-ticket motorsport events.

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