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| Category | Group CN |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Drivers | 30 |
| Official website | rpplind |
 Current season | |
TheIndian Racing League (formerly known as theX1 Racing League) is anauto racing championship based inIndia.
It is unrelated to the proposedi1 Super Series that was based on a similar idea.
It is co-founded by Indian professional drivers,Aditya Patel andArmaan Ebrahim.[1]
For the first season in 2019, the series operated decade-oldFormula BMW machinery having originally planned to runRadicals. Just two events were held having scheduled four, and track-time at the second and final round was condensed due to travel constraints. A number of the cars suffered from mechanical problems, halving the field from 12 cars to 6 at the second and final event.[2] A number of drivers also abandoned the championship between the events on safety grounds – includingChristina Nielsen andMathias Lauda, who reported that their race-suits had been soaked by a fuel leak during a qualifying session.[3] The Bangalore Racing Stars team were crowned champions.[4]
After delays due to thecoronavirus pandemic, the championship returned in late-2022 having been renamed the Indian Racing League. The series was scheduled to be held alongside theFormula Regional Indian Championship before moving to a standalone schedule, whilst organisers imported a fleet of Group CN-classWolf GB08s to avoid the technical issues that beset the first season.[5] Despite this, all of the races at the first event inHyderabad were cancelled after Vishnu Prasad broke his leg in a practice crash.[6] Two events were held at theMadras International Circuit before returning to Hyderabad, and whilst the Hyderabad Blackbirds team dominated the Irungattukottai rounds with the help of experienced driverNeel Jani, the newGodspeed Kochi franchise overhauled them with a dominant display at a wet-dry finale. The season however was an administrative nightmare; suffering from a lack of public communication regarding the opening round, confusion over whether or not a drivers' championship was to be awarded, the final points tally not aligning with the provided points system, and mechanical issues with the cars (wheels falling off at the first Irungattukottai event and engines flooding during the rolling starts at the finale).[7]
With an updated format, and a calendar including theBuddh International Circuit as well as a new street course around Chennai'sIsland Grounds, the championship appeared to be in better shape approaching their third season in 2023.[8] However, issues immediately arose as the first round was moved from Hyderabad to Irungattukottai less than a week out due tolocal elections, whilst Buddh disappeared off the calendar entirely.[9] Ultimately, the championship hosted all three of its events at Irungattukottai due to infrastructure damage caused byCyclone Michaung, with bad weather from the system impacting several races as well. Two race wins forRaoul Hyman helped he and co-driver Sohil Shah to the drivers' championship, whilst Bangalore Speedsters claimed the teams' championship aided bySarah Moore's victory in the first round – Moore becoming the first woman to win a race in the series.[10]
The2024 season started in remarkably organised fashion, with the first two races at Irungattukottai going off without a hitch –Jon Lancaster scored his and the Chennai Turbo Riders' first race win in the season-opener afterNeel Jani retired from the lead with a handful of laps remaining, whilst Alister Yoong won the second race for the rebrandedRarh Bengal Tigers;Sourav Ganguly and the Shrachi Group purchased the Godspeed Kochi franchise in the off-season.[11] The series hosted its first night event around theIsland Grounds a week later, with the wins shared byRaoul Hyman andÁlvaro Parente after track action was delayed due to issues with circuit homologation.[12][13]
Teams are franchise-based and represent Indian cities. Each team has two cars and four drivers; two drivers must be Indian or of Indian descent, and the other two drivers – one male and onefemale – must come from outside of India. Two drivers compete in each car, with the line-ups determined by the teams.
In 2019, each event consisted of three 30mins + 1 lap races. The races were relays, with a mandatory pit-stop for a driver change in each.
In 2022, three races will again be held per round – but the first two of these will be 25min + 1 lap "sprint races" and the third is a 45min + 1 lap "feature race". As there are two drivers per car, for Race 1 Driver A will qualify and Driver B will start, for Race 2 Driver B will qualify and Driver A will start, and the feature race will see the grid determined by aggregate event points with both drivers competing by way of a mandatory driver change.[14]
In 2023, two qualifying sessions and two races were held per event – with the "feature race" including driver swaps discontinued. Two drivers were entered in each car, with each driver contesting one of the two event days – consisting of one 20-minute practice session, one 10-minute qualifying session and a 20-minute + 1 lap race per day.[15] This format was retained in 2024, with the race length increased by 5 minutes.[16]
| Season | Driver | Team and contributing drivers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | not awarded | Bangalore Racing Stars |  Nayan Chatterjee Michelle GattingArjun Maini Vishnu Prasad Oliver Webb |
| 2020 – 2021 | not held | ||
| 2022 | Akhil Rabindra Hyderabad Blackbirds | Godspeed Kochi | Jordan Albert[a] Ruhaan Alva Nikhil Bohra Fabienne Wohlwend Alister Yoong |
| 2023 |  Raoul Hyman Sohil ShahGoa Aces | Bangalore Speedsters | Ashwin DattaKyle KumaranSarah MooreOliver Webb |
| 2024 | Raoul Hyman Sohil Shah Goa Aces | Goa Aces | Raoul Hyman Gabriela JílkováShahan Ali Mohsin Sohil Shah |
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