Indian Racing League 2024: Six teams to compete over five rounds of IRL, Kolkata makes debut

The Indian Racing Festival (IRF) returns to the track with six city-based teams in the Indian Racing League (IRL), an integral part of the festival alongside the F4 Indian Championship (F4IC).

In what is the world’s first gender-neutral franchise-based league, six teams will feature two Indian and two foreign racers each, including one female, in a five-round competition, which begins at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) on August 24-25.

The event will feature Indian racers Akhil Rabindra and Nikhil Bohra, alongside Swiss driver Neel Jani and multiple other leading motorsport talent from India and abroad.

This year, the returning Fabienne Wolhwend and Gabriel Jilkova, among others, will try to match Sarah Moore’s accomplishment from 2023, when she became the first female race winner in IRL history. 

The first race will be followed by India’s first-ever night race at the Chennai Formula Racing Circuit on August 31-September 1.

Here are some of the top drivers competing in the third season of the IRL:

• Neel Jani – World Endurance Championship (WEC) winner and 24 Hours of Le Mans champion in 2016
• Ruhaan Alva – IRL 2022 Team Champion
• Akhil Rabindra – Inaugural IRL title winner in 2022
• Raoul Hyman, Sohil Shah – 2023 Car Championship winners (Goa Aces)
• Julius Dinesen – Danish F4 Champion 2022