Jaden rahaman pariat

Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup: On a thrilling day of racing, veteran Jon Lancaster of England and 17-year-old Jaden Rahaman Pariat from Shillong took the honours in the Indian Racing League (IRL) and Formula 4 Indian Championship races, respectively, as the Round-1 of the Indian Racing Festival commenced at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Hyderabad Blackbirds team had a wretched afternoon. First, Hugh Barter retired when looking set for an easy win in the F4 Indian Championship race, handing P1 to Pariat (Bangalore Speedsters). And then another Hyderabad Blackbirds driver, Neel Jani, the Swiss ace, too packed up when within sight of a victory, to gift it to Lancaster (Chennai Turbo Riders).

As well as Lancaster and Pariat drove, Ruhaan Alva, the teenager from Bengaluru, racing for Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, won wholesome praise for his podium finish in both the races whose outcome was in suspense till the very end. The 39-year-old Lancaster won a dramatic IRL Race-1 for A Drivers. Pole-sitter Alva slipped to fifth after going off the track midway through the race which allowed Lancaster to move to P1, ahead of Jani.