The Indian Racing League 2026 begins at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) in Chennai on 22 and 23 October, and it shares the track with a tight F4 Indian Championship title race. Six city-based teams will field 24 drivers in Round 1 of the league, while Round 3 of the F4 series has Aris Kyriakou ahead of Luviwe Sambudla by only five points.

The F4 title fight Chennai could swing

Kyriakou, of Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru, arrives with 93 points. Sambudla, of Goa Aces JA Racing, has 88. The totals come from the organisers’ table after the first six races, run over two rounds at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, and the race-by-race numbers explain how the gap got so small.

Kyriakou led by 13 points after Round 1, 51 to 38. Sambudla cut that to five in Round 2 by outscoring him 50 to 42, winning Races 4 and 6 (the first and third races of that round) and scoring nothing in Race 5, from which he retired. Kyriakou, meanwhile, was on the podium in all three races of the round. Sambudla has now taken the 25-point maximum three times in six races, against one for Kyriakou, but the zero in Race 5 is why he is still second.

The arithmetic is simple. A win is worth 25 points and second place 18, so a race where Sambudla wins and Kyriakou is second swings seven points, more than the five that separate them. Bhuvan Bonu of Hyderabad Blackbirds is third on 51 after winning Race 5 from reverse-grid pole, with Mahlori Mabunda (46) and Aaron Mehta (42) completing the top five. Ntiyiso Mabunda of Speed Demons Delhi took two podiums in Round 2, and Swarnav Das finished third in Race 6.

Three more rounds follow Chennai, at Buddh International Circuit on 31 October–1 November and 28–29 November, then the finale in Navi Mumbai on 5–6 December. That leaves room for the title to change hands more than once, so Chennai is a chance to build a cushion rather than settle anything, and the Indian Racing League 2026 shares the track at both Buddh rounds. The organisers add that the F4 Indian Championship is FIA-certified and lets drivers earn Super Licence points.

Indian Racing League 2026: six teams, 24 drivers

The Indian Racing League 2026 is run over four rounds, and Chennai is the first of them. Goa Aces JA Racing start as defending champions. They won the 2025-26 title at the Goa Street Race, where Raoul Hyman and Fabienne Wohlwend took the feature race, finishing on 141 points. Speed Demons Delhi were second on 135, six behind.

The home team will have the crowd. Chennai Turbo Riders finished last season sixth with 75 points and will race at the MIC with local support. The organisers say the track has produced close racing before: Shane Chandaria won a race for the Turbo Riders there in 2025, and Sachel Rotgé, now at Speed Demons Delhi, won three.

Nationality key: IND India, GBR Britain, KEN Kenya, ESP Spain, FRA France, NOR Norway, LIE Liechtenstein, MYS Malaysia.

Thirteen of the 24 drivers in the Indian Racing League 2026 line-up are Indian, and the rest come from seven other countries, with Britain supplying five. The organisers say every team has a woman in its line-up and describe the league as the world’s first gender-neutral racing championship series. The league is FMSCI-approved.

What comes next on the Indian Racing League 2026 calendar

For anyone planning to go to the Indian Racing League 2026 opener, the ticketing listing on District shows the Chennai round on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 October, with gates opening at 11.30 am and a 12 noon start, although session-by-session timings are not in the listing. The line-up graphics name Star Sports as broadcast partner and JioHotstar as OTT partner.

— PurePlay India Sports Desk. Source: Indian Racing Festival press release issued by Concept PR, including the standings and line-up. Round 2 results and the calendar checked against Autocar India, event dates against District, and 2025-26 title details against The News Mill. Line-up graphics supplied by the organisers.