Shahan Ali Mohsin, racing for Speed Demons Delhi, won the Indian Racing League’s 2026 season opener from pole at Chennai’s Madras International Circuit on October 22 and 23. One support race later, 15 year old Aaron Mehta became the youngest driver ever to win a race in the F4 Indian Championship, a record that had stood since Shane Chandaria won the 2025 title at the same circuit at the same age.
Both results came from the same weekend of racing, the Indian Racing Festival’s season-opening round, the first since the 2026 calendar was announced with Chennai set to kick things off before the series moves to the Buddh International Circuit for the first time in over a decade.
Who Won the Indian Racing League’s Chennai Opener
Mohsin started from pole and led every lap of the IRL’s opening race, finishing in 18:32.970 over eight laps with the race’s fastest lap, a 1:36.354. Raoul Hyman of Goa Aces JA Racing, who started fourth, carved his way to second, just 0.506 seconds behind. Shane Chandaria brought it home third for Chennai Turbo Riders, the home team, 2.690 seconds off the win. The top eight finishers were covered by 8.523 seconds, a tight pack typical of the league’s franchise format.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Result |
| 1 | Shahan Ali Mohsin | Speed Demons Delhi | Winner from pole, 18:32.970 |
| 2 | Raoul Hyman | Goa Aces JA Racing | +0.506s, started 4th |
| 3 | Shane Chandaria | Chennai Turbo Riders | +2.690s |
| 4 | Mohammed Ryan | Hyderabad Blackbirds | Started 7th |
| 5 | Emil Heyerdahl | Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru | |
| 6 | Sai Shiva Sankaran | Chennai Turbo Riders | Started 3rd |
Mohsin is Indian, born in Agra, and has raced for three different IRL franchises across the league’s seasons. A win at the opener does not decide anything by itself, since the league’s next rounds move to the Buddh International Circuit on October 31 and November 28, before the finale on Navi Mumbai’s new street circuit in December. But it is the first points on the board, and it came from the front.
The 15 Year Old Who Broke an F4 India Record
The Chennai weekend also hosted Round 3 of the F4 Indian Championship, run across three races for the series’ FIA-spec single-seaters. Race 1, held in the wet, went to championship contender Luviwe Sambudla of Goa Aces JA Racing, who carved through from sixth on the grid to win by 9.606 seconds. Race 2, run to a reverse-grid draw, went to Sambudla again, beating Ntiyiso Mabunda by 1.211 seconds over 13 laps.
Race 3 is the one that matters for the record books. Run behind a red flag and a safety car period, it was won by Aaron Mehta of Kolkata Royal Tigers, from pole, by 0.546 seconds over Mabunda. It was Mehta’s maiden win in the championship, and at 15 years old, it makes him the youngest race winner in F4 India’s history.
| Race | Winner | Team | Margin |
| Race 1 (wet) | Luviwe Sambudla | Goa Aces JA Racing | 9.606s, from 6th on the grid |
| Race 2 (reverse grid) | Luviwe Sambudla | Goa Aces JA Racing | 1.211s over Mabunda |
| Race 3 (red flag) | Aaron Mehta, 15 | Kolkata Royal Tigers | 0.546s, from pole, maiden win |
A franchise league that still fights for mainstream attention just produced the purest story in Indian motorsport this month: a 15 year old beating a grid of drivers years older than him, from pole, in only his third race weekend of the season.
Where the F4 India Title Fight Stands Now
Sambudla’s double win in the first two races, plus his third place in the one he didn’t win, pushed his championship lead over Aris Kyriakou from 5 points before the weekend to 21 points after it, 138 to 117. Kyriakou recovered from 16th on the grid to finish sixth in Race 3, damage limitation rather than a step forward. Mehta, Mabunda and Narola round out a midfield that is now closer to the front than the points table alone suggests.
The title fight had been a tight 5-point gap heading into Chennai. It no longer is, and the calendar is getting shorter: both series share the same remaining rounds at the Buddh International Circuit and the Navi Mumbai finale, giving Kyriakou two more weekends to close a 21-point deficit.
Why Chennai Matters to Indian Motorsport Fans
Neither the Indian Racing League nor F4 India gets the broadcast reach of Formula 1 or MotoGP in India, but both exist specifically to build the pipeline that eventually produces drivers who do race internationally, the same pipeline that has already sent Indian names to European and Asian single-seater grids. A home driver winning the IRL opener and a teenager breaking a national record in the same weekend, at the same circuit, is the kind of result domestic motorsport in India needs more of to hold an audience’s attention between F1 weekends.
Who won the Indian Racing League’s 2026 season opener?
Shahan Ali Mohsin, driving for Speed Demons Delhi, won the opening race from pole position at the Madras International Circuit in Chennai on October 22, finishing 0.506 seconds ahead of Goa Aces JA Racing’s Raoul Hyman.
Who is Aaron Mehta and what record did he set?
Mehta is a 15 year old driver for Kolkata Royal Tigers in the F4 Indian Championship. He won Race 3 of Round 3 at Chennai from pole, his first win in the series, making him the youngest race winner in F4 India’s history.
Who is leading the F4 India championship after Chennai?
Luviwe Sambudla of Goa Aces JA Racing leads with 138 points after winning two of the three Chennai races, 21 points ahead of Aris Kyriakou on 117, with rounds at the Buddh International Circuit and the Navi Mumbai finale still to come.
