Draft:Aqil Alibhai
Aqil Alibhai is a South African racing driver and the 2024 F4 Indian Champion
Career
[edit]Karting
[edit]Alibhai would solely compete in the Junior Max category for his karting career and made his competitive debut in the 2018 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Prix, finshing in 34th. In 2019, he finished the race in 12th, and also won his first and only karting title - the Rotax African Open.
In 2020, he competed in the Rotax Max Euro Winter Cup with RB Motorsport, finshing the championship in 21st.
Ginetta Junior Championship
[edit]The South African made his car racing debut in the 2021 Ginetta Junior Championship for Breakell Racing. Alibhai only broke though the top ten four times throughout the season and finished the championship in 16th, with 131 points.
2022 was better, swapping teams and instead driving for Elite Motorsport. He got his first car racing podium at third race of the second round at Brands Hatch with a second place, and in the next round at Thruxton Circuit, he got two more podiums, including a maiden fastest lap and maiden pole position.
In the latter stages of the season, he got two more podiums, which were third places, and finished the championship in 6th place with 399 points, five podiums and one pole position and fastest lap.
Alibhai also had a cameo in the 2022 GB4 Championship for Scorpio, marking his debut in single-seaters, coming 4th and 6th in the first and third race, but retired in the second race. He finished the championship in 18th with 33 points.
F4 British Championship
[edit]For the 2023 season, he stepped to up the F4 British Championship with Virtuosi Racing. Despite having a difficult first race at Donington Park, where he retired from two races, he got his maiden win in motorsports at the third round in Snetterton Circuit. He collected two more podiums - which were both second places, throughout the season, in Oulton Park and Donington Park. Alibhai finished the championship in 8th with 169 points, one win and three podiums, also being the highest placed Virtuosi driver in the season.[1][2]
F4 Indian Championship
[edit]Following inactivity for the majority of the 2024 season, the South African returned to racing for the 2024 F4 Indian Championship, a winter series running from the months of late August to November. He competed for Hyderabad Blackbirds, where he dominated the championship, winning six races, with five of them being a streak of wins. Alibhai only claimed one pole position at the fourth round in the Kari Motor Speedway, but racked up 12 podiums and 282 points.[3]
Karting record
[edit]Karting career summary
[edit]| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals - Junior Max | Fayaay Alibhai | 34th |
| 2019 | Rotax African Open - Junior Max | 1st | |
| Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals - Junior Max | Fayaaz Alibhai | 12th | |
| 2020 | Rotax Max Euro Winter Cup - Junior | RB Motorsport | 21st |
Racing record
[edit]Racing career summary
[edit]| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Ginetta Junior Championship | Breakell Racing | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 131 | 16th |
| 2022 | Ginetta Junior Championship | Elite Motorsport | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 399 | 6th |
| GB4 Championship | Scorpio | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 18th | |
| 2023 | F4 British Championship | Virtuosi Racing | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 169 | 8th |
| 2024 | F4 Indian Championship | Hyderabad Blackbirds |
Complete Ginetta Junior Championship results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Breakell Racing | THR 1 18 |
THR 2 25 |
SNE 1 23 |
SNE 2 19 |
SNE 3 21 |
BHI 1 26 |
BHI 2 21 |
BHI 3 Ret |
OUL 1 12 |
OUL 2 C |
KNO 1 8 |
KNO 2 20 |
KNO 3 17 |
KNO 4 15 |
THR 1 6 |
THR 2 12 |
THR 3 14 |
SIL 1 14 |
SIL 2 22 |
SIL 3 18 |
DON 1 9 |
DON 2 17 |
DON 3 13 |
BHGP 1 14 |
BHGP 2 16 |
BHGP 3 9 |
16th | 131 |
| 2022 | Elite Motorsport | DON 1 15 |
DON 2 4 |
DON 3 11 |
BHI 1 10 |
BHI 2 6 |
BHI 3 2 |
THR1 1 3 |
THR1 2 2 |
CRO 1 6 |
CRO 2 16 |
KNO 1 6 |
KNO 2 6 |
KNO 3 6 |
SNE 1 5 |
SNE 2 7 |
SNE 3 10 |
THR2 1 3 |
THR2 2 9 |
THR2 3 10 |
SIL 1 12 |
SIL 2 Ret |
SIL 3 12 |
BHGP 1 3 |
BHGP 2 5 |
BHGP 3 4 |
6th | 399 |
Complete F4 British Championship results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Virtuosi Racing | DPN 1 Ret |
DPN 2 510 |
DPN 3 NC |
BHI 1 6 |
BHI 2 63 |
BHI 3 Ret |
SNE 1 C |
SNE 2 16 |
SNE 3 10 |
THR 1 8 |
THR 2 Ret |
THR 3 7 |
OUL 1 2 |
OUL 2 105 |
OUL 3 7 |
SIL 1 14 |
SIL 2 94 |
SIL 3 12 |
CRO 1 15 |
CRO 2 8 |
CRO 3 10 |
KNO 1 4 |
KNO 2 112 |
KNO 3 5 |
DPGP 1 10 |
DPGP 2 12 |
DPGP 3 510 |
DPGP 4 2 |
BHGP 1 13 |
BHGP 2 134 |
BHGP 3 6 |
8th | 169 |
Complete F4 Indian Championship results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Hyderabad Blackbirds | MAD1 1 2 |
MAD1 2 6 |
MAD1 3 2 |
CHE 1 DNS |
CHE 2 1 |
MAD2 1 2 |
MAD2 2 2 |
MAD2 3 4 |
MAD2 4 1 |
KAR1 1 1 |
KAR1 2 1 |
KAR1 3 1 |
KAR2 1 |
KAR2 2 |
KAR2 3 |
1st* | 249* |
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- ^ "Aqil Alibhai completes Virtuosi Racing's British F4 line-up". Virtuosi Racing. 2023-03-09.
- ^ https://fiaformula4.com/alibhai-becomes-sixth-2023-british-f4-race-winner-dion-gowda-takes-victory-in-round-9/
- ^ @indianf4championship (2024-08-20). "We're excited to welcome Aqil Alibhai to the Hyderabad Blackbirds team for this year's F4 Indian Championship at the Indian Racing Festival!" – via Instagram.