National, September 20: Luviwe Sambudla won two of the three races in Round 2 of the F4 Indian Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway (KMS) in Coimbatore, and Aris Kyriakou stayed on top of the standings. Hyderabad Blackbirds’ Bhuvan Bonu won the other race.
Sambudla drives for Goa Aces JA Racing, a team owned by actor John Abraham. Kyriakou, of Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru, finished on the podium in all three races and leads the championship with 93 points. Sambudla is second on 88 and Bonu is third on 51.
Two Indian drivers reached the podium over the weekend. Bonu won Race 2, and Kolkata Royal Tigers’ Swarnav Das finished third in Race 3. The round is part of the Indian Racing Festival (IRF) 2026, powered by JK Tyre, and Race 2 was the 50th F4 race since the championship began, the organisers said. The driver line-up and broadcast details are in our Round 2 preview.
Race 1: Sambudla leads from pole to flag
Sambudla led from pole to flag to win his second Indian F4 race of 2026. He also set the fastest lap. Kyriakou was second, 2.627 seconds behind. Speed Demons Delhi’s Ntiyiso Mabunda took his first podium of the season in third, and Godspeed Kochi’s Mahlori Mabunda was fourth.
A safety car came out after Ahmedabad Apex Racers’ Mathias Alexander Forland made contact with Aditya. Sambudla held his lead after the restart.
Race 2: Bonu wins from reverse-grid pole
Bonu turned reverse-grid pole into a win. Ntiyiso Mabunda was second, 1.146 seconds behind, with Kyriakou third. Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru’s Enzo Rujugiro and Goa Aces JA Racing’s Aaryan Narola completed the top five.
Sambudla’s race ended at Turn 1. He and Kolkata Royal Tigers’ Aaron Mehta made contact, and Sambudla went into the gravel with broken steering and retired. Mahlori Mabunda crossed the line second, but a five-place penalty dropped him to seventh and moved Ntiyiso Mabunda up to second.
Race 3: Sambudla bounces back
Sambudla recovered from his Race 2 retirement to win again. Kyriakou finished second, 11.870 seconds behind, and Swarnav Das was third, 23.925 seconds off the winner. Chennai Turbo Riders’ Sai Aditya made a strong start from 10th.
Narola retired with a puncture and Mehta with brake trouble.
Standings and next round
With two rounds completed, the top five in the championship are:
| Position | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aris Kyriakou | 93 |
| 2 | Luviwe Sambudla | 88 |
| 3 | Bhuvan Bonu | 51 |
| 4 | Mahlori Mabunda | 46 |
| 5 | Aaron Mehta | 42 |
The championship now moves to the Madras International Circuit (MIC) in Chennai for the next round. Four rounds remain.
