Misplaced Pages

Rarh Bengal Tigers

Founded	2022
Founder(s)	Joseph Thomas Pottamkulam
Base	Kolkata, West Bengal
Team principal(s)	Sourav Ganguly Rahul Todi
Current series	Indian Racing League F4 Indian Championship
Current drivers	Indian Racing League Ruhaan Alva Nikhil Bohra Fabienne Wohlwend Alister Yoong F4 India Akhil Agarwal Ruhaan Alva Giancarlo Artho Raiden Samervel
Teams' Championships	2022 Indian Racing League
Website	https://shrachisports.com/

Rarh Bengal Tigers (formerly Godspeed Kochi) is an Indian motorsport franchise that competes in the Indian Racing League and the F4 Indian Championship.

History

The franchise was founded initially as Godspeed Kochi in 2022, headed up by Thiruvananthapuram-based businessman and former rally driver Joseph Thomas Pottamkulam, as a last-minute entry into the Indian Racing League. Local drivers Ruhaan Alva and Nikhil Bohra were set to be joined by British GT4 driver Jordan Albert and Brazilian F4 driver Aurelia Nobels, however Nobels was unable to obtain a visa and was replaced with W Series driver Fabienne Wohlwend. Albert left the series after the first round in Hyderabad was cancelled, with Pottamkulam claiming he "ran away", and was replaced with Alister Yoong. At least one of the teams' cars scored a podium finish in all but one of the races that season, including the Yoong/Bohra combination winning all three races in the final weekend of the season, on their way to the teams' championship whilst all four drivers finished inside the top six in the championship.

The four drivers who completed the 2022 IRL season were retained for 2023, whilst the franchise expanded into the new F4 Indian Championship for its' inaugural season. The IRL championship format changed to place emphasis on the results of driver combinations over individual achievements, but despite claiming half of the available race wins Kochi were relegated to 3rd behind franchises representing Bangalore and Goa. Bohra's younger brother Akshay was joined by Salva Marjan for the F4 program, however Marjan failed to qualify for the opening round and his replacement Veer Rajwade withdrew from the second, leading to Singaporean Nooris Gafoor moving across from Bangalore for the final two rounds – with all events held at Madras International Circuit, Bohra finished third in the drivers' championship having won the first race of the season.

The franchise was bought by cricketer Sourav Ganguly and the Shrachi Group prior to the 2024 season, initially renaming it Kolkata Royal Tigers before later changing it to Rarh Bengal Tigers – referencing the historical region of Rarh. As well as running two cars for the existing drivers in IRL, the franchise expanded to four cars for Indian F4; keeping two under the old Kochi title. Yoong scored the teams' only race win in the 2024 IRL at the first round, however consistency kept Alva and Wohlwend in the championship fight up to the last race – Car #5 ultimately finished third in the entrants' standings after colliding with Akash Gowda, whilst the franchise finished runner-up to Goa in the teams' championship. Alva completed double-duty having also campaigned in F4, finishing runner-up in the standings to South African Aqil Alibhai – Hugh Barter had set the pace early in the season under the Kochi banner with three race wins, but withdrew after the second round.

Results

Indian Racing League

Drivers / Entrants championship

(key)

Year	Entry	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Pts
2022			HYD1 R1	HYD1 R2	HYD1 R3	IRU1 R1	IRU1 R2	IRU1 R3	IRU2 R1	IRU2 R2	IRU2 R3	HYD2 R1	HYD2 R2	HYD2 R3
	Godspeed Kochi (#2)	Alister Yoong				2		Ret	1		4	1	P	1	3rd	131.5
	Godspeed Kochi (#2)	Nikhil Bohra	C	C	C		Ret	Ret	P	3	4	P	1	1	4th	118
	Godspeed Kochi (#1)	Ruhaan Alva	C	C	C	4		2	6		5		2	6	5th	106
	Godspeed Kochi (#1)	Fabienne Wohlwend	C	C	C		2	2		9	5	Ret		6	6th	92
	Godspeed Kochi (#2)	Jordan Albert	C	C	C										NC	—
2023			IRU1 R1	IRU1 R2	IRU2 R1	IRU2 R2	IRU3 R1	IRU3 R2
	Godspeed Kochi #2	Nikhil Bohra		4		1	1								3rd	79
		Alister Yoong	Ret		8			4
	Godspeed Kochi #5	Ruhaan Alva	1			9	Ret								9th	28
		Fabienne Wohlwend		Ret	Ret			Ret
2024			IRU1 R1	IRU1 R2	IGR R1	IGR R2	IRU2 R1	IRU2 R2	COI1 R1	COI1 R2	COI2 R1	COI2 R2
	Rarh Bengal Tigers #5	Ruhaan Alva	3			3	3			2		Ret			3rd	123
		Fabienne Wohlwend		4	4			5	4		6
	Rarh Bengal Tigers #2	Alister Yoong		1	3		4			DNS		7			4th	97
		Nikhil Bohra	5			DNS			6		8
		Jaden Pariat						4

Teams championship

(key)

F4 Indian Championship

(key)

Year	Entry	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pos.	Pts
2023			IRU1 R1	IRU1 R2	IRU1 R3	IRU2 R1	IRU2 R2	IRU2 R3	IRU3 R1	IRU3 R2	IRU3 R3	IRU3 R4	IRU3 R5	IRU4 R1	IRU4 R2	IRU4 R3	IRU4 R4
	Godspeed Kochi (#31)	Akshay Bohra	1	2	7	3	4	2	3	3	2	3	3	2	Ret	2	4	3rd	211
	Godspeed Kochi (#97, #28)	Nooris Gafoor	different team						8	7	8	8	7	9	7	10	9	9th	57
	Godspeed Kochi (#97, #28)	Veer Rajwade				WD	WD	WD						different team				12th	2
	Godspeed Kochi (#97, #28)	Salva Marjan	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ													NC	–
2024			IRU1 R1	IRU1 R2	IRU1 R3	IGR R1	IGR R2	IRU2 R1	IRU2 R2	IRU2 R3	IRU2 R4	COI1 R1	COI1 R2	COI1 R3	COI2 R1	COI2 R2	COI2 R3
	Rarh Bengal Tigers (#27)	Ruhaan Alva	3	5	3	2	4	5	1	2	3	2	3	2	2	1	1	2nd	264
	Godspeed Kochi (#68, #21, #64)	Hugh Barter	Ret	1	1	1	5											5th	95
	Godspeed Kochi (#68, #21, #64) / Rarh Bengal Tigers (#10, #65, #23, #64)	Raiden Samervel						different team				Ret	8	7	7	4	5	11th	40
	Godspeed Kochi (#73, #34)	Giancarlo Artho	different team			7	10	Ret	11	Ret	7	9	12	10	8	Ret	Ret	15th	20
	Godspeed Kochi (#68, #21, #64)	Akhil Agarwal						8	8	9	8				12	12	9	16th	16
	Rarh Bengal Tigers (#10, #65, #23, #64)	Arjun Chheda										13	4	Ret				19th	12
	Rarh Bengal Tigers (#10, #65, #23, #64)	Tarun Muthiaiah	9	Ret	8	9	Ret											21st	8
	Rarh Bengal Tigers (#10, #65, #23, #64)	Esmee Kosterman						9	10	11	11							24th	3
	Godspeed Kochi (#73, #34)	Aditya Patnaik	14	Ret	DNS													27th	0

Notes

1. ^ Competed under the Godspeed Kochi title

References

1. "Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers Gear Up For 2024 Indian Racing League Kickoff At Madras International Circuit". The Daily Guardian. 24 August 2024.
2. "Anything is Possible and Nothing is Impossible. | Joseph Thomas | TEDxThiruvananthapuram". TEDx Talks on YouTube. 7 February 2017.
3. "I am open to any role when it comes to motorsports but racing has my heart, says Jose Pottamkulam". Mathrubhumi. 17 September 2022.
4. "Fireside Chat w/ Jose Thomas". F1 FanFiction Podcast on Apple Podcasts. 10 January 2023.
5. "Hyderabad team finishes second in racing league; Kochi bags top spot". The Hindu. 11 December 2022.
6. "Indian Racing Festival gears up for exciting second season in Chennai". Daily Thanthi. 28 November 2023.
7. "Webster looking to seal maiden International title". Auto Action. 15 December 2023.
8. "Indian Racing League Official on X: "Kolkata, start your engines! Catch a new powerhouse burning rubber in Season 3 of the Indian Racing Festival in 2024."". X. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
9. "Indian Racing League on X: "A formidable lineup for the newest team on the block - #RarhBengalTigers"". X. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
10. Gidithuri, Unnatee (18 November 2024). "Goa Aces JA Racing wins 2024 Indian Racing League". Autocar India. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
11. "Aqil Alibhai crowned Indian F4 champion at Kari finale". Formula Scout. 17 November 2024.
12. "Indian Racing Festival Round 1: Hugh Barter scores double wins". Autocar India. 27 August 2024.

• Indian auto racing teams
• 2022 establishments in India
• Auto racing teams established in 2022