Ruhaan Alva grabs first podium in 2023 GB4 Championship in UK

UNITED KINGDOM: Racing prodigy Ruhaan Alva grabbed his maiden podium in the GB4 single-seater championship last weekend with a second-place finish in the series' second round at England's iconic Silverstone race circuit.

The 16-year-old, who is a part of the JK Tyre scholarship programme which aims to give young Indian racers a platform on which to build successful international careers, crossed the line less than a second behind winner Harri Reynolds with Tom Mills third.

Alva, who drives for Fortec Motorsports, took his rostrum result in the third race of the weekend. He had started from pole but contact with Sid Smith robbed him of momentum giving Reynolds a sniff at the lead.

Alva defended robustly against Reynolds, going wheel to wheel with the Elite Motorsport racer, through the high-speed Maggots and Becketts complex of corners. But the young Indian ultimately had to concede as Reynolds swept past at Vale.

Alva didn't get a chance to make the place back as the safety car was deployed to clear away Sid Smith's car, which had suffered a puncture from the start-line contact with Alva and was left stranded at Copse.

Thomas Lee had also spun off in his Evans GP car at Abbey. The safety car only came in once the time limit on the race had run out with no overtaking allowed, which left Reynolds clear to cruise to the flag with Alva following.

Alva said, "It's really nice to be here. The qualifying didn't go as planned and I had to settle for P11. I got caught up in traffic and the rain and resultant spray resulted in a lot of lost time.

My first podium of the season is a really good boost to my confidence and we know that if we keep working hard, we will be able to achieve results like these consistently."

The GB4 Championship is an entry-level, one-make single-seater championship aimed at giving young racers their first taste of slicks-and-wings machinery.

Launched in September 2021, the series is currently in its second season and uses Tatuus F4-T014 cars, which are also raced in Italian, ADAC and Spanish F4 series.