Dubai, November 23: Michelangelo Amendola from Belgium completed a dream week with three wins out of five races as the first round of the FIA-approved MRF Challenge international series concluded at the Dubai Autodrome, here today. Also notching wins were Australia’s Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sundaramoorthy, for both of whom it was their maiden success in the championship. The 17-year old Amendola dominated the entire round, being quickest in Free Practice and qualifying sessions before winning both the races yesterday and another today besides finishing second in the other two outings, to give himself a great start in the championship stakes. Young, 30, in his seventh appearance in the MRF Challenge, finally got the monkey off his back by notching his first win in the championship, while 16-year old debutant Sundaramoorthy, whose family roots are entrenched in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, reaped rewards for his persistence. Young had to work hard for his maiden success. Quick at the start to take the lead, the affable Aussie hung on gamely to hold off pole-sitter Amendola by putting in some solid laps when it mattered. The Belgian had another poor start from pole position and dropped to third behind Young and Joshua Mason (Great Britain) before easing past the British driver in the second lap to catch up with the Aussie. However, Amendola was unable to get past the experienced Young who went on to win. Reflecting on his success, Young said: “It was a good race and the car felt really good. I got a good start which set it all up. Once I got the lead, I just put my head down and controlled the race from thereon. I am over the moon with this first win in MRF Challenge and will certainly have a few beers with the boys tonight!” In Race 4 that had a reverse grid, pole-sitter Eriksen was quickly passed by Mason and Sundaramoorthy in the very first lap. The trio held positions until the sixth lap even as behind them, Amendola, who started from fifth, moved up a spot while Young dropped from sixth to seventh. The Belgian made another move to pass Eriksen into third spot. Up the road, Mason came under increasing pressure from Sundaramoorthy. In the ninth lap, Mason spun, allowing Sundaramoorthy, Amendola and Eriksen to get ahead and finish in that order. “It feels good to win the race especially after the crash yesterday in the previous race. Today, the race went very well. Josh (Mason) drove amazingly and all I could do was to put pressure on him, hoping to force him into a mistake as I was not close enough to pass. I feel great to have scored my first-ever win in the F2000 category,” said Sundaramoorthy. The fifth and last race of the Dubai round was a comfortable outing for Amendola once he fought off his rivals at the start before going into a virtual cruise control mode for a comfortable win ahead of Mason and Young. “It’s been a great week and yeah, feels good to win three of the five races. That was my target coming here to Dubai. I had to fend off others early in the last race, but after that, it was fairly comfortable as I opened up a good lead,” said Amendola who was followed home by Mason and Young. The lone Indian entrant, Chetan Korada, showed some improvement in his pace to pick up some points though he could not offer any serious challenge to the front-runners. The second round of the championship will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit on December 12-14 before moving on to the grand finale in Chennai in February next year. The results (all 10 laps unless mentioned): Race-3: 1. Dylan Young (Australia); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 3. Joshua Mason (Great Britain). Race-4: 1. Yuven Sundaramoorthy (USA); 2. Amendola; 3. Valdemar Eriksen (Denmark). Race-5: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Young.
Dubai, November 23: Michelangelo Amendola from Belgium completed a dream week with three wins out of five races as the first round of the FIA-approved MRF Challenge international series concluded at the Dubai Autodrome, here today. Also notching wins were Australia’s Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sundaramoorthy, for both of whom it was their maiden success in the championship.The 17-year old Amendola dominated the entire round, being quickest in Free Practice and qualifying sessions before winning both the races yesterday and another today besides finishing second in the other two outings, to give himself a great start in the championship stakes.Young, 30, in his seventh appearance in the MRF Challenge, finally got the monkey off his back by notching his first win in the championship, while 16-year old debutant Sundaramoorthy, whose family roots are entrenched in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, reaped rewards for his persistence.Young had to work hard for his maiden success. Quick at the start to take the lead, the affable Aussie hung on gamely to hold off pole-sitter Amendola by putting in some solid laps when it mattered. The Belgian had another poor start from pole position and dropped to third behind Young and Joshua Mason (Great Britain) before easing past the British driver in the second lap to catch up with the Aussie. However, Amendola was unable to get past the experienced Young who went on to win.Reflecting on his success, Young said: “It was a good race and the car felt really good. I got a good start which set it all up. Once I got the lead, I just put my head down and controlled the race from thereon. I am over the moon with this first win in MRF Challenge and will certainly have a few beers with the boys tonight!”In Race 4 that had a reverse grid, pole-sitter Eriksen was quickly passed by Mason and Sundaramoorthy in the very first lap. The trio held positions until the sixth lap even as behind them, Amendola, who started from fifth, moved up a spot while Young dropped from sixth to seventh. The Belgian made another move to pass Eriksen into third spot. Up the road, Mason came under increasing pressure from Sundaramoorthy. In the ninth lap, Mason spun, allowing Sundaramoorthy, Amendola and Eriksen to get ahead and finish in that order.“It feels good to win the race especially after the crash yesterday in the previous race. Today, the race went very well. Josh (Mason) drove amazingly and all I could do was to put pressure on him, hoping to force him into a mistake as I was not close enough to pass. I feel great to have scored my first-ever win in the F2000 category,” said Sundaramoorthy.The fifth and last race of the Dubai round was a comfortable outing for Amendola once he fought off his rivals at the start before going into a virtual cruise control mode for a comfortable win ahead of Mason and Young. “It’s been a great week and yeah, feels good to win three of the five races. That was my target coming here to Dubai. I had to fend off others early in the last race, but after that, it was fairly comfortable as I opened up a good lead,” said Amendola who was followed home by Mason and Young.The lone Indian entrant, Chetan Korada, showed some improvement in his pace to pick up some points though he could not offer any serious challenge to the front-runners. The second round of the championship will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit on December 12-14 before moving on to the grand finale in Chennai in February next year.The results (all 10 laps unless mentioned):Race-3: 1. Dylan Young (Australia); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 3. Joshua Mason (Great Britain). Race-4: 1. Yuven Sundaramoorthy (USA); 2. Amendola; 3. Valdemar Eriksen (Denmark). Race-5: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Young.
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[#markup] => Dubai, November 23: Michelangelo Amendola from Belgium completed a dream week with three wins out of five races as the first round of the FIA-approved MRF Challenge international series concluded at the Dubai Autodrome, here today. Also notching wins were Australia’s Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sundaramoorthy, for both of whom it was their maiden success in the championship.The 17-year old Amendola dominated the entire round, being quickest in Free Practice and qualifying sessions before winning both the races yesterday and another today besides finishing second in the other two outings, to give himself a great start in the championship stakes.Young, 30, in his seventh appearance in the MRF Challenge, finally got the monkey off his back by notching his first win in the championship, while 16-year old debutant Sundaramoorthy, whose family roots are entrenched in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, reaped rewards for his persistence.Young had to work hard for his maiden success. Quick at the start to take the lead, the affable Aussie hung on gamely to hold off pole-sitter Amendola by putting in some solid laps when it mattered. The Belgian had another poor start from pole position and dropped to third behind Young and Joshua Mason (Great Britain) before easing past the British driver in the second lap to catch up with the Aussie. However, Amendola was unable to get past the experienced Young who went on to win.Reflecting on his success, Young said: “It was a good race and the car felt really good. I got a good start which set it all up. Once I got the lead, I just put my head down and controlled the race from thereon. I am over the moon with this first win in MRF Challenge and will certainly have a few beers with the boys tonight!”In Race 4 that had a reverse grid, pole-sitter Eriksen was quickly passed by Mason and Sundaramoorthy in the very first lap. The trio held positions until the sixth lap even as behind them, Amendola, who started from fifth, moved up a spot while Young dropped from sixth to seventh. The Belgian made another move to pass Eriksen into third spot. Up the road, Mason came under increasing pressure from Sundaramoorthy. In the ninth lap, Mason spun, allowing Sundaramoorthy, Amendola and Eriksen to get ahead and finish in that order.“It feels good to win the race especially after the crash yesterday in the previous race. Today, the race went very well. Josh (Mason) drove amazingly and all I could do was to put pressure on him, hoping to force him into a mistake as I was not close enough to pass. I feel great to have scored my first-ever win in the F2000 category,” said Sundaramoorthy.The fifth and last race of the Dubai round was a comfortable outing for Amendola once he fought off his rivals at the start before going into a virtual cruise control mode for a comfortable win ahead of Mason and Young. “It’s been a great week and yeah, feels good to win three of the five races. That was my target coming here to Dubai. I had to fend off others early in the last race, but after that, it was fairly comfortable as I opened up a good lead,” said Amendola who was followed home by Mason and Young.The lone Indian entrant, Chetan Korada, showed some improvement in his pace to pick up some points though he could not offer any serious challenge to the front-runners. The second round of the championship will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit on December 12-14 before moving on to the grand finale in Chennai in February next year.The results (all 10 laps unless mentioned):Race-3: 1. Dylan Young (Australia); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 3. Joshua Mason (Great Britain). Race-4: 1. Yuven Sundaramoorthy (USA); 2. Amendola; 3. Valdemar Eriksen (Denmark). Race-5: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Young.
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Dubai, November 23: Michelangelo Amendola from Belgium completed a dream week with three wins out of five races as the first round of the FIA-approved MRF Challenge international series concluded at the Dubai Autodrome, here today. Also notching wins were Australia’s Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sundaramoorthy, for both of whom it was their maiden success in the championship. The 17-year old Amendola dominated the entire round, being quickest in Free Practice and qualifying sessions before winning both the races yesterday and another today besides finishing second in the other two outings, to give himself a great start in the championship stakes. Young, 30, in his seventh appearance in the MRF Challenge, finally got the monkey off his back by notching his first win in the championship, while 16-year old debutant Sundaramoorthy, whose family roots are entrenched in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, reaped rewards for his persistence. Young had to work hard for his maiden success. Quick at the start to take the lead, the affable Aussie hung on gamely to hold off pole-sitter Amendola by putting in some solid laps when it mattered. The Belgian had another poor start from pole position and dropped to third behind Young and Joshua Mason (Great Britain) before easing past the British driver in the second lap to catch up with the Aussie. However, Amendola was unable to get past the experienced Young who went on to win. Reflecting on his success, Young said: “It was a good race and the car felt really good. I got a good start which set it all up. Once I got the lead, I just put my head down and controlled the race from thereon. I am over the moon with this first win in MRF Challenge and will certainly have a few beers with the boys tonight!” In Race 4 that had a reverse grid, pole-sitter Eriksen was quickly passed by Mason and Sundaramoorthy in the very first lap. The trio held positions until the sixth lap even as behind them, Amendola, who started from fifth, moved up a spot while Young dropped from sixth to seventh. The Belgian made another move to pass Eriksen into third spot. Up the road, Mason came under increasing pressure from Sundaramoorthy. In the ninth lap, Mason spun, allowing Sundaramoorthy, Amendola and Eriksen to get ahead and finish in that order. “It feels good to win the race especially after the crash yesterday in the previous race. Today, the race went very well. Josh (Mason) drove amazingly and all I could do was to put pressure on him, hoping to force him into a mistake as I was not close enough to pass. I feel great to have scored my first-ever win in the F2000 category,” said Sundaramoorthy. The fifth and last race of the Dubai round was a comfortable outing for Amendola once he fought off his rivals at the start before going into a virtual cruise control mode for a comfortable win ahead of Mason and Young. “It’s been a great week and yeah, feels good to win three of the five races. That was my target coming here to Dubai. I had to fend off others early in the last race, but after that, it was fairly comfortable as I opened up a good lead,” said Amendola who was followed home by Mason and Young. The lone Indian entrant, Chetan Korada, showed some improvement in his pace to pick up some points though he could not offer any serious challenge to the front-runners. The second round of the championship will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit on December 12-14 before moving on to the grand finale in Chennai in February next year. The results (all 10 laps unless mentioned): Race-3: 1. Dylan Young (Australia); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 3. Joshua Mason (Great Britain). Race-4: 1. Yuven Sundaramoorthy (USA); 2. Amendola; 3. Valdemar Eriksen (Denmark). Race-5: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Young.
Dubai, November 23: Michelangelo Amendola from Belgium completed a dream week with three wins out of five races as the first round of the FIA-approved MRF Challenge international series concluded at the Dubai Autodrome, here today. Also notching wins were Australia’s Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sundaramoorthy, for both of whom it was their maiden success in the championship.The 17-year old Amendola dominated the entire round, being quickest in Free Practice and qualifying sessions before winning both the races yesterday and another today besides finishing second in the other two outings, to give himself a great start in the championship stakes.Young, 30, in his seventh appearance in the MRF Challenge, finally got the monkey off his back by notching his first win in the championship, while 16-year old debutant Sundaramoorthy, whose family roots are entrenched in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, reaped rewards for his persistence.Young had to work hard for his maiden success. Quick at the start to take the lead, the affable Aussie hung on gamely to hold off pole-sitter Amendola by putting in some solid laps when it mattered. The Belgian had another poor start from pole position and dropped to third behind Young and Joshua Mason (Great Britain) before easing past the British driver in the second lap to catch up with the Aussie. However, Amendola was unable to get past the experienced Young who went on to win.Reflecting on his success, Young said: “It was a good race and the car felt really good. I got a good start which set it all up. Once I got the lead, I just put my head down and controlled the race from thereon. I am over the moon with this first win in MRF Challenge and will certainly have a few beers with the boys tonight!”In Race 4 that had a reverse grid, pole-sitter Eriksen was quickly passed by Mason and Sundaramoorthy in the very first lap. The trio held positions until the sixth lap even as behind them, Amendola, who started from fifth, moved up a spot while Young dropped from sixth to seventh. The Belgian made another move to pass Eriksen into third spot. Up the road, Mason came under increasing pressure from Sundaramoorthy. In the ninth lap, Mason spun, allowing Sundaramoorthy, Amendola and Eriksen to get ahead and finish in that order.“It feels good to win the race especially after the crash yesterday in the previous race. Today, the race went very well. Josh (Mason) drove amazingly and all I could do was to put pressure on him, hoping to force him into a mistake as I was not close enough to pass. I feel great to have scored my first-ever win in the F2000 category,” said Sundaramoorthy.The fifth and last race of the Dubai round was a comfortable outing for Amendola once he fought off his rivals at the start before going into a virtual cruise control mode for a comfortable win ahead of Mason and Young. “It’s been a great week and yeah, feels good to win three of the five races. That was my target coming here to Dubai. I had to fend off others early in the last race, but after that, it was fairly comfortable as I opened up a good lead,” said Amendola who was followed home by Mason and Young.The lone Indian entrant, Chetan Korada, showed some improvement in his pace to pick up some points though he could not offer any serious challenge to the front-runners. The second round of the championship will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit on December 12-14 before moving on to the grand finale in Chennai in February next year.The results (all 10 laps unless mentioned):Race-3: 1. Dylan Young (Australia); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 3. Joshua Mason (Great Britain). Race-4: 1. Yuven Sundaramoorthy (USA); 2. Amendola; 3. Valdemar Eriksen (Denmark). Race-5: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Young.
Dubai, November 22: Belgian teenager Michelangelo Amendola came up with two brilliant drives to win both the races on Friday in the eighth edition of the FIA- approved MRF Challenge international series at the Dubai Autodrome. The 17-year old Amendola displayed rare character to win both races from difficult positions. In the first race that he started form pole, he dropped to third after a wheel-spin as the lights went off before taking a win and in the next race, he made places from sixth on the reverse grid to take the checkered flag despite stalling his car at Turn-1 in the very first lap. The race was marked by a Safety Car period following a collision between Aussie Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sunderamoorthy in the first lap. The Belgian youngster, despite the Turn-1 incident, put his head down and managed to carve his way through the field before passing leader Joshua Mason, the 17-year old from Great Britain on the final lap while Jordanian teenager Manaf Hijjawi came in third. “I am happy to win both races today. In the morning, I lost places at the start due to a wheel-spin as I did not let go of the clutch, and then had to fight my way into the lead. In the second race, I started sixth on the reverse grid, stalled my car after someone made contact from behind at Turn-1 in the first lap. Luckily, I managed to start the car and then made places to win,” said a delighted Amendola. In the first race, Amendola, was slowly off the blocks due to wheel-spin and fell behind as Mason and Young led the pack into Turn-1. Mason opened up a sizeable lead before tyre wear slowed him down while Young caught up with him, but could not pass. Meanwhile, Amendola recovered quickly and in the latter half of the race, got a jump on both the front-runners leaving Mason and Young scrap for the minor podium spots. Behind the trio, the midfield witnessed close battles while India’s Chetan Korada finished ninth and last after a spin in the eighth lap even as he was putting in consistent laps. But in the second race, the Chennai-based Korada was running fourth, but conceded the advantage to finish seventh. Earlier, in the qualifying session, Amendola came up with a late charge to grab pole position ahead of Mason, who briefly led the time sheets, and Young. The results: Race-1 (10 laps): 1. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 2. Joshua Mason (Great Britain); 3. Dylan Young (Australia). Race-2: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Manaf Hijjawi (Jordan). Qualifying (top 4): 1. Amendola (01:58.409); 2. Mason (01:58.499); 3. Young (01:58.518); 4. Largim Ali (Denmark) (01:58.527).
Dubai, November 22: Belgian teenager Michelangelo Amendola came up with two brilliant drives to win both the races on Friday in the eighth edition of the FIA- approved MRF Challenge international series at the Dubai Autodrome.The 17-year old Amendola displayed rare character to win both races from difficult positions. In the first race that he started form pole, he dropped to third after a wheel-spin as the lights went off before taking a win and in the next race, he made places from sixth on the reverse grid to take the checkered flag despite stalling his car at Turn-1 in the very first lap.The race was marked by a Safety Car period following a collision between Aussie Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sunderamoorthy in the first lap.The Belgian youngster, despite the Turn-1 incident, put his head down and managed to carve his way through the field before passing leader Joshua Mason, the 17-year old from Great Britain on the final lap while Jordanian teenager Manaf Hijjawi came in third.“I am happy to win both races today. In the morning, I lost places at the start due to a wheel-spin as I did not let go of the clutch, and then had to fight my way into the lead. In the second race, I started sixth on the reverse grid, stalled my car after someone made contact from behind at Turn-1 in the first lap. Luckily, I managed to start the car and then made places to win,” said a delighted Amendola.In the first race, Amendola, was slowly off the blocks due to wheel-spin and fell behind as Mason and Young led the pack into Turn-1. Mason opened up a sizeable lead before tyre wear slowed him down while Young caught up with him, but could not pass. Meanwhile, Amendola recovered quickly and in the latter half of the race, got a jump on both the front-runners leaving Mason and Young scrap for the minor podium spots.Behind the trio, the midfield witnessed close battles while India’s Chetan Korada finished ninth and last after a spin in the eighth lap even as he was putting in consistent laps. But in the second race, the Chennai-based Korada was running fourth, but conceded the advantage to finish seventh.Earlier, in the qualifying session, Amendola came up with a late charge to grab pole position ahead of Mason, who briefly led the time sheets, and Young.The results:Race-1 (10 laps): 1. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 2. Joshua Mason (Great Britain); 3. Dylan Young (Australia). Race-2: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Manaf Hijjawi (Jordan).Qualifying (top 4): 1. Amendola (01:58.409); 2. Mason (01:58.499); 3. Young (01:58.518); 4. Largim Ali (Denmark) (01:58.527).
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[#markup] => Dubai, November 22: Belgian teenager Michelangelo Amendola came up with two brilliant drives to win both the races on Friday in the eighth edition of the FIA- approved MRF Challenge international series at the Dubai Autodrome.The 17-year old Amendola displayed rare character to win both races from difficult positions. In the first race that he started form pole, he dropped to third after a wheel-spin as the lights went off before taking a win and in the next race, he made places from sixth on the reverse grid to take the checkered flag despite stalling his car at Turn-1 in the very first lap.The race was marked by a Safety Car period following a collision between Aussie Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sunderamoorthy in the first lap.The Belgian youngster, despite the Turn-1 incident, put his head down and managed to carve his way through the field before passing leader Joshua Mason, the 17-year old from Great Britain on the final lap while Jordanian teenager Manaf Hijjawi came in third.“I am happy to win both races today. In the morning, I lost places at the start due to a wheel-spin as I did not let go of the clutch, and then had to fight my way into the lead. In the second race, I started sixth on the reverse grid, stalled my car after someone made contact from behind at Turn-1 in the first lap. Luckily, I managed to start the car and then made places to win,” said a delighted Amendola.In the first race, Amendola, was slowly off the blocks due to wheel-spin and fell behind as Mason and Young led the pack into Turn-1. Mason opened up a sizeable lead before tyre wear slowed him down while Young caught up with him, but could not pass. Meanwhile, Amendola recovered quickly and in the latter half of the race, got a jump on both the front-runners leaving Mason and Young scrap for the minor podium spots.Behind the trio, the midfield witnessed close battles while India’s Chetan Korada finished ninth and last after a spin in the eighth lap even as he was putting in consistent laps. But in the second race, the Chennai-based Korada was running fourth, but conceded the advantage to finish seventh.Earlier, in the qualifying session, Amendola came up with a late charge to grab pole position ahead of Mason, who briefly led the time sheets, and Young.The results:Race-1 (10 laps): 1. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 2. Joshua Mason (Great Britain); 3. Dylan Young (Australia). Race-2: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Manaf Hijjawi (Jordan).Qualifying (top 4): 1. Amendola (01:58.409); 2. Mason (01:58.499); 3. Young (01:58.518); 4. Largim Ali (Denmark) (01:58.527).
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Dubai, November 22: Belgian teenager Michelangelo Amendola came up with two brilliant drives to win both the races on Friday in the eighth edition of the FIA- approved MRF Challenge international series at the Dubai Autodrome. The 17-year old Amendola displayed rare character to win both races from difficult positions. In the first race that he started form pole, he dropped to third after a wheel-spin as the lights went off before taking a win and in the next race, he made places from sixth on the reverse grid to take the checkered flag despite stalling his car at Turn-1 in the very first lap. The race was marked by a Safety Car period following a collision between Aussie Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sunderamoorthy in the first lap. The Belgian youngster, despite the Turn-1 incident, put his head down and managed to carve his way through the field before passing leader Joshua Mason, the 17-year old from Great Britain on the final lap while Jordanian teenager Manaf Hijjawi came in third. “I am happy to win both races today. In the morning, I lost places at the start due to a wheel-spin as I did not let go of the clutch, and then had to fight my way into the lead. In the second race, I started sixth on the reverse grid, stalled my car after someone made contact from behind at Turn-1 in the first lap. Luckily, I managed to start the car and then made places to win,” said a delighted Amendola. In the first race, Amendola, was slowly off the blocks due to wheel-spin and fell behind as Mason and Young led the pack into Turn-1. Mason opened up a sizeable lead before tyre wear slowed him down while Young caught up with him, but could not pass. Meanwhile, Amendola recovered quickly and in the latter half of the race, got a jump on both the front-runners leaving Mason and Young scrap for the minor podium spots. Behind the trio, the midfield witnessed close battles while India’s Chetan Korada finished ninth and last after a spin in the eighth lap even as he was putting in consistent laps. But in the second race, the Chennai-based Korada was running fourth, but conceded the advantage to finish seventh. Earlier, in the qualifying session, Amendola came up with a late charge to grab pole position ahead of Mason, who briefly led the time sheets, and Young. The results: Race-1 (10 laps): 1. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 2. Joshua Mason (Great Britain); 3. Dylan Young (Australia). Race-2: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Manaf Hijjawi (Jordan). Qualifying (top 4): 1. Amendola (01:58.409); 2. Mason (01:58.499); 3. Young (01:58.518); 4. Largim Ali (Denmark) (01:58.527).
Dubai, November 22: Belgian teenager Michelangelo Amendola came up with two brilliant drives to win both the races on Friday in the eighth edition of the FIA- approved MRF Challenge international series at the Dubai Autodrome.The 17-year old Amendola displayed rare character to win both races from difficult positions. In the first race that he started form pole, he dropped to third after a wheel-spin as the lights went off before taking a win and in the next race, he made places from sixth on the reverse grid to take the checkered flag despite stalling his car at Turn-1 in the very first lap.The race was marked by a Safety Car period following a collision between Aussie Dylan Young and Indian-American Yuven Sunderamoorthy in the first lap.The Belgian youngster, despite the Turn-1 incident, put his head down and managed to carve his way through the field before passing leader Joshua Mason, the 17-year old from Great Britain on the final lap while Jordanian teenager Manaf Hijjawi came in third.“I am happy to win both races today. In the morning, I lost places at the start due to a wheel-spin as I did not let go of the clutch, and then had to fight my way into the lead. In the second race, I started sixth on the reverse grid, stalled my car after someone made contact from behind at Turn-1 in the first lap. Luckily, I managed to start the car and then made places to win,” said a delighted Amendola.In the first race, Amendola, was slowly off the blocks due to wheel-spin and fell behind as Mason and Young led the pack into Turn-1. Mason opened up a sizeable lead before tyre wear slowed him down while Young caught up with him, but could not pass. Meanwhile, Amendola recovered quickly and in the latter half of the race, got a jump on both the front-runners leaving Mason and Young scrap for the minor podium spots.Behind the trio, the midfield witnessed close battles while India’s Chetan Korada finished ninth and last after a spin in the eighth lap even as he was putting in consistent laps. But in the second race, the Chennai-based Korada was running fourth, but conceded the advantage to finish seventh.Earlier, in the qualifying session, Amendola came up with a late charge to grab pole position ahead of Mason, who briefly led the time sheets, and Young.The results:Race-1 (10 laps): 1. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium); 2. Joshua Mason (Great Britain); 3. Dylan Young (Australia). Race-2: 1. Amendola; 2. Mason; 3. Manaf Hijjawi (Jordan).Qualifying (top 4): 1. Amendola (01:58.409); 2. Mason (01:58.499); 3. Young (01:58.518); 4. Largim Ali (Denmark) (01:58.527).
Dubai, November 21: Belgium’s 17-year old Michelangelo Amendola set the early pace by dominating both the free practice sessions as the eighth season of the International MRF Challenge commenced at the Dubai Autodrome, here today.
Amendola, who had finished fifth overall in the 2018-19 championship, topped the time sheets in the first of the two Free Practice sessions by clocking one minute, 58.551 seconds and followed it up with a 01:58.806 in the next outing.
Finishing second behind Amendola in the red-flag interrupted FP1 were two other 17-year olds, Great Britain’s Joshua Mason (01:59.882) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy from the United States (01:59.912).
Amendola continued his consistent run in FP2 with a best of 01:58.806 which he set barely minutes from the close of the session ahead of Sundaramoorthy (01:59.524), who has some experience of driving two-litre cars having taken part in F2000 races in the US and Australian veteran Dylan Young (01:59.618) who shrugged off a spin in FP1 that led to the red flag as the marshals removed his car stranded in one of the corners.
The lone Indian in the fray, Chetan Korada struggled in both the sessions, finishing last in the nine-car field. “I had some issues with the car today, but hopefully, I will be able to do better tomorrow’s qualifying session,” said the 33-year old Chennai-based Korada.
Amendola was pleased as punch with his performance today. “It went pretty well considering that I was driving after a long time. To be honest, the last time I drove was in Chennai in February (2018-19 season), so I had no preparations. I only did a lot of physical and mental training. However, it felt like home, getting back into the car!” said Almendola.
Belgian Amendola dominates practice sessionsDubai, November 21: Belgium’s 17-year old Michelangelo Amendola set the early pace by dominating both the free practice sessions as the eighth season of the International MRF Challenge commenced at the Dubai Autodrome, here today.Amendola, who had finished fifth overall in the 2018-19 championship, topped the time sheets in the first of the two Free Practice sessions by clocking one minute, 58.551 seconds and followed it up with a 01:58.806 in the next outing.Finishing second behind Amendola in the red-flag interrupted FP1 were two other 17-year olds, Great Britain’s Joshua Mason (01:59.882) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy from the United States (01:59.912).Amendola continued his consistent run in FP2 with a best of 01:58.806 which he set barely minutes from the close of the session ahead of Sundaramoorthy (01:59.524), who has some experience of driving two-litre cars having taken part in F2000 races in the US and Australian veteran Dylan Young (01:59.618) who shrugged off a spin in FP1 that led to the red flag as the marshals removed his car stranded in one of the corners.The lone Indian in the fray, Chetan Korada struggled in both the sessions, finishing last in the nine-car field. “I had some issues with the car today, but hopefully, I will be able to do better tomorrow’s qualifying session,” said the 33-year old Chennai-based Korada.Amendola was pleased as punch with his performance today. “It went pretty well considering that I was driving after a long time. To be honest, the last time I drove was in Chennai in February (2018-19 season), so I had no preparations. I only did a lot of physical and mental training. However, it felt like home, getting back into the car!” said Almendola.
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[#markup] => Belgian Amendola dominates practice sessionsDubai, November 21: Belgium’s 17-year old Michelangelo Amendola set the early pace by dominating both the free practice sessions as the eighth season of the International MRF Challenge commenced at the Dubai Autodrome, here today.Amendola, who had finished fifth overall in the 2018-19 championship, topped the time sheets in the first of the two Free Practice sessions by clocking one minute, 58.551 seconds and followed it up with a 01:58.806 in the next outing.Finishing second behind Amendola in the red-flag interrupted FP1 were two other 17-year olds, Great Britain’s Joshua Mason (01:59.882) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy from the United States (01:59.912).Amendola continued his consistent run in FP2 with a best of 01:58.806 which he set barely minutes from the close of the session ahead of Sundaramoorthy (01:59.524), who has some experience of driving two-litre cars having taken part in F2000 races in the US and Australian veteran Dylan Young (01:59.618) who shrugged off a spin in FP1 that led to the red flag as the marshals removed his car stranded in one of the corners.The lone Indian in the fray, Chetan Korada struggled in both the sessions, finishing last in the nine-car field. “I had some issues with the car today, but hopefully, I will be able to do better tomorrow’s qualifying session,” said the 33-year old Chennai-based Korada.Amendola was pleased as punch with his performance today. “It went pretty well considering that I was driving after a long time. To be honest, the last time I drove was in Chennai in February (2018-19 season), so I had no preparations. I only did a lot of physical and mental training. However, it felt like home, getting back into the car!” said Almendola.
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Belgian Amendola dominates practice sessions
Dubai, November 21: Belgium’s 17-year old Michelangelo Amendola set the early pace by dominating both the free practice sessions as the eighth season of the International MRF Challenge commenced at the Dubai Autodrome, here today.
Amendola, who had finished fifth overall in the 2018-19 championship, topped the time sheets in the first of the two Free Practice sessions by clocking one minute, 58.551 seconds and followed it up with a 01:58.806 in the next outing.
Finishing second behind Amendola in the red-flag interrupted FP1 were two other 17-year olds, Great Britain’s Joshua Mason (01:59.882) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy from the United States (01:59.912).
Amendola continued his consistent run in FP2 with a best of 01:58.806 which he set barely minutes from the close of the session ahead of Sundaramoorthy (01:59.524), who has some experience of driving two-litre cars having taken part in F2000 races in the US and Australian veteran Dylan Young (01:59.618) who shrugged off a spin in FP1 that led to the red flag as the marshals removed his car stranded in one of the corners.
The lone Indian in the fray, Chetan Korada struggled in both the sessions, finishing last in the nine-car field. “I had some issues with the car today, but hopefully, I will be able to do better tomorrow’s qualifying session,” said the 33-year old Chennai-based Korada.
Amendola was pleased as punch with his performance today. “It went pretty well considering that I was driving after a long time. To be honest, the last time I drove was in Chennai in February (2018-19 season), so I had no preparations. I only did a lot of physical and mental training. However, it felt like home, getting back into the car!” said Almendola.
Belgian Amendola dominates practice sessionsDubai, November 21: Belgium’s 17-year old Michelangelo Amendola set the early pace by dominating both the free practice sessions as the eighth season of the International MRF Challenge commenced at the Dubai Autodrome, here today.Amendola, who had finished fifth overall in the 2018-19 championship, topped the time sheets in the first of the two Free Practice sessions by clocking one minute, 58.551 seconds and followed it up with a 01:58.806 in the next outing.Finishing second behind Amendola in the red-flag interrupted FP1 were two other 17-year olds, Great Britain’s Joshua Mason (01:59.882) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy from the United States (01:59.912).Amendola continued his consistent run in FP2 with a best of 01:58.806 which he set barely minutes from the close of the session ahead of Sundaramoorthy (01:59.524), who has some experience of driving two-litre cars having taken part in F2000 races in the US and Australian veteran Dylan Young (01:59.618) who shrugged off a spin in FP1 that led to the red flag as the marshals removed his car stranded in one of the corners.The lone Indian in the fray, Chetan Korada struggled in both the sessions, finishing last in the nine-car field. “I had some issues with the car today, but hopefully, I will be able to do better tomorrow’s qualifying session,” said the 33-year old Chennai-based Korada.Amendola was pleased as punch with his performance today. “It went pretty well considering that I was driving after a long time. To be honest, the last time I drove was in Chennai in February (2018-19 season), so I had no preparations. I only did a lot of physical and mental training. However, it felt like home, getting back into the car!” said Almendola.
Chennai, July 18: With a clutch of innovative initiatives on the horizon, the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship gets underway at the MMRT here on Friday, July 19, featuring 14 races.
The programme includes races in the two single-seater categories, the MRF F1600 and the Formula LGB 1300, besides the popular saloon cars – the premium Indian Touring Cars and Super Stock classes – and the Volkswagen Ameo Class which has been accorded National Championship status. Running concurrently will be four Formula 4 South-East Asia races.
While even as the National Championship season is in full swing, promoters Madras Motor Sports Club are planning to initiate a slew of long-term plans that include night racing, the first of its kind in India.
Taking an overview of this weekend’s races, Chairman of the Championship Vicky Chandhok said: “We are offering a racing menu with variety this weekend. Beginning with the junior level LGB 1300 leading up to the MRF F1600 which is the first step towards Formula racing, besides of course the saloon cars. We will see a galaxy of foreign and Indian racers this unique weekend when MMSC hosts both international and National racing championship at our very own circuit. So, plenty of action for sure.
“Going forward, we at the MMSC, in keeping with our efforts to move with the changing times, plan to introduce night events with racing under lights. With a view to evaluate the possibilities of night racing, we have planned a test session on Wednesday, August 7, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Primarily, this first session will be only for saloons with headlights mandatory. Depending on the testing, we will expand it to the 1300cc single seater cars as well. Further, for the next round (August 16-18), we plan to run the races in anti-clockwise direction. The response, thus far, has been tremendous.”
The MRF F1600, a proven platform for young aspirants looking to break into international arena, will be running to full grid with four races scheduled, while the Formula LGB 1300, an excellent option for those graduating to single-seater racing, has again attracted 20-plus entries.
The two categories in the saloon cars, ITC and Super Stock, will be run on combined grid, and as in the previous round in Coimbatore last month, competition is expected
to fierce with the factory-supported turbo-powered Volkswagen Vento cars likely to extend their domination.
• • MMRT geared up to host 14 races • • Full grid for MRF Formula 1600 • • Plans on for night racing Chennai, July 18: With a clutch of innovative initiatives on the horizon, the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship gets underway at the MMRT here on Friday, July 19, featuring 14 races.The programme includes races in the two single-seater categories, the MRF F1600 and the Formula LGB 1300, besides the popular saloon cars – the premium Indian Touring Cars and Super Stock classes – and the Volkswagen Ameo Class which has been accorded National Championship status. Running concurrently will be four Formula 4 South-East Asia races.While even as the National Championship season is in full swing, promoters Madras Motor Sports Club are planning to initiate a slew of long-term plans that include night racing, the first of its kind in India.Taking an overview of this weekend’s races, Chairman of the Championship Vicky Chandhok said: “We are offering a racing menu with variety this weekend. Beginning with the junior level LGB 1300 leading up to the MRF F1600 which is the first step towards Formula racing, besides of course the saloon cars. We will see a galaxy of foreign and Indian racers this unique weekend when MMSC hosts both international and National racing championship at our very own circuit. So, plenty of action for sure.“Going forward, we at the MMSC, in keeping with our efforts to move with the changing times, plan to introduce night events with racing under lights. With a view to evaluate the possibilities of night racing, we have planned a test session on Wednesday, August 7, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Primarily, this first session will be only for saloons with headlights mandatory. Depending on the testing, we will expand it to the 1300cc single seater cars as well. Further, for the next round (August 16-18), we plan to run the races in anti-clockwise direction. The response, thus far, has been tremendous.”The MRF F1600, a proven platform for young aspirants looking to break into international arena, will be running to full grid with four races scheduled, while the Formula LGB 1300, an excellent option for those graduating to single-seater racing, has again attracted 20-plus entries.The two categories in the saloon cars, ITC and Super Stock, will be run on combined grid, and as in the previous round in Coimbatore last month, competition is expectedto fierce with the factory-supported turbo-powered Volkswagen Vento cars likely to extend their domination.
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[#markup] => • • MMRT geared up to host 14 races • • Full grid for MRF Formula 1600 • • Plans on for night racing Chennai, July 18: With a clutch of innovative initiatives on the horizon, the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship gets underway at the MMRT here on Friday, July 19, featuring 14 races.The programme includes races in the two single-seater categories, the MRF F1600 and the Formula LGB 1300, besides the popular saloon cars – the premium Indian Touring Cars and Super Stock classes – and the Volkswagen Ameo Class which has been accorded National Championship status. Running concurrently will be four Formula 4 South-East Asia races.While even as the National Championship season is in full swing, promoters Madras Motor Sports Club are planning to initiate a slew of long-term plans that include night racing, the first of its kind in India.Taking an overview of this weekend’s races, Chairman of the Championship Vicky Chandhok said: “We are offering a racing menu with variety this weekend. Beginning with the junior level LGB 1300 leading up to the MRF F1600 which is the first step towards Formula racing, besides of course the saloon cars. We will see a galaxy of foreign and Indian racers this unique weekend when MMSC hosts both international and National racing championship at our very own circuit. So, plenty of action for sure.“Going forward, we at the MMSC, in keeping with our efforts to move with the changing times, plan to introduce night events with racing under lights. With a view to evaluate the possibilities of night racing, we have planned a test session on Wednesday, August 7, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Primarily, this first session will be only for saloons with headlights mandatory. Depending on the testing, we will expand it to the 1300cc single seater cars as well. Further, for the next round (August 16-18), we plan to run the races in anti-clockwise direction. The response, thus far, has been tremendous.”The MRF F1600, a proven platform for young aspirants looking to break into international arena, will be running to full grid with four races scheduled, while the Formula LGB 1300, an excellent option for those graduating to single-seater racing, has again attracted 20-plus entries.The two categories in the saloon cars, ITC and Super Stock, will be run on combined grid, and as in the previous round in Coimbatore last month, competition is expectedto fierce with the factory-supported turbo-powered Volkswagen Vento cars likely to extend their domination.
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• • MMRT geared up to host 14 races
• • Full grid for MRF Formula 1600
• • Plans on for night racing
Chennai, July 18: With a clutch of innovative initiatives on the horizon, the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship gets underway at the MMRT here on Friday, July 19, featuring 14 races.
The programme includes races in the two single-seater categories, the MRF F1600 and the Formula LGB 1300, besides the popular saloon cars – the premium Indian Touring Cars and Super Stock classes – and the Volkswagen Ameo Class which has been accorded National Championship status. Running concurrently will be four Formula 4 South-East Asia races.
While even as the National Championship season is in full swing, promoters Madras Motor Sports Club are planning to initiate a slew of long-term plans that include night racing, the first of its kind in India.
Taking an overview of this weekend’s races, Chairman of the Championship Vicky Chandhok said: “We are offering a racing menu with variety this weekend. Beginning with the junior level LGB 1300 leading up to the MRF F1600 which is the first step towards Formula racing, besides of course the saloon cars. We will see a galaxy of foreign and Indian racers this unique weekend when MMSC hosts both international and National racing championship at our very own circuit. So, plenty of action for sure.
“Going forward, we at the MMSC, in keeping with our efforts to move with the changing times, plan to introduce night events with racing under lights. With a view to evaluate the possibilities of night racing, we have planned a test session on Wednesday, August 7, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Primarily, this first session will be only for saloons with headlights mandatory. Depending on the testing, we will expand it to the 1300cc single seater cars as well. Further, for the next round (August 16-18), we plan to run the races in anti-clockwise direction. The response, thus far, has been tremendous.”
The MRF F1600, a proven platform for young aspirants looking to break into international arena, will be running to full grid with four races scheduled, while the Formula LGB 1300, an excellent option for those graduating to single-seater racing, has again attracted 20-plus entries.
The two categories in the saloon cars, ITC and Super Stock, will be run on combined grid, and as in the previous round in Coimbatore last month, competition is expected
to fierce with the factory-supported turbo-powered Volkswagen Vento cars likely to extend their domination.
• • MMRT geared up to host 14 races • • Full grid for MRF Formula 1600 • • Plans on for night racing Chennai, July 18: With a clutch of innovative initiatives on the horizon, the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship gets underway at the MMRT here on Friday, July 19, featuring 14 races.The programme includes races in the two single-seater categories, the MRF F1600 and the Formula LGB 1300, besides the popular saloon cars – the premium Indian Touring Cars and Super Stock classes – and the Volkswagen Ameo Class which has been accorded National Championship status. Running concurrently will be four Formula 4 South-East Asia races.While even as the National Championship season is in full swing, promoters Madras Motor Sports Club are planning to initiate a slew of long-term plans that include night racing, the first of its kind in India.Taking an overview of this weekend’s races, Chairman of the Championship Vicky Chandhok said: “We are offering a racing menu with variety this weekend. Beginning with the junior level LGB 1300 leading up to the MRF F1600 which is the first step towards Formula racing, besides of course the saloon cars. We will see a galaxy of foreign and Indian racers this unique weekend when MMSC hosts both international and National racing championship at our very own circuit. So, plenty of action for sure.“Going forward, we at the MMSC, in keeping with our efforts to move with the changing times, plan to introduce night events with racing under lights. With a view to evaluate the possibilities of night racing, we have planned a test session on Wednesday, August 7, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Primarily, this first session will be only for saloons with headlights mandatory. Depending on the testing, we will expand it to the 1300cc single seater cars as well. Further, for the next round (August 16-18), we plan to run the races in anti-clockwise direction. The response, thus far, has been tremendous.”The MRF F1600, a proven platform for young aspirants looking to break into international arena, will be running to full grid with four races scheduled, while the Formula LGB 1300, an excellent option for those graduating to single-seater racing, has again attracted 20-plus entries.The two categories in the saloon cars, ITC and Super Stock, will be run on combined grid, and as in the previous round in Coimbatore last month, competition is expectedto fierce with the factory-supported turbo-powered Volkswagen Vento cars likely to extend their domination.
Chennai, February 10: In motor racing age 26 may be considered “old” by today’s standards, but, for Reema Al Juffali, it has been about breaking barriers and going where no Saudi Arabian woman has been as in October last year, she became the first female from the kingdom to race competitively. She took another major step in pursuit of her dreams and passion by competing in the final round of the MRF Challenge which concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday. Hailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Reema studied and worked abroad before moving back home once the motor racing bug firmly implanted itself in her. It took her four years before taking the big decision to pursue racing. At an informal Media interaction here today, Reema said: “It’s been so funny as a story. I started racing quite late in life and the dream came later to me, to pursue racing after I studied and worked at a few things. My passion has always been cars and the racing came along. And after that, it was like I can’t avoid it (racing) anymore and I wanted to pursue it. So, when I moved back home, I had the time and opportunity to pursue racing. In October (2018), I had my first race in a GT 86 car in Abu Dhabi. I was happy with my performance as I finished in the middle of the grid. And then I won my first race in December. So, it’s been very quick, very fast with everything that has been happening. It’s been fantastic. “Women started driving in Saudi in June last year and my first race was in October. So, it’s like okay, this is not just a big step for Saudi women, but we can also have this. I guess, I was in the right place and right time.” When asked about choosing to race in MRF Challenge, Reema said: “MRF were racing in Dubai. At that time, I was thinking of such groups. I spoke to a few people, I had quite a few options of joining a few series in winter. But everyone recommended Chennai and this track (MMRT), because it’s quite technical and the cars, something much more powerful than I had driven before. So, it would give me a good base. In other words, I threw myself in the deep-end and learning to swim. I am managing and happy where I am going. I am happy I came here. The conditions and everything are quite tough and I am happy to finish a 20-lap race. And in terms of my future, I have to stay tuned and see what comes. “People are still surprised and digesting the fact that I am not just driving, but racing. The hardest thing for me was to take that first step, getting over the fear of not succeeding or not pursuing your fashion. When I took that first step, the doors opened for me. If you want to pursue anything, just go for it.” Tracing her interest in motor racing, she said: “It started when I was in college when I began watching Formula 1 and got a little more familiar with racing. I didn’t have much exposure to racing when I was in Saudi. It was always cars and speed, but not actually technical side. When I went abroad, I was exposed to that and I loved it. I started watching and following and learning. I did some track days here and there, and attended some race schools. When I graduated, I gave myself a graduation gift a three-day racing school in a Formula car. It was an eye-filling experience. That was the first time I was in a race car and that was the start of it.” On her future goals and ambition, besides being a role model for other Saudi women, she said: “That comes as a plus and I happy and humbled to be that. Like everyone else, I have my goals, my passion, I want to become the best racer that I can be. And coming into this (MRF Challenge), I am putting myself into the deep-end, getting tested, so that I can improve and grow. That’s my goal and where my focus is. And the fact that I can inspire others, it’s unbelievable. That would push me to do even more.”
Chennai, February 10: In motor racing age 26 may be considered “old” by today’s standards, but, for Reema Al Juffali, it has been about breaking barriers and going where no Saudi Arabian woman has been as in October last year, she became the first female from the kingdom to race competitively. She took another major step in pursuit of her dreams and passion by competing in the final round of the MRF Challenge which concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday. Hailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Reema studied and worked abroad before moving back home once the motor racing bug firmly implanted itself in her. It took her four years before taking the big decision to pursue racing. At an informal Media interaction here today, Reema said: “It’s been so funny as a story. I started racing quite late in life and the dream came later to me, to pursue racing after I studied and worked at a few things. My passion has always been cars and the racing came along. And after that, it was like I can’t avoid it (racing) anymore and I wanted to pursue it. So, when I moved back home, I had the time and opportunity to pursue racing. In October (2018), I had my first race in a GT 86 car in Abu Dhabi. I was happy with my performance as I finished in the middle of the grid. And then I won my first race in December. So, it’s been very quick, very fast with everything that has been happening. It’s been fantastic. “Women started driving in Saudi in June last year and my first race was in October. So, it’s like okay, this is not just a big step for Saudi women, but we can also have this. I guess, I was in the right place and right time.” When asked about choosing to race in MRF Challenge, Reema said: “MRF were racing in Dubai. At that time, I was thinking of such groups. I spoke to a few people, I had quite a few options of joining a few series in winter. But everyone recommended Chennai and this track (MMRT), because it’s quite technical and the cars, something much more powerful than I had driven before. So, it would give me a good base. In other words, I threw myself in the deep-end and learning to swim. I am managing and happy where I am going. I am happy I came here. The conditions and everything are quite tough and I am happy to finish a 20-lap race. And in terms of my future, I have to stay tuned and see what comes. “People are still surprised and digesting the fact that I am not just driving, but racing. The hardest thing for me was to take that first step, getting over the fear of not succeeding or not pursuing your fashion. When I took that first step, the doors opened for me. If you want to pursue anything, just go for it.” Tracing her interest in motor racing, she said: “It started when I was in college when I began watching Formula 1 and got a little more familiar with racing. I didn’t have much exposure to racing when I was in Saudi. It was always cars and speed, but not actually technical side. When I went abroad, I was exposed to that and I loved it. I started watching and following and learning. I did some track days here and there, and attended some race schools. When I graduated, I gave myself a graduation gift a three-day racing school in a Formula car. It was an eye-filling experience. That was the first time I was in a race car and that was the start of it.” On her future goals and ambition, besides being a role model for other Saudi women, she said: “That comes as a plus and I happy and humbled to be that. Like everyone else, I have my goals, my passion, I want to become the best racer that I can be. And coming into this (MRF Challenge), I am putting myself into the deep-end, getting tested, so that I can improve and grow. That’s my goal and where my focus is. And the fact that I can inspire others, it’s unbelievable. That would push me to do even more.”
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[#markup] => Chennai, February 10: In motor racing age 26 may be considered “old” by today’s standards, but, for Reema Al Juffali, it has been about breaking barriers and going where no Saudi Arabian woman has been as in October last year, she became the first female from the kingdom to race competitively. She took another major step in pursuit of her dreams and passion by competing in the final round of the MRF Challenge which concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday. Hailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Reema studied and worked abroad before moving back home once the motor racing bug firmly implanted itself in her. It took her four years before taking the big decision to pursue racing. At an informal Media interaction here today, Reema said: “It’s been so funny as a story. I started racing quite late in life and the dream came later to me, to pursue racing after I studied and worked at a few things. My passion has always been cars and the racing came along. And after that, it was like I can’t avoid it (racing) anymore and I wanted to pursue it. So, when I moved back home, I had the time and opportunity to pursue racing. In October (2018), I had my first race in a GT 86 car in Abu Dhabi. I was happy with my performance as I finished in the middle of the grid. And then I won my first race in December. So, it’s been very quick, very fast with everything that has been happening. It’s been fantastic. “Women started driving in Saudi in June last year and my first race was in October. So, it’s like okay, this is not just a big step for Saudi women, but we can also have this. I guess, I was in the right place and right time.” When asked about choosing to race in MRF Challenge, Reema said: “MRF were racing in Dubai. At that time, I was thinking of such groups. I spoke to a few people, I had quite a few options of joining a few series in winter. But everyone recommended Chennai and this track (MMRT), because it’s quite technical and the cars, something much more powerful than I had driven before. So, it would give me a good base. In other words, I threw myself in the deep-end and learning to swim. I am managing and happy where I am going. I am happy I came here. The conditions and everything are quite tough and I am happy to finish a 20-lap race. And in terms of my future, I have to stay tuned and see what comes. “People are still surprised and digesting the fact that I am not just driving, but racing. The hardest thing for me was to take that first step, getting over the fear of not succeeding or not pursuing your fashion. When I took that first step, the doors opened for me. If you want to pursue anything, just go for it.” Tracing her interest in motor racing, she said: “It started when I was in college when I began watching Formula 1 and got a little more familiar with racing. I didn’t have much exposure to racing when I was in Saudi. It was always cars and speed, but not actually technical side. When I went abroad, I was exposed to that and I loved it. I started watching and following and learning. I did some track days here and there, and attended some race schools. When I graduated, I gave myself a graduation gift a three-day racing school in a Formula car. It was an eye-filling experience. That was the first time I was in a race car and that was the start of it.” On her future goals and ambition, besides being a role model for other Saudi women, she said: “That comes as a plus and I happy and humbled to be that. Like everyone else, I have my goals, my passion, I want to become the best racer that I can be. And coming into this (MRF Challenge), I am putting myself into the deep-end, getting tested, so that I can improve and grow. That’s my goal and where my focus is. And the fact that I can inspire others, it’s unbelievable. That would push me to do even more.”
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Chennai, February 10: In motor racing age 26 may be considered “old” by today’s standards, but, for Reema Al Juffali, it has been about breaking barriers and going where no Saudi Arabian woman has been as in October last year, she became the first female from the kingdom to race competitively. She took another major step in pursuit of her dreams and passion by competing in the final round of the MRF Challenge which concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday. Hailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Reema studied and worked abroad before moving back home once the motor racing bug firmly implanted itself in her. It took her four years before taking the big decision to pursue racing. At an informal Media interaction here today, Reema said: “It’s been so funny as a story. I started racing quite late in life and the dream came later to me, to pursue racing after I studied and worked at a few things. My passion has always been cars and the racing came along. And after that, it was like I can’t avoid it (racing) anymore and I wanted to pursue it. So, when I moved back home, I had the time and opportunity to pursue racing. In October (2018), I had my first race in a GT 86 car in Abu Dhabi. I was happy with my performance as I finished in the middle of the grid. And then I won my first race in December. So, it’s been very quick, very fast with everything that has been happening. It’s been fantastic. “Women started driving in Saudi in June last year and my first race was in October. So, it’s like okay, this is not just a big step for Saudi women, but we can also have this. I guess, I was in the right place and right time.” When asked about choosing to race in MRF Challenge, Reema said: “MRF were racing in Dubai. At that time, I was thinking of such groups. I spoke to a few people, I had quite a few options of joining a few series in winter. But everyone recommended Chennai and this track (MMRT), because it’s quite technical and the cars, something much more powerful than I had driven before. So, it would give me a good base. In other words, I threw myself in the deep-end and learning to swim. I am managing and happy where I am going. I am happy I came here. The conditions and everything are quite tough and I am happy to finish a 20-lap race. And in terms of my future, I have to stay tuned and see what comes. “People are still surprised and digesting the fact that I am not just driving, but racing. The hardest thing for me was to take that first step, getting over the fear of not succeeding or not pursuing your fashion. When I took that first step, the doors opened for me. If you want to pursue anything, just go for it.” Tracing her interest in motor racing, she said: “It started when I was in college when I began watching Formula 1 and got a little more familiar with racing. I didn’t have much exposure to racing when I was in Saudi. It was always cars and speed, but not actually technical side. When I went abroad, I was exposed to that and I loved it. I started watching and following and learning. I did some track days here and there, and attended some race schools. When I graduated, I gave myself a graduation gift a three-day racing school in a Formula car. It was an eye-filling experience. That was the first time I was in a race car and that was the start of it.” On her future goals and ambition, besides being a role model for other Saudi women, she said: “That comes as a plus and I happy and humbled to be that. Like everyone else, I have my goals, my passion, I want to become the best racer that I can be. And coming into this (MRF Challenge), I am putting myself into the deep-end, getting tested, so that I can improve and grow. That’s my goal and where my focus is. And the fact that I can inspire others, it’s unbelievable. That would push me to do even more.”
Chennai, February 10: In motor racing age 26 may be considered “old” by today’s standards, but, for Reema Al Juffali, it has been about breaking barriers and going where no Saudi Arabian woman has been as in October last year, she became the first female from the kingdom to race competitively. She took another major step in pursuit of her dreams and passion by competing in the final round of the MRF Challenge which concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday. Hailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Reema studied and worked abroad before moving back home once the motor racing bug firmly implanted itself in her. It took her four years before taking the big decision to pursue racing. At an informal Media interaction here today, Reema said: “It’s been so funny as a story. I started racing quite late in life and the dream came later to me, to pursue racing after I studied and worked at a few things. My passion has always been cars and the racing came along. And after that, it was like I can’t avoid it (racing) anymore and I wanted to pursue it. So, when I moved back home, I had the time and opportunity to pursue racing. In October (2018), I had my first race in a GT 86 car in Abu Dhabi. I was happy with my performance as I finished in the middle of the grid. And then I won my first race in December. So, it’s been very quick, very fast with everything that has been happening. It’s been fantastic. “Women started driving in Saudi in June last year and my first race was in October. So, it’s like okay, this is not just a big step for Saudi women, but we can also have this. I guess, I was in the right place and right time.” When asked about choosing to race in MRF Challenge, Reema said: “MRF were racing in Dubai. At that time, I was thinking of such groups. I spoke to a few people, I had quite a few options of joining a few series in winter. But everyone recommended Chennai and this track (MMRT), because it’s quite technical and the cars, something much more powerful than I had driven before. So, it would give me a good base. In other words, I threw myself in the deep-end and learning to swim. I am managing and happy where I am going. I am happy I came here. The conditions and everything are quite tough and I am happy to finish a 20-lap race. And in terms of my future, I have to stay tuned and see what comes. “People are still surprised and digesting the fact that I am not just driving, but racing. The hardest thing for me was to take that first step, getting over the fear of not succeeding or not pursuing your fashion. When I took that first step, the doors opened for me. If you want to pursue anything, just go for it.” Tracing her interest in motor racing, she said: “It started when I was in college when I began watching Formula 1 and got a little more familiar with racing. I didn’t have much exposure to racing when I was in Saudi. It was always cars and speed, but not actually technical side. When I went abroad, I was exposed to that and I loved it. I started watching and following and learning. I did some track days here and there, and attended some race schools. When I graduated, I gave myself a graduation gift a three-day racing school in a Formula car. It was an eye-filling experience. That was the first time I was in a race car and that was the start of it.” On her future goals and ambition, besides being a role model for other Saudi women, she said: “That comes as a plus and I happy and humbled to be that. Like everyone else, I have my goals, my passion, I want to become the best racer that I can be. And coming into this (MRF Challenge), I am putting myself into the deep-end, getting tested, so that I can improve and grow. That’s my goal and where my focus is. And the fact that I can inspire others, it’s unbelievable. That would push me to do even more.”
Chennai, February 10: Jamie Chadwick from Bath, England, scripted history in the MRF Challenge by becoming the first female driver to annex the championship in seven seasons as she finished the third and final round of the international series with a triple crown, including two back-to-back wins, at the MMRT, here on Sunday.
Chadwick, 20, who had won three of the five races in the previous round in Bahrain, survived a long day and 58 laps, by winning two while Finland’s Patrick Pasma took the honours in the other as the MRF Challenge 2018-19 drew to a close.
While Chadwick ended the championship with 280 points, including two bonus points for the fastest lap in the last race, Belgium’s Max Defourny who came into the final round here with an 18-point advantage, failed to consolidate and ended up with 243 points. Pasma took the third spot in the championship with 186 points, ahead of German Andreas Estner (181).
An elated Chadwick said: “It (winning the championship) hasn’t sunk in yet. I would like to thank my team too and am happy that everything came together this weekend. In the last race, I made some mistakes which cost me a bit of the lead, but I quickly composed myself and made sure I won.
“I came into MRF Challenge for some experience and exposure, and not to win the championship. But after winning three races in Bahrain, I realised I was in with a chance and so went for it this weekend.”
Earlier, Pasma (Finland) had to work hard for his second win of the weekend in Race-3 which was briefly interrupted by a Safety Car period after Joshua Mason spun and blocked the track in the seventh lap. Pasma, starting from pole position, built up a comfortable, if not commanding lead, over Belgian Michelangelo Amendola before the pack bunched up behind the Safety Car. On re-strart, Pasma was harried all the way by Amendola, but managed to hang on and post his second win of the weekend. Finishing third behind Amendola was Swede Linus Lindqvist, the 2018 British F3 champion.
However, from the championship title perspective, the focus was on the battle between Chadwick and Defourny with the British youngster managing to finish ahead of the Belgian in fifth position. Defourny came in seventh which helped Chadwick to extend her lead by five points with two races remaining.
Chadwick expanded her championship lead over Defourny to 18 by winning Race-4 that was stopped and restarted following two incidents in the very first lap leading to retirement of three cars and the race distance reduced to 18 laps from scheduled 20. Chadwick had a fine start from P2 on the grid, moving past pole-sitter Jack Doohan (Australia) and then defended her position to chalk up her second win of the weekend. Defourny registered his best finish of the weekend by coming home fourth behind Chadwick, Amendola and Doohan.
In the final race of the championship, Chadwick was again off to a superb start, squeezing into the lead from third position, past pole-sitter Pasma and Defourny, even as the pack dived into Turn-1. With each lap, Chadwick increased her lead even as Defourny dropped down the order and eventually finished sixth. In the latter part of the race, Chadwick was closely pursued by Pasma and Amendola, but the British girl hung on to her advantage to chalk up her sixth win in 15 starts.
In the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship that was run concurrently, Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) topped the Formula LGB 1300 class race while P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) won in the Saloon car (Super Stock) category.
MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3, 10 laps): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.070); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.528); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (15:36.030).
Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 2, 10 laps): 1. P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) (20:26.602); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:34.767); 3. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:41.701).
Support Race – MRF F1600 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Lee Deegan (UK) (16:54.757); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:55.452); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:55.654). Race-3 (10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:40.939); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:49.098); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (17:00.516).
ABOUT MRF TYRES
Motorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.
Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.
MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.
The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 10: Jamie Chadwick from Bath, England, scripted history in the MRF Challenge by becoming the first female driver to annex the championship in seven seasons as she finished the third and final round of the international series with a triple crown, including two back-to-back wins, at the MMRT, here on Sunday.Chadwick, 20, who had won three of the five races in the previous round in Bahrain, survived a long day and 58 laps, by winning two while Finland’s Patrick Pasma took the honours in the other as the MRF Challenge 2018-19 drew to a close.While Chadwick ended the championship with 280 points, including two bonus points for the fastest lap in the last race, Belgium’s Max Defourny who came into the final round here with an 18-point advantage, failed to consolidate and ended up with 243 points. Pasma took the third spot in the championship with 186 points, ahead of German Andreas Estner (181).An elated Chadwick said: “It (winning the championship) hasn’t sunk in yet. I would like to thank my team too and am happy that everything came together this weekend. In the last race, I made some mistakes which cost me a bit of the lead, but I quickly composed myself and made sure I won.“I came into MRF Challenge for some experience and exposure, and not to win the championship. But after winning three races in Bahrain, I realised I was in with a chance and so went for it this weekend.”Earlier, Pasma (Finland) had to work hard for his second win of the weekend in Race-3 which was briefly interrupted by a Safety Car period after Joshua Mason spun and blocked the track in the seventh lap. Pasma, starting from pole position, built up a comfortable, if not commanding lead, over Belgian Michelangelo Amendola before the pack bunched up behind the Safety Car. On re-strart, Pasma was harried all the way by Amendola, but managed to hang on and post his second win of the weekend. Finishing third behind Amendola was Swede Linus Lindqvist, the 2018 British F3 champion.However, from the championship title perspective, the focus was on the battle between Chadwick and Defourny with the British youngster managing to finish ahead of the Belgian in fifth position. Defourny came in seventh which helped Chadwick to extend her lead by five points with two races remaining.Chadwick expanded her championship lead over Defourny to 18 by winning Race-4 that was stopped and restarted following two incidents in the very first lap leading to retirement of three cars and the race distance reduced to 18 laps from scheduled 20. Chadwick had a fine start from P2 on the grid, moving past pole-sitter Jack Doohan (Australia) and then defended her position to chalk up her second win of the weekend. Defourny registered his best finish of the weekend by coming home fourth behind Chadwick, Amendola and Doohan.In the final race of the championship, Chadwick was again off to a superb start, squeezing into the lead from third position, past pole-sitter Pasma and Defourny, even as the pack dived into Turn-1. With each lap, Chadwick increased her lead even as Defourny dropped down the order and eventually finished sixth. In the latter part of the race, Chadwick was closely pursued by Pasma and Amendola, but the British girl hung on to her advantage to chalk up her sixth win in 15 starts.In the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship that was run concurrently, Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) topped the Formula LGB 1300 class race while P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) won in the Saloon car (Super Stock) category.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Race-3 (20 laps): 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (35mins, 35.212secs); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belguim) (35:35.569); 3. Linus Lindqvist (Sweden) (35:36.281). Race-4 (18 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (27:39.087); 2. Michaelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (27:40.106); 3. Jack Doohan (Australia) (27:46.896). Race-5 (20 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (30:46.505); 2. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (30:47.574); 3. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (30:48.164).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3, 10 laps): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.070); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.528); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (15:36.030).Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 2, 10 laps): 1. P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) (20:26.602); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:34.767); 3. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:41.701).Support Race – MRF F1600 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Lee Deegan (UK) (16:54.757); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:55.452); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:55.654). Race-3 (10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:40.939); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:49.098); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (17:00.516).ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
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[#markup] => Chennai, February 10: Jamie Chadwick from Bath, England, scripted history in the MRF Challenge by becoming the first female driver to annex the championship in seven seasons as she finished the third and final round of the international series with a triple crown, including two back-to-back wins, at the MMRT, here on Sunday.Chadwick, 20, who had won three of the five races in the previous round in Bahrain, survived a long day and 58 laps, by winning two while Finland’s Patrick Pasma took the honours in the other as the MRF Challenge 2018-19 drew to a close.While Chadwick ended the championship with 280 points, including two bonus points for the fastest lap in the last race, Belgium’s Max Defourny who came into the final round here with an 18-point advantage, failed to consolidate and ended up with 243 points. Pasma took the third spot in the championship with 186 points, ahead of German Andreas Estner (181).An elated Chadwick said: “It (winning the championship) hasn’t sunk in yet. I would like to thank my team too and am happy that everything came together this weekend. In the last race, I made some mistakes which cost me a bit of the lead, but I quickly composed myself and made sure I won.“I came into MRF Challenge for some experience and exposure, and not to win the championship. But after winning three races in Bahrain, I realised I was in with a chance and so went for it this weekend.”Earlier, Pasma (Finland) had to work hard for his second win of the weekend in Race-3 which was briefly interrupted by a Safety Car period after Joshua Mason spun and blocked the track in the seventh lap. Pasma, starting from pole position, built up a comfortable, if not commanding lead, over Belgian Michelangelo Amendola before the pack bunched up behind the Safety Car. On re-strart, Pasma was harried all the way by Amendola, but managed to hang on and post his second win of the weekend. Finishing third behind Amendola was Swede Linus Lindqvist, the 2018 British F3 champion.However, from the championship title perspective, the focus was on the battle between Chadwick and Defourny with the British youngster managing to finish ahead of the Belgian in fifth position. Defourny came in seventh which helped Chadwick to extend her lead by five points with two races remaining.Chadwick expanded her championship lead over Defourny to 18 by winning Race-4 that was stopped and restarted following two incidents in the very first lap leading to retirement of three cars and the race distance reduced to 18 laps from scheduled 20. Chadwick had a fine start from P2 on the grid, moving past pole-sitter Jack Doohan (Australia) and then defended her position to chalk up her second win of the weekend. Defourny registered his best finish of the weekend by coming home fourth behind Chadwick, Amendola and Doohan.In the final race of the championship, Chadwick was again off to a superb start, squeezing into the lead from third position, past pole-sitter Pasma and Defourny, even as the pack dived into Turn-1. With each lap, Chadwick increased her lead even as Defourny dropped down the order and eventually finished sixth. In the latter part of the race, Chadwick was closely pursued by Pasma and Amendola, but the British girl hung on to her advantage to chalk up her sixth win in 15 starts.In the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship that was run concurrently, Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) topped the Formula LGB 1300 class race while P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) won in the Saloon car (Super Stock) category.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Race-3 (20 laps): 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (35mins, 35.212secs); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belguim) (35:35.569); 3. Linus Lindqvist (Sweden) (35:36.281). Race-4 (18 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (27:39.087); 2. Michaelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (27:40.106); 3. Jack Doohan (Australia) (27:46.896). Race-5 (20 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (30:46.505); 2. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (30:47.574); 3. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (30:48.164).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3, 10 laps): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.070); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.528); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (15:36.030).Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 2, 10 laps): 1. P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) (20:26.602); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:34.767); 3. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:41.701).Support Race – MRF F1600 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Lee Deegan (UK) (16:54.757); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:55.452); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:55.654). Race-3 (10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:40.939); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:49.098); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (17:00.516).ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
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Chennai, February 10: Jamie Chadwick from Bath, England, scripted history in the MRF Challenge by becoming the first female driver to annex the championship in seven seasons as she finished the third and final round of the international series with a triple crown, including two back-to-back wins, at the MMRT, here on Sunday.
Chadwick, 20, who had won three of the five races in the previous round in Bahrain, survived a long day and 58 laps, by winning two while Finland’s Patrick Pasma took the honours in the other as the MRF Challenge 2018-19 drew to a close.
While Chadwick ended the championship with 280 points, including two bonus points for the fastest lap in the last race, Belgium’s Max Defourny who came into the final round here with an 18-point advantage, failed to consolidate and ended up with 243 points. Pasma took the third spot in the championship with 186 points, ahead of German Andreas Estner (181).
An elated Chadwick said: “It (winning the championship) hasn’t sunk in yet. I would like to thank my team too and am happy that everything came together this weekend. In the last race, I made some mistakes which cost me a bit of the lead, but I quickly composed myself and made sure I won.
“I came into MRF Challenge for some experience and exposure, and not to win the championship. But after winning three races in Bahrain, I realised I was in with a chance and so went for it this weekend.”
Earlier, Pasma (Finland) had to work hard for his second win of the weekend in Race-3 which was briefly interrupted by a Safety Car period after Joshua Mason spun and blocked the track in the seventh lap. Pasma, starting from pole position, built up a comfortable, if not commanding lead, over Belgian Michelangelo Amendola before the pack bunched up behind the Safety Car. On re-strart, Pasma was harried all the way by Amendola, but managed to hang on and post his second win of the weekend. Finishing third behind Amendola was Swede Linus Lindqvist, the 2018 British F3 champion.
However, from the championship title perspective, the focus was on the battle between Chadwick and Defourny with the British youngster managing to finish ahead of the Belgian in fifth position. Defourny came in seventh which helped Chadwick to extend her lead by five points with two races remaining.
Chadwick expanded her championship lead over Defourny to 18 by winning Race-4 that was stopped and restarted following two incidents in the very first lap leading to retirement of three cars and the race distance reduced to 18 laps from scheduled 20. Chadwick had a fine start from P2 on the grid, moving past pole-sitter Jack Doohan (Australia) and then defended her position to chalk up her second win of the weekend. Defourny registered his best finish of the weekend by coming home fourth behind Chadwick, Amendola and Doohan.
In the final race of the championship, Chadwick was again off to a superb start, squeezing into the lead from third position, past pole-sitter Pasma and Defourny, even as the pack dived into Turn-1. With each lap, Chadwick increased her lead even as Defourny dropped down the order and eventually finished sixth. In the latter part of the race, Chadwick was closely pursued by Pasma and Amendola, but the British girl hung on to her advantage to chalk up her sixth win in 15 starts.
In the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship that was run concurrently, Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) topped the Formula LGB 1300 class race while P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) won in the Saloon car (Super Stock) category.
MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3, 10 laps): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.070); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.528); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (15:36.030).
Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 2, 10 laps): 1. P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) (20:26.602); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:34.767); 3. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:41.701).
Support Race – MRF F1600 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Lee Deegan (UK) (16:54.757); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:55.452); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:55.654). Race-3 (10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:40.939); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:49.098); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (17:00.516).
ABOUT MRF TYRES
Motorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.
Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.
MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.
The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 10: Jamie Chadwick from Bath, England, scripted history in the MRF Challenge by becoming the first female driver to annex the championship in seven seasons as she finished the third and final round of the international series with a triple crown, including two back-to-back wins, at the MMRT, here on Sunday.Chadwick, 20, who had won three of the five races in the previous round in Bahrain, survived a long day and 58 laps, by winning two while Finland’s Patrick Pasma took the honours in the other as the MRF Challenge 2018-19 drew to a close.While Chadwick ended the championship with 280 points, including two bonus points for the fastest lap in the last race, Belgium’s Max Defourny who came into the final round here with an 18-point advantage, failed to consolidate and ended up with 243 points. Pasma took the third spot in the championship with 186 points, ahead of German Andreas Estner (181).An elated Chadwick said: “It (winning the championship) hasn’t sunk in yet. I would like to thank my team too and am happy that everything came together this weekend. In the last race, I made some mistakes which cost me a bit of the lead, but I quickly composed myself and made sure I won.“I came into MRF Challenge for some experience and exposure, and not to win the championship. But after winning three races in Bahrain, I realised I was in with a chance and so went for it this weekend.”Earlier, Pasma (Finland) had to work hard for his second win of the weekend in Race-3 which was briefly interrupted by a Safety Car period after Joshua Mason spun and blocked the track in the seventh lap. Pasma, starting from pole position, built up a comfortable, if not commanding lead, over Belgian Michelangelo Amendola before the pack bunched up behind the Safety Car. On re-strart, Pasma was harried all the way by Amendola, but managed to hang on and post his second win of the weekend. Finishing third behind Amendola was Swede Linus Lindqvist, the 2018 British F3 champion.However, from the championship title perspective, the focus was on the battle between Chadwick and Defourny with the British youngster managing to finish ahead of the Belgian in fifth position. Defourny came in seventh which helped Chadwick to extend her lead by five points with two races remaining.Chadwick expanded her championship lead over Defourny to 18 by winning Race-4 that was stopped and restarted following two incidents in the very first lap leading to retirement of three cars and the race distance reduced to 18 laps from scheduled 20. Chadwick had a fine start from P2 on the grid, moving past pole-sitter Jack Doohan (Australia) and then defended her position to chalk up her second win of the weekend. Defourny registered his best finish of the weekend by coming home fourth behind Chadwick, Amendola and Doohan.In the final race of the championship, Chadwick was again off to a superb start, squeezing into the lead from third position, past pole-sitter Pasma and Defourny, even as the pack dived into Turn-1. With each lap, Chadwick increased her lead even as Defourny dropped down the order and eventually finished sixth. In the latter part of the race, Chadwick was closely pursued by Pasma and Amendola, but the British girl hung on to her advantage to chalk up her sixth win in 15 starts.In the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship that was run concurrently, Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) topped the Formula LGB 1300 class race while P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) won in the Saloon car (Super Stock) category.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Race-3 (20 laps): 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (35mins, 35.212secs); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belguim) (35:35.569); 3. Linus Lindqvist (Sweden) (35:36.281). Race-4 (18 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (27:39.087); 2. Michaelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (27:40.106); 3. Jack Doohan (Australia) (27:46.896). Race-5 (20 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (30:46.505); 2. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (30:47.574); 3. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (30:48.164).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3, 10 laps): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.070); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (15:35.528); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (15:36.030).Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 2, 10 laps): 1. P Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) (20:26.602); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:34.767); 3. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:41.701).Support Race – MRF F1600 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Lee Deegan (UK) (16:54.757); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:55.452); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:55.654). Race-3 (10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:40.939); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (16:49.098); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (17:00.516).ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 9: The ongoing MRF Challenge provides an ideal platform for young racing aspirants to showcase their talent and also secure exposure ahead of the new international season, and hence, former five-times World 500cc champion Mick Doohan from Australia said he decided to enter his 16-year old son, Jack, in one of Asia’s premier winter series. Speaking to the Media on the sidelines of the third and final round of the MRF Challenge at the MMRT here today and soon after his son finished third in Race-1, 53-year Doohan, said: “The primary reason (for Jack Doohan to enter MRF Challenge) is that my son (Jack) turned 16 only this January and so this is his first real series. I was in Dubai a few years ago and a number of the Australians I knew were driving in MRF Challenge. I was also in Bahrain. So, I had a feel for the series. We had heard a lot of good things about it (MRF Challenge). It was pretty easy for us to get here, and get some experience. “For a winter series, this (MRF Challenge) is a great platform. This offers us some real race miles before the start of the European season. The cars are competitive, the platform is basically identical. This is what attracts a lot of the drivers. There is a wide variety of drivers here. It is like a starting school. It is great to be here in Chennai and experience the racing. This (MMRT) is a great circuit. I actually like circuits with a little bit of character. It adds attraction to the series.” Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, who presided over the Media interaction, said: “MRF has been associated with motorsports for the last 30 years. Every year, it has been a wonderful journey. Here at the MRF Challenge, all the cars are the same, identical cars, same tyres, specs etc. So what differentiates these cars is the caliber of the drivers and the skill tests. And it is a dream learning platform for them to master their skills and gain exposure. That is what we are trying to do with MRF Challenge. “Apart from motorsports, we are also active in various championships, including gravel and rally championships in UK, Europe and Australia. So, the MRF Challenge is an extension of our endeavor to produce quality racing and rally tyres.” Doohan, when asked about his son’s choice of four-wheeler racing instead of bikes, said; “He has been riding dirt bikes and we have a go-kart track on our property. Because his friends were driving cars and he hurt himself on a bike when very young, he never really showed interest (in bike racing). On a motorcycle, if you make a mistake you crash. Also, thankfully, in a car, he is not judged against what his father did.” Doohan also fielded questions on the current state of MotoGP, the evolution of the machinery and the on-track rivalries. “The talent today is there for all of us to see. The top guys are the same as in any period in the sport. There are some young guys coming through. The bikes are a little bit easier to ride with all the electronics and other bits and pieces on the bike which are still prototypes, like the Formula 1 cars. The rivalry (among the riders) is good because it keeps some talk going about the sport. About the chances of current World champion Marc Marquez, becoming an all-time great rider, Doohan said: “He certainly has the desire. As long as he doesn’t burn out, he has plenty of time left in him (to add to his five titles).” ABOUT MRF TYRES Motorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports. Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures. The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 9: The ongoing MRF Challenge provides an ideal platform for young racing aspirants to showcase their talent and also secure exposure ahead of the new international season, and hence, former five-times World 500cc champion Mick Doohan from Australia said he decided to enter his 16-year old son, Jack, in one of Asia’s premier winter series.Speaking to the Media on the sidelines of the third and final round of the MRF Challenge at the MMRT here today and soon after his son finished third in Race-1, 53-year Doohan, said: “The primary reason (for Jack Doohan to enter MRF Challenge) is that my son (Jack) turned 16 only this January and so this is his first real series. I was in Dubai a few years ago and a number of the Australians I knew were driving in MRF Challenge. I was also in Bahrain. So, I had a feel for the series. We had heard a lot of good things about it (MRF Challenge). It was pretty easy for us to get here, and get some experience.“For a winter series, this (MRF Challenge) is a great platform. This offers us some real race miles before the start of the European season. The cars are competitive, the platform is basically identical. This is what attracts a lot of the drivers. There is a wide variety of drivers here. It is like a starting school. It is great to be here in Chennai and experience the racing. This (MMRT) is a great circuit. I actually like circuits with a little bit of character. It adds attraction to the series.”Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, who presided over the Media interaction, said: “MRF has been associated with motorsports for the last 30 years. Every year, it has been a wonderful journey. Here at the MRF Challenge, all the cars are the same, identical cars, same tyres, specs etc. So what differentiates these cars is the caliber of the drivers and the skill tests. And it is a dream learning platform for them to master their skills and gain exposure. That is what we are trying to do with MRF Challenge.“Apart from motorsports, we are also active in various championships, including gravel and rally championships in UK, Europe and Australia. So, the MRF Challenge is an extension of our endeavor to produce quality racing and rally tyres.”Doohan, when asked about his son’s choice of four-wheeler racing instead of bikes, said; “He has been riding dirt bikes and we have a go-kart track on our property. Because his friends were driving cars and he hurt himself on a bike when very young, he never really showed interest (in bike racing). On a motorcycle, if you make a mistake you crash. Also, thankfully, in a car, he is not judged against what his father did.” Doohan also fielded questions on the current state of MotoGP, the evolution of the machinery and the on-track rivalries. “The talent today is there for all of us to see. The top guys are the same as in any period in the sport. There are some young guys coming through. The bikes are a little bit easier to ride with all the electronics and other bits and pieces on the bike which are still prototypes, like the Formula 1 cars. The rivalry (among the riders) is good because it keeps some talk going about the sport.About the chances of current World champion Marc Marquez, becoming an all-time great rider, Doohan said: “He certainly has the desire. As long as he doesn’t burn out, he has plenty of time left in him (to add to his five titles).”ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
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[#markup] => Chennai, February 9: The ongoing MRF Challenge provides an ideal platform for young racing aspirants to showcase their talent and also secure exposure ahead of the new international season, and hence, former five-times World 500cc champion Mick Doohan from Australia said he decided to enter his 16-year old son, Jack, in one of Asia’s premier winter series.Speaking to the Media on the sidelines of the third and final round of the MRF Challenge at the MMRT here today and soon after his son finished third in Race-1, 53-year Doohan, said: “The primary reason (for Jack Doohan to enter MRF Challenge) is that my son (Jack) turned 16 only this January and so this is his first real series. I was in Dubai a few years ago and a number of the Australians I knew were driving in MRF Challenge. I was also in Bahrain. So, I had a feel for the series. We had heard a lot of good things about it (MRF Challenge). It was pretty easy for us to get here, and get some experience.“For a winter series, this (MRF Challenge) is a great platform. This offers us some real race miles before the start of the European season. The cars are competitive, the platform is basically identical. This is what attracts a lot of the drivers. There is a wide variety of drivers here. It is like a starting school. It is great to be here in Chennai and experience the racing. This (MMRT) is a great circuit. I actually like circuits with a little bit of character. It adds attraction to the series.”Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, who presided over the Media interaction, said: “MRF has been associated with motorsports for the last 30 years. Every year, it has been a wonderful journey. Here at the MRF Challenge, all the cars are the same, identical cars, same tyres, specs etc. So what differentiates these cars is the caliber of the drivers and the skill tests. And it is a dream learning platform for them to master their skills and gain exposure. That is what we are trying to do with MRF Challenge.“Apart from motorsports, we are also active in various championships, including gravel and rally championships in UK, Europe and Australia. So, the MRF Challenge is an extension of our endeavor to produce quality racing and rally tyres.”Doohan, when asked about his son’s choice of four-wheeler racing instead of bikes, said; “He has been riding dirt bikes and we have a go-kart track on our property. Because his friends were driving cars and he hurt himself on a bike when very young, he never really showed interest (in bike racing). On a motorcycle, if you make a mistake you crash. Also, thankfully, in a car, he is not judged against what his father did.” Doohan also fielded questions on the current state of MotoGP, the evolution of the machinery and the on-track rivalries. “The talent today is there for all of us to see. The top guys are the same as in any period in the sport. There are some young guys coming through. The bikes are a little bit easier to ride with all the electronics and other bits and pieces on the bike which are still prototypes, like the Formula 1 cars. The rivalry (among the riders) is good because it keeps some talk going about the sport.About the chances of current World champion Marc Marquez, becoming an all-time great rider, Doohan said: “He certainly has the desire. As long as he doesn’t burn out, he has plenty of time left in him (to add to his five titles).”ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
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Chennai, February 9: The ongoing MRF Challenge provides an ideal platform for young racing aspirants to showcase their talent and also secure exposure ahead of the new international season, and hence, former five-times World 500cc champion Mick Doohan from Australia said he decided to enter his 16-year old son, Jack, in one of Asia’s premier winter series. Speaking to the Media on the sidelines of the third and final round of the MRF Challenge at the MMRT here today and soon after his son finished third in Race-1, 53-year Doohan, said: “The primary reason (for Jack Doohan to enter MRF Challenge) is that my son (Jack) turned 16 only this January and so this is his first real series. I was in Dubai a few years ago and a number of the Australians I knew were driving in MRF Challenge. I was also in Bahrain. So, I had a feel for the series. We had heard a lot of good things about it (MRF Challenge). It was pretty easy for us to get here, and get some experience. “For a winter series, this (MRF Challenge) is a great platform. This offers us some real race miles before the start of the European season. The cars are competitive, the platform is basically identical. This is what attracts a lot of the drivers. There is a wide variety of drivers here. It is like a starting school. It is great to be here in Chennai and experience the racing. This (MMRT) is a great circuit. I actually like circuits with a little bit of character. It adds attraction to the series.” Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, who presided over the Media interaction, said: “MRF has been associated with motorsports for the last 30 years. Every year, it has been a wonderful journey. Here at the MRF Challenge, all the cars are the same, identical cars, same tyres, specs etc. So what differentiates these cars is the caliber of the drivers and the skill tests. And it is a dream learning platform for them to master their skills and gain exposure. That is what we are trying to do with MRF Challenge. “Apart from motorsports, we are also active in various championships, including gravel and rally championships in UK, Europe and Australia. So, the MRF Challenge is an extension of our endeavor to produce quality racing and rally tyres.” Doohan, when asked about his son’s choice of four-wheeler racing instead of bikes, said; “He has been riding dirt bikes and we have a go-kart track on our property. Because his friends were driving cars and he hurt himself on a bike when very young, he never really showed interest (in bike racing). On a motorcycle, if you make a mistake you crash. Also, thankfully, in a car, he is not judged against what his father did.” Doohan also fielded questions on the current state of MotoGP, the evolution of the machinery and the on-track rivalries. “The talent today is there for all of us to see. The top guys are the same as in any period in the sport. There are some young guys coming through. The bikes are a little bit easier to ride with all the electronics and other bits and pieces on the bike which are still prototypes, like the Formula 1 cars. The rivalry (among the riders) is good because it keeps some talk going about the sport. About the chances of current World champion Marc Marquez, becoming an all-time great rider, Doohan said: “He certainly has the desire. As long as he doesn’t burn out, he has plenty of time left in him (to add to his five titles).” ABOUT MRF TYRES Motorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports. Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures. The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 9: The ongoing MRF Challenge provides an ideal platform for young racing aspirants to showcase their talent and also secure exposure ahead of the new international season, and hence, former five-times World 500cc champion Mick Doohan from Australia said he decided to enter his 16-year old son, Jack, in one of Asia’s premier winter series.Speaking to the Media on the sidelines of the third and final round of the MRF Challenge at the MMRT here today and soon after his son finished third in Race-1, 53-year Doohan, said: “The primary reason (for Jack Doohan to enter MRF Challenge) is that my son (Jack) turned 16 only this January and so this is his first real series. I was in Dubai a few years ago and a number of the Australians I knew were driving in MRF Challenge. I was also in Bahrain. So, I had a feel for the series. We had heard a lot of good things about it (MRF Challenge). It was pretty easy for us to get here, and get some experience.“For a winter series, this (MRF Challenge) is a great platform. This offers us some real race miles before the start of the European season. The cars are competitive, the platform is basically identical. This is what attracts a lot of the drivers. There is a wide variety of drivers here. It is like a starting school. It is great to be here in Chennai and experience the racing. This (MMRT) is a great circuit. I actually like circuits with a little bit of character. It adds attraction to the series.”Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, who presided over the Media interaction, said: “MRF has been associated with motorsports for the last 30 years. Every year, it has been a wonderful journey. Here at the MRF Challenge, all the cars are the same, identical cars, same tyres, specs etc. So what differentiates these cars is the caliber of the drivers and the skill tests. And it is a dream learning platform for them to master their skills and gain exposure. That is what we are trying to do with MRF Challenge.“Apart from motorsports, we are also active in various championships, including gravel and rally championships in UK, Europe and Australia. So, the MRF Challenge is an extension of our endeavor to produce quality racing and rally tyres.”Doohan, when asked about his son’s choice of four-wheeler racing instead of bikes, said; “He has been riding dirt bikes and we have a go-kart track on our property. Because his friends were driving cars and he hurt himself on a bike when very young, he never really showed interest (in bike racing). On a motorcycle, if you make a mistake you crash. Also, thankfully, in a car, he is not judged against what his father did.” Doohan also fielded questions on the current state of MotoGP, the evolution of the machinery and the on-track rivalries. “The talent today is there for all of us to see. The top guys are the same as in any period in the sport. There are some young guys coming through. The bikes are a little bit easier to ride with all the electronics and other bits and pieces on the bike which are still prototypes, like the Formula 1 cars. The rivalry (among the riders) is good because it keeps some talk going about the sport.About the chances of current World champion Marc Marquez, becoming an all-time great rider, Doohan said: “He certainly has the desire. As long as he doesn’t burn out, he has plenty of time left in him (to add to his five titles).”ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 09: Jamie Chadwick, one of only two female drivers on the grid, scored a fine win to move into the championship lead, just one point ahead of Max Defourny, in the third and final round of the MRF Challenge, at the MMRT, here today. With three more races to be run tomorrow (Sunday), Chadwick from UK, who has won four races in 12 starts, has 218 points to Belgian Defourny’s 217. Chadwick, 20, starting Race-2 second on the reverse grid, had a brilliant start as she moved past pole-sitter Dylan Young of Australia and over the 20 laps, built up a sizeable lead for a deserving win, her fourth in 12 starts in the championship. Young finished second, almost a second behind Chadwick, while German Andreas Estner took the third spot. For Defourny, 20, it has been a disappointing weekend thus far, having garnered just 10 points from two races today, having finished seventh and sixth. “I had a good start today and went into the lead. I then managed to hold on to my advantage. In the context of the championship, every point matters to me. So, I am happy. Tomorrow, with three races to be run, it is going to be a long day and I hope I can collect the points,” said Chadwick. Earlier, in Race-1, Pasma, starting from pole position, had a great start and after surviving strong challenge in the first lap, gradually pulled away to complete a comfortable win, his second in the championship. “I had a good start and managed to open a big gap. I am very happy that I scored my second win of the championship,” said 18-year old Pasma from Finland. Behind the leader, Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) also came through for second spot without being seriously challenged while 16-year old Jack Doohan (Australia), the son of former five-time World 500cc champion Mick Doohan, completed the podium with an impressive drive. Championship leader Defourny finished a forlorn seventh, the same position he had started the race from, while his arch-rival Chadwick, did well to gain a spot to finish fifth and collect crucial points to narrow the leeway with the Belgian. Meanwhile, Chennai collegian, 20-year old Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports), pulled off a sensational win in the second race of the Formula LGB 1300 category of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship, after starting 11th on the grid. Off to a blistering start, Datta sliced his way into the lead by the end of the second of the 10-lap race and then held off a fighting Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) with K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) coming in third. Race Concepts enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish in the Super Stock (Saloon cars) class with Rithvik Thomas finishing ahead of team-mates Joel Joseph and Prateek Benya. The results: MRF Challenge (F2000): Race-1 (20 laps): 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (30min, 42.140sec); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (30:47.192); 3. Jack Doohan (Australia) (30:53.293). Race-2 (20 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (30:51.643); 2. Dylan Young (Australia) (30:52.669); 3. Andreas Estner (Germany) (30:53.260). MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:04.219); 2. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:05.309); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (20:06.090). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (19:50.799); 2. Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) (19:51.142); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (19:51.332). Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 1, 10 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:33.163); 2. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:39.841); 3. Prateek Benya (Race Concepts) (20:59.922). MRF F1600 (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:47.925); 2. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:57.206); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (16:57.719). ABOUT MRF TYRES Motorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports. Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures. The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 09: Jamie Chadwick, one of only two female drivers on the grid, scored a fine win to move into the championship lead, just one point ahead of Max Defourny, in the third and final round of the MRF Challenge, at the MMRT, here today. With three more races to be run tomorrow (Sunday), Chadwick from UK, who has won four races in 12 starts, has 218 points to Belgian Defourny’s 217.Chadwick, 20, starting Race-2 second on the reverse grid, had a brilliant start as she moved past pole-sitter Dylan Young of Australia and over the 20 laps, built up a sizeable lead for a deserving win, her fourth in 12 starts in the championship. Young finished second, almost a second behind Chadwick, while German Andreas Estner took the third spot.For Defourny, 20, it has been a disappointing weekend thus far, having garnered just 10 points from two races today, having finished seventh and sixth.“I had a good start today and went into the lead. I then managed to hold on to my advantage. In the context of the championship, every point matters to me. So, I am happy. Tomorrow, with three races to be run, it is going to be a long day and I hope I can collect the points,” said Chadwick.Earlier, in Race-1, Pasma, starting from pole position, had a great start and after surviving strong challenge in the first lap, gradually pulled away to complete a comfortable win, his second in the championship. “I had a good start and managed to open a big gap. I am very happy that I scored my second win of the championship,” said 18-year old Pasma from Finland.Behind the leader, Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) also came through for second spot without being seriously challenged while 16-year old Jack Doohan (Australia), the son of former five-time World 500cc champion Mick Doohan, completed the podium with an impressive drive.Championship leader Defourny finished a forlorn seventh, the same position he had started the race from, while his arch-rival Chadwick, did well to gain a spot to finish fifth and collect crucial points to narrow the leeway with the Belgian.Meanwhile, Chennai collegian, 20-year old Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports), pulled off a sensational win in the second race of the Formula LGB 1300 category of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship, after starting 11th on the grid. Off to a blistering start, Datta sliced his way into the lead by the end of the second of the 10-lap race and then held off a fighting Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) with K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) coming in third.Race Concepts enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish in the Super Stock (Saloon cars) class with Rithvik Thomas finishing ahead of team-mates Joel Joseph and Prateek Benya.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Race-1 (20 laps): 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (30min, 42.140sec); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (30:47.192); 3. Jack Doohan (Australia) (30:53.293). Race-2 (20 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (30:51.643); 2. Dylan Young (Australia) (30:52.669); 3. Andreas Estner (Germany) (30:53.260).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:04.219); 2. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:05.309); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (20:06.090). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (19:50.799); 2. Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) (19:51.142); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (19:51.332). Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 1, 10 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:33.163); 2. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:39.841); 3. Prateek Benya (Race Concepts) (20:59.922). MRF F1600 (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:47.925); 2. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:57.206); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (16:57.719).ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
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[#markup] => Chennai, February 09: Jamie Chadwick, one of only two female drivers on the grid, scored a fine win to move into the championship lead, just one point ahead of Max Defourny, in the third and final round of the MRF Challenge, at the MMRT, here today. With three more races to be run tomorrow (Sunday), Chadwick from UK, who has won four races in 12 starts, has 218 points to Belgian Defourny’s 217.Chadwick, 20, starting Race-2 second on the reverse grid, had a brilliant start as she moved past pole-sitter Dylan Young of Australia and over the 20 laps, built up a sizeable lead for a deserving win, her fourth in 12 starts in the championship. Young finished second, almost a second behind Chadwick, while German Andreas Estner took the third spot.For Defourny, 20, it has been a disappointing weekend thus far, having garnered just 10 points from two races today, having finished seventh and sixth.“I had a good start today and went into the lead. I then managed to hold on to my advantage. In the context of the championship, every point matters to me. So, I am happy. Tomorrow, with three races to be run, it is going to be a long day and I hope I can collect the points,” said Chadwick.Earlier, in Race-1, Pasma, starting from pole position, had a great start and after surviving strong challenge in the first lap, gradually pulled away to complete a comfortable win, his second in the championship. “I had a good start and managed to open a big gap. I am very happy that I scored my second win of the championship,” said 18-year old Pasma from Finland.Behind the leader, Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) also came through for second spot without being seriously challenged while 16-year old Jack Doohan (Australia), the son of former five-time World 500cc champion Mick Doohan, completed the podium with an impressive drive.Championship leader Defourny finished a forlorn seventh, the same position he had started the race from, while his arch-rival Chadwick, did well to gain a spot to finish fifth and collect crucial points to narrow the leeway with the Belgian.Meanwhile, Chennai collegian, 20-year old Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports), pulled off a sensational win in the second race of the Formula LGB 1300 category of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship, after starting 11th on the grid. Off to a blistering start, Datta sliced his way into the lead by the end of the second of the 10-lap race and then held off a fighting Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) with K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) coming in third.Race Concepts enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish in the Super Stock (Saloon cars) class with Rithvik Thomas finishing ahead of team-mates Joel Joseph and Prateek Benya.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Race-1 (20 laps): 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (30min, 42.140sec); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (30:47.192); 3. Jack Doohan (Australia) (30:53.293). Race-2 (20 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (30:51.643); 2. Dylan Young (Australia) (30:52.669); 3. Andreas Estner (Germany) (30:53.260).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:04.219); 2. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:05.309); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (20:06.090). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (19:50.799); 2. Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) (19:51.142); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (19:51.332). Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 1, 10 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:33.163); 2. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:39.841); 3. Prateek Benya (Race Concepts) (20:59.922). MRF F1600 (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:47.925); 2. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:57.206); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (16:57.719).ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
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Chennai, February 09: Jamie Chadwick, one of only two female drivers on the grid, scored a fine win to move into the championship lead, just one point ahead of Max Defourny, in the third and final round of the MRF Challenge, at the MMRT, here today. With three more races to be run tomorrow (Sunday), Chadwick from UK, who has won four races in 12 starts, has 218 points to Belgian Defourny’s 217. Chadwick, 20, starting Race-2 second on the reverse grid, had a brilliant start as she moved past pole-sitter Dylan Young of Australia and over the 20 laps, built up a sizeable lead for a deserving win, her fourth in 12 starts in the championship. Young finished second, almost a second behind Chadwick, while German Andreas Estner took the third spot. For Defourny, 20, it has been a disappointing weekend thus far, having garnered just 10 points from two races today, having finished seventh and sixth. “I had a good start today and went into the lead. I then managed to hold on to my advantage. In the context of the championship, every point matters to me. So, I am happy. Tomorrow, with three races to be run, it is going to be a long day and I hope I can collect the points,” said Chadwick. Earlier, in Race-1, Pasma, starting from pole position, had a great start and after surviving strong challenge in the first lap, gradually pulled away to complete a comfortable win, his second in the championship. “I had a good start and managed to open a big gap. I am very happy that I scored my second win of the championship,” said 18-year old Pasma from Finland. Behind the leader, Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) also came through for second spot without being seriously challenged while 16-year old Jack Doohan (Australia), the son of former five-time World 500cc champion Mick Doohan, completed the podium with an impressive drive. Championship leader Defourny finished a forlorn seventh, the same position he had started the race from, while his arch-rival Chadwick, did well to gain a spot to finish fifth and collect crucial points to narrow the leeway with the Belgian. Meanwhile, Chennai collegian, 20-year old Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports), pulled off a sensational win in the second race of the Formula LGB 1300 category of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship, after starting 11th on the grid. Off to a blistering start, Datta sliced his way into the lead by the end of the second of the 10-lap race and then held off a fighting Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) with K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) coming in third. Race Concepts enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish in the Super Stock (Saloon cars) class with Rithvik Thomas finishing ahead of team-mates Joel Joseph and Prateek Benya. The results: MRF Challenge (F2000): Race-1 (20 laps): 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (30min, 42.140sec); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (30:47.192); 3. Jack Doohan (Australia) (30:53.293). Race-2 (20 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (30:51.643); 2. Dylan Young (Australia) (30:52.669); 3. Andreas Estner (Germany) (30:53.260). MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:04.219); 2. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:05.309); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (20:06.090). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (19:50.799); 2. Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) (19:51.142); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (19:51.332). Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 1, 10 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:33.163); 2. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:39.841); 3. Prateek Benya (Race Concepts) (20:59.922). MRF F1600 (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:47.925); 2. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:57.206); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (16:57.719). ABOUT MRF TYRES Motorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports. Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures. The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 09: Jamie Chadwick, one of only two female drivers on the grid, scored a fine win to move into the championship lead, just one point ahead of Max Defourny, in the third and final round of the MRF Challenge, at the MMRT, here today. With three more races to be run tomorrow (Sunday), Chadwick from UK, who has won four races in 12 starts, has 218 points to Belgian Defourny’s 217.Chadwick, 20, starting Race-2 second on the reverse grid, had a brilliant start as she moved past pole-sitter Dylan Young of Australia and over the 20 laps, built up a sizeable lead for a deserving win, her fourth in 12 starts in the championship. Young finished second, almost a second behind Chadwick, while German Andreas Estner took the third spot.For Defourny, 20, it has been a disappointing weekend thus far, having garnered just 10 points from two races today, having finished seventh and sixth.“I had a good start today and went into the lead. I then managed to hold on to my advantage. In the context of the championship, every point matters to me. So, I am happy. Tomorrow, with three races to be run, it is going to be a long day and I hope I can collect the points,” said Chadwick.Earlier, in Race-1, Pasma, starting from pole position, had a great start and after surviving strong challenge in the first lap, gradually pulled away to complete a comfortable win, his second in the championship. “I had a good start and managed to open a big gap. I am very happy that I scored my second win of the championship,” said 18-year old Pasma from Finland.Behind the leader, Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) also came through for second spot without being seriously challenged while 16-year old Jack Doohan (Australia), the son of former five-time World 500cc champion Mick Doohan, completed the podium with an impressive drive.Championship leader Defourny finished a forlorn seventh, the same position he had started the race from, while his arch-rival Chadwick, did well to gain a spot to finish fifth and collect crucial points to narrow the leeway with the Belgian.Meanwhile, Chennai collegian, 20-year old Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports), pulled off a sensational win in the second race of the Formula LGB 1300 category of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship, after starting 11th on the grid. Off to a blistering start, Datta sliced his way into the lead by the end of the second of the 10-lap race and then held off a fighting Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) with K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) coming in third.Race Concepts enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish in the Super Stock (Saloon cars) class with Rithvik Thomas finishing ahead of team-mates Joel Joseph and Prateek Benya.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Race-1 (20 laps): 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (30min, 42.140sec); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (30:47.192); 3. Jack Doohan (Australia) (30:53.293). Race-2 (20 laps): 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (30:51.643); 2. Dylan Young (Australia) (30:52.669); 3. Andreas Estner (Germany) (30:53.260).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:04.219); 2. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (20:05.309); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (20:06.090). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) (19:50.799); 2. Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) (19:51.142); 3. K Suriya Varathan (M Sport) (19:51.332). Saloon Cars (Super Stock – Race 1, 10 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:33.163); 2. Joel Joseph (Race Concepts) (20:39.841); 3. Prateek Benya (Race Concepts) (20:59.922). MRF F1600 (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (16:47.925); 2. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (16:57.206); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (16:57.719).ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres.MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai,Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota,Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Chennai, February 08: Patrick Pasma, the 18-year old from Finland, upstaged the MRF Challenge field with a blistering lap of one minute, 30.559 seconds at the MMRT track here today, to grab the pole position ahead of tomorrow’s race.
Pasma, who is currently fifth in the championship having won just one race in 10 starts in the first round at Dubai in November last year, did well to shrug off two difficult free practice sessions, including a puncture in the first, to take P1 in the 30-minute qualifying run.
Pasma finished well ahead of championship front runners, Max Defourny from Belgium (01:31.119) and UK’s Jamie Chadwick (01:31.103), who slotted in mid-grid positions.
Finishing second behind Pasma was Belgian Michaelangelo Amendola (01:30.682) followed by last year’s British Formula 3 champion Linus Lundquist from Sweden (01:30.810) who had earlier topped both the Free Practice sessions, and Aussie teenager Jack Doohan (01:30.928).
Reflecting on his performance today, Pasma said: “It was alright, though it wasn’t perfect. In the first free practice we had a flat tyre, so it was really tricky. In the second free practice, we made a few changes and it was better. So, the pole position is a good base for tomorrow’s race.
“The track was really technical for us and you really have to be precise. There is no scope for any errors.”
Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee put in a hot lap of 01:40.346 to top the first of the two free practice sessions in the MRF F1600 category and carried forward the form into the second session which also he topped with a best of 01:39.744.
Chennai, February 08: Patrick Pasma, the 18-year old from Finland, upstaged the MRF Challenge field with a blistering lap of one minute, 30.559 seconds at the MMRT track here today, to grab the pole position ahead of tomorrow’s race.Pasma, who is currently fifth in the championship having won just one race in 10 starts in the first round at Dubai in November last year, did well to shrug off two difficult free practice sessions, including a puncture in the first, to take P1 in the 30-minute qualifying run.Pasma finished well ahead of championship front runners, Max Defourny from Belgium (01:31.119) and UK’s Jamie Chadwick (01:31.103), who slotted in mid-grid positions.Finishing second behind Pasma was Belgian Michaelangelo Amendola (01:30.682) followed by last year’s British Formula 3 champion Linus Lundquist from Sweden (01:30.810) who had earlier topped both the Free Practice sessions, and Aussie teenager Jack Doohan (01:30.928).Reflecting on his performance today, Pasma said: “It was alright, though it wasn’t perfect. In the first free practice we had a flat tyre, so it was really tricky. In the second free practice, we made a few changes and it was better. So, the pole position is a good base for tomorrow’s race.“The track was really technical for us and you really have to be precise. There is no scope for any errors.”Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee put in a hot lap of 01:40.346 to top the first of the two free practice sessions in the MRF F1600 category and carried forward the form into the second session which also he topped with a best of 01:39.744.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Qualifying – 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (01min, 30.559secs); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (01:30.682); 3. Linus Lundquist (Sweden) (01:30.810).Free Practice-1: 1. Linus Lundqvist (Sweden) (1:31.611); 2. Jamie Chadwick (UK) 1:31.662; 3. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:31.705). Free Practice-2: 1. Linus Lundqvist (Sweden) (01:31.871); 2. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (01:31.943); 3. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:31.962).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship: MRF F1600 (Free Practice-1): 1. Nayan S Chatterjee (Mumbai) (01:40.346); 2. A. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (01:41.176); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (01:41.484). Free Practice-2: 1. Nayan S Chatterjee (Mumbai) (01:39.744); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (01:40.455); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (01:40.631).
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[#markup] => Chennai, February 08: Patrick Pasma, the 18-year old from Finland, upstaged the MRF Challenge field with a blistering lap of one minute, 30.559 seconds at the MMRT track here today, to grab the pole position ahead of tomorrow’s race.Pasma, who is currently fifth in the championship having won just one race in 10 starts in the first round at Dubai in November last year, did well to shrug off two difficult free practice sessions, including a puncture in the first, to take P1 in the 30-minute qualifying run.Pasma finished well ahead of championship front runners, Max Defourny from Belgium (01:31.119) and UK’s Jamie Chadwick (01:31.103), who slotted in mid-grid positions.Finishing second behind Pasma was Belgian Michaelangelo Amendola (01:30.682) followed by last year’s British Formula 3 champion Linus Lundquist from Sweden (01:30.810) who had earlier topped both the Free Practice sessions, and Aussie teenager Jack Doohan (01:30.928).Reflecting on his performance today, Pasma said: “It was alright, though it wasn’t perfect. In the first free practice we had a flat tyre, so it was really tricky. In the second free practice, we made a few changes and it was better. So, the pole position is a good base for tomorrow’s race.“The track was really technical for us and you really have to be precise. There is no scope for any errors.”Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee put in a hot lap of 01:40.346 to top the first of the two free practice sessions in the MRF F1600 category and carried forward the form into the second session which also he topped with a best of 01:39.744.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Qualifying – 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (01min, 30.559secs); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (01:30.682); 3. Linus Lundquist (Sweden) (01:30.810).Free Practice-1: 1. Linus Lundqvist (Sweden) (1:31.611); 2. Jamie Chadwick (UK) 1:31.662; 3. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:31.705). Free Practice-2: 1. Linus Lundqvist (Sweden) (01:31.871); 2. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (01:31.943); 3. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:31.962).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship: MRF F1600 (Free Practice-1): 1. Nayan S Chatterjee (Mumbai) (01:40.346); 2. A. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (01:41.176); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (01:41.484). Free Practice-2: 1. Nayan S Chatterjee (Mumbai) (01:39.744); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (01:40.455); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (01:40.631).
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Chennai, February 08: Patrick Pasma, the 18-year old from Finland, upstaged the MRF Challenge field with a blistering lap of one minute, 30.559 seconds at the MMRT track here today, to grab the pole position ahead of tomorrow’s race.
Pasma, who is currently fifth in the championship having won just one race in 10 starts in the first round at Dubai in November last year, did well to shrug off two difficult free practice sessions, including a puncture in the first, to take P1 in the 30-minute qualifying run.
Pasma finished well ahead of championship front runners, Max Defourny from Belgium (01:31.119) and UK’s Jamie Chadwick (01:31.103), who slotted in mid-grid positions.
Finishing second behind Pasma was Belgian Michaelangelo Amendola (01:30.682) followed by last year’s British Formula 3 champion Linus Lundquist from Sweden (01:30.810) who had earlier topped both the Free Practice sessions, and Aussie teenager Jack Doohan (01:30.928).
Reflecting on his performance today, Pasma said: “It was alright, though it wasn’t perfect. In the first free practice we had a flat tyre, so it was really tricky. In the second free practice, we made a few changes and it was better. So, the pole position is a good base for tomorrow’s race.
“The track was really technical for us and you really have to be precise. There is no scope for any errors.”
Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee put in a hot lap of 01:40.346 to top the first of the two free practice sessions in the MRF F1600 category and carried forward the form into the second session which also he topped with a best of 01:39.744.
Chennai, February 08: Patrick Pasma, the 18-year old from Finland, upstaged the MRF Challenge field with a blistering lap of one minute, 30.559 seconds at the MMRT track here today, to grab the pole position ahead of tomorrow’s race.Pasma, who is currently fifth in the championship having won just one race in 10 starts in the first round at Dubai in November last year, did well to shrug off two difficult free practice sessions, including a puncture in the first, to take P1 in the 30-minute qualifying run.Pasma finished well ahead of championship front runners, Max Defourny from Belgium (01:31.119) and UK’s Jamie Chadwick (01:31.103), who slotted in mid-grid positions.Finishing second behind Pasma was Belgian Michaelangelo Amendola (01:30.682) followed by last year’s British Formula 3 champion Linus Lundquist from Sweden (01:30.810) who had earlier topped both the Free Practice sessions, and Aussie teenager Jack Doohan (01:30.928).Reflecting on his performance today, Pasma said: “It was alright, though it wasn’t perfect. In the first free practice we had a flat tyre, so it was really tricky. In the second free practice, we made a few changes and it was better. So, the pole position is a good base for tomorrow’s race.“The track was really technical for us and you really have to be precise. There is no scope for any errors.”Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee put in a hot lap of 01:40.346 to top the first of the two free practice sessions in the MRF F1600 category and carried forward the form into the second session which also he topped with a best of 01:39.744.The results:MRF Challenge (F2000): Qualifying – 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (01min, 30.559secs); 2. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium) (01:30.682); 3. Linus Lundquist (Sweden) (01:30.810).Free Practice-1: 1. Linus Lundqvist (Sweden) (1:31.611); 2. Jamie Chadwick (UK) 1:31.662; 3. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:31.705). Free Practice-2: 1. Linus Lundqvist (Sweden) (01:31.871); 2. Patrick Pasma (Finland) (01:31.943); 3. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:31.962).MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship: MRF F1600 (Free Practice-1): 1. Nayan S Chatterjee (Mumbai) (01:40.346); 2. A. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (01:41.176); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (01:41.484). Free Practice-2: 1. Nayan S Chatterjee (Mumbai) (01:39.744); 2. A Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (01:40.455); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (01:40.631).
• MRF Challenge poised for an exciting finish • FMX riders set to entertain with aerial acrobatics • 2019 National Championship season to commence
Chennai, February 7: One of Asia’s top single-seater racing championships, the MRF Challenge that, over the past seven seasons has evolved into an incubator of talent, is coming home to the MMRT here this weekend when the third and concluding round of the winter series will be held from Friday. The two flyaway rounds in Dubai (November) and Bahrain (December) showcased the skills of emerging talent such as Belgium’s Max Defourny and British girl Jamie Chadwick. The two 20-year olds between them have won six of the 10 races in the two rounds. Defourny leads the championship with 201 points ahead of Chadwick (183) and German teenager Andreas Estner (124). As such, there is plenty at stake in the final round with five races to be run. Joining the championship for the final round are Saudi Arabia’s rising female talent Reema Al Juffali who recently won the TRD 86 Cup race in Abu Dhabi, and 17-year old Glenn van Berlo, from the Netherlands, who is moving to single-seater racing from karting. The busy weekend will also witness the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2019 with the MRF Formula 1600, saloon cars in three categories, including the top-end Indian Touring Cars, and the Formula LGB 1300 which has attracted 20 entries. Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, said: “The MRF Challenge once again comes ‘home’ to the MMRT this weekend for the grand finale which will witness another round of close and exciting races as was the case in the two previous outings in Dubai and Bahrain. For the current season, we have provided a slightly upgraded car and tyres that won the approval of the contestants. For the drivers, it will be a first time on the highly technical MMRT circuit and their major challenge will be to learn the track quickly. MRF is also proud to present three FMX riders from abroad who will entertain and thrill the spectators with their aerial acrobatics. All these factors, I am sure, will contribute to a weekend of high-octane action that is not to be missed.” The MRF Challenge, organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, has entrenched itself as one of the leading winter series in the region as it offers a car powered by a 2-Litre Mountune Duratec engine producing 230 BHP with advanced aerodynamics. The car boasts of a Hewland six-speed paddle-shift gearbox equipped with Integrated dash and paddle-shift system. Fitted with the MRF Z.L.O. slick tyres, the F2000 is among the fastest racing cars in the region, and has, in the past, attracted many talented young drivers, notably Mick Schumacher, who is poised to break into Formula One. The races in Dubai and Bahrain dished out extremely close contests up and down the grid, though Defourny and Chadwick have dominated the front-runners. The Belgian has been the most consistent driver with three wins and six podium finishes in 10 outings while Chadwick also has never held back on the track, winning three races, all of them in the Bahrain round, besides as many podium spots. One of the highlights of the weekend card is the trio of topnotch FMX riders, Hannes Akermann (Germany), and Australians Shaun Webb and David Ford who will be performing heart-stopping aerial stunts.
ABOUT MRF TYRES Motorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports. Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures. The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota, Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
• MRF Challenge poised for an exciting finish • FMX riders set to entertain with aerial acrobatics • 2019 National Championship season to commenceChennai, February 7: One of Asia’s top single-seater racing championships, the MRF Challenge that, over the past seven seasons has evolved into an incubator of talent, is coming home to the MMRT here this weekend when the third and concluding round of the winter series will be held from Friday.The two flyaway rounds in Dubai (November) and Bahrain (December) showcased the skills of emerging talent such as Belgium’s Max Defourny and British girl Jamie Chadwick. The two 20-year olds between them have won six of the 10 races in the two rounds. Defourny leads the championship with 201 points ahead of Chadwick (183) and German teenager Andreas Estner (124). As such, there is plenty at stake in the final round with five races to be run.Joining the championship for the final round are Saudi Arabia’s rising female talent Reema Al Juffali who recently won the TRD 86 Cup race in Abu Dhabi, and 17-year old Glenn van Berlo, from the Netherlands, who is moving to single-seater racing from karting.The busy weekend will also witness the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2019 with the MRF Formula 1600, saloon cars in three categories, including the top-end Indian Touring Cars, and the Formula LGB 1300 which has attracted 20 entries.Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, said: “The MRF Challenge once again comes ‘home’ to the MMRT this weekend for the grand finale which will witness another round of close and exciting races as was the case in the two previous outings in Dubai and Bahrain. For the current season, we have provided a slightly upgraded car and tyres that won the approval of the contestants. For the drivers, it will be a first time on the highly technical MMRT circuit and their major challenge will be to learn the track quickly. MRF is also proud to present three FMX riders from abroad who will entertain and thrill the spectators with their aerial acrobatics. All these factors, I am sure, will contribute to a weekend of high-octane action that is not to be missed.” The MRF Challenge, organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, has entrenched itself as one of the leading winter series in the region as it offers a car powered by a 2-Litre Mountune Duratec engine producing 230 BHP with advanced aerodynamics. The car boasts of a Hewland six-speed paddle-shift gearbox equipped with Integrated dash and paddle-shift system. Fitted with the MRF Z.L.O. slick tyres, the F2000 is among the fastest racing cars in the region, and has, in the past, attracted many talented young drivers, notably Mick Schumacher, who is poised to break into Formula One.The races in Dubai and Bahrain dished out extremely close contests up and down the grid, though Defourny and Chadwick have dominated the front-runners. The Belgian has been the most consistent driver with three wins and six podium finishes in 10 outings while Chadwick also has never held back on the track, winning three races, all of them in the Bahrain round, besides as many podium spots.One of the highlights of the weekend card is the trio of topnotch FMX riders, Hannes Akermann (Germany), and Australians Shaun Webb and David Ford who will be performing heart-stopping aerial stunts.ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota, Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
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[#markup] => • MRF Challenge poised for an exciting finish • FMX riders set to entertain with aerial acrobatics • 2019 National Championship season to commenceChennai, February 7: One of Asia’s top single-seater racing championships, the MRF Challenge that, over the past seven seasons has evolved into an incubator of talent, is coming home to the MMRT here this weekend when the third and concluding round of the winter series will be held from Friday.The two flyaway rounds in Dubai (November) and Bahrain (December) showcased the skills of emerging talent such as Belgium’s Max Defourny and British girl Jamie Chadwick. The two 20-year olds between them have won six of the 10 races in the two rounds. Defourny leads the championship with 201 points ahead of Chadwick (183) and German teenager Andreas Estner (124). As such, there is plenty at stake in the final round with five races to be run.Joining the championship for the final round are Saudi Arabia’s rising female talent Reema Al Juffali who recently won the TRD 86 Cup race in Abu Dhabi, and 17-year old Glenn van Berlo, from the Netherlands, who is moving to single-seater racing from karting.The busy weekend will also witness the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2019 with the MRF Formula 1600, saloon cars in three categories, including the top-end Indian Touring Cars, and the Formula LGB 1300 which has attracted 20 entries.Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, said: “The MRF Challenge once again comes ‘home’ to the MMRT this weekend for the grand finale which will witness another round of close and exciting races as was the case in the two previous outings in Dubai and Bahrain. For the current season, we have provided a slightly upgraded car and tyres that won the approval of the contestants. For the drivers, it will be a first time on the highly technical MMRT circuit and their major challenge will be to learn the track quickly. MRF is also proud to present three FMX riders from abroad who will entertain and thrill the spectators with their aerial acrobatics. All these factors, I am sure, will contribute to a weekend of high-octane action that is not to be missed.” The MRF Challenge, organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, has entrenched itself as one of the leading winter series in the region as it offers a car powered by a 2-Litre Mountune Duratec engine producing 230 BHP with advanced aerodynamics. The car boasts of a Hewland six-speed paddle-shift gearbox equipped with Integrated dash and paddle-shift system. Fitted with the MRF Z.L.O. slick tyres, the F2000 is among the fastest racing cars in the region, and has, in the past, attracted many talented young drivers, notably Mick Schumacher, who is poised to break into Formula One.The races in Dubai and Bahrain dished out extremely close contests up and down the grid, though Defourny and Chadwick have dominated the front-runners. The Belgian has been the most consistent driver with three wins and six podium finishes in 10 outings while Chadwick also has never held back on the track, winning three races, all of them in the Bahrain round, besides as many podium spots.One of the highlights of the weekend card is the trio of topnotch FMX riders, Hannes Akermann (Germany), and Australians Shaun Webb and David Ford who will be performing heart-stopping aerial stunts.ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota, Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
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• MRF Challenge poised for an exciting finish • FMX riders set to entertain with aerial acrobatics • 2019 National Championship season to commence
Chennai, February 7: One of Asia’s top single-seater racing championships, the MRF Challenge that, over the past seven seasons has evolved into an incubator of talent, is coming home to the MMRT here this weekend when the third and concluding round of the winter series will be held from Friday. The two flyaway rounds in Dubai (November) and Bahrain (December) showcased the skills of emerging talent such as Belgium’s Max Defourny and British girl Jamie Chadwick. The two 20-year olds between them have won six of the 10 races in the two rounds. Defourny leads the championship with 201 points ahead of Chadwick (183) and German teenager Andreas Estner (124). As such, there is plenty at stake in the final round with five races to be run. Joining the championship for the final round are Saudi Arabia’s rising female talent Reema Al Juffali who recently won the TRD 86 Cup race in Abu Dhabi, and 17-year old Glenn van Berlo, from the Netherlands, who is moving to single-seater racing from karting. The busy weekend will also witness the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2019 with the MRF Formula 1600, saloon cars in three categories, including the top-end Indian Touring Cars, and the Formula LGB 1300 which has attracted 20 entries. Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, said: “The MRF Challenge once again comes ‘home’ to the MMRT this weekend for the grand finale which will witness another round of close and exciting races as was the case in the two previous outings in Dubai and Bahrain. For the current season, we have provided a slightly upgraded car and tyres that won the approval of the contestants. For the drivers, it will be a first time on the highly technical MMRT circuit and their major challenge will be to learn the track quickly. MRF is also proud to present three FMX riders from abroad who will entertain and thrill the spectators with their aerial acrobatics. All these factors, I am sure, will contribute to a weekend of high-octane action that is not to be missed.” The MRF Challenge, organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, has entrenched itself as one of the leading winter series in the region as it offers a car powered by a 2-Litre Mountune Duratec engine producing 230 BHP with advanced aerodynamics. The car boasts of a Hewland six-speed paddle-shift gearbox equipped with Integrated dash and paddle-shift system. Fitted with the MRF Z.L.O. slick tyres, the F2000 is among the fastest racing cars in the region, and has, in the past, attracted many talented young drivers, notably Mick Schumacher, who is poised to break into Formula One. The races in Dubai and Bahrain dished out extremely close contests up and down the grid, though Defourny and Chadwick have dominated the front-runners. The Belgian has been the most consistent driver with three wins and six podium finishes in 10 outings while Chadwick also has never held back on the track, winning three races, all of them in the Bahrain round, besides as many podium spots. One of the highlights of the weekend card is the trio of topnotch FMX riders, Hannes Akermann (Germany), and Australians Shaun Webb and David Ford who will be performing heart-stopping aerial stunts.
ABOUT MRF TYRES Motorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports. Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures. The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota, Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
• MRF Challenge poised for an exciting finish • FMX riders set to entertain with aerial acrobatics • 2019 National Championship season to commenceChennai, February 7: One of Asia’s top single-seater racing championships, the MRF Challenge that, over the past seven seasons has evolved into an incubator of talent, is coming home to the MMRT here this weekend when the third and concluding round of the winter series will be held from Friday.The two flyaway rounds in Dubai (November) and Bahrain (December) showcased the skills of emerging talent such as Belgium’s Max Defourny and British girl Jamie Chadwick. The two 20-year olds between them have won six of the 10 races in the two rounds. Defourny leads the championship with 201 points ahead of Chadwick (183) and German teenager Andreas Estner (124). As such, there is plenty at stake in the final round with five races to be run.Joining the championship for the final round are Saudi Arabia’s rising female talent Reema Al Juffali who recently won the TRD 86 Cup race in Abu Dhabi, and 17-year old Glenn van Berlo, from the Netherlands, who is moving to single-seater racing from karting.The busy weekend will also witness the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2019 with the MRF Formula 1600, saloon cars in three categories, including the top-end Indian Touring Cars, and the Formula LGB 1300 which has attracted 20 entries.Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, said: “The MRF Challenge once again comes ‘home’ to the MMRT this weekend for the grand finale which will witness another round of close and exciting races as was the case in the two previous outings in Dubai and Bahrain. For the current season, we have provided a slightly upgraded car and tyres that won the approval of the contestants. For the drivers, it will be a first time on the highly technical MMRT circuit and their major challenge will be to learn the track quickly. MRF is also proud to present three FMX riders from abroad who will entertain and thrill the spectators with their aerial acrobatics. All these factors, I am sure, will contribute to a weekend of high-octane action that is not to be missed.” The MRF Challenge, organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, has entrenched itself as one of the leading winter series in the region as it offers a car powered by a 2-Litre Mountune Duratec engine producing 230 BHP with advanced aerodynamics. The car boasts of a Hewland six-speed paddle-shift gearbox equipped with Integrated dash and paddle-shift system. Fitted with the MRF Z.L.O. slick tyres, the F2000 is among the fastest racing cars in the region, and has, in the past, attracted many talented young drivers, notably Mick Schumacher, who is poised to break into Formula One.The races in Dubai and Bahrain dished out extremely close contests up and down the grid, though Defourny and Chadwick have dominated the front-runners. The Belgian has been the most consistent driver with three wins and six podium finishes in 10 outings while Chadwick also has never held back on the track, winning three races, all of them in the Bahrain round, besides as many podium spots.One of the highlights of the weekend card is the trio of topnotch FMX riders, Hannes Akermann (Germany), and Australians Shaun Webb and David Ford who will be performing heart-stopping aerial stunts.ABOUT MRF TYRESMotorsports in India is synonymous with MRF. In fact, the development and popularity of various forms of the sport could be directly attributed to the pioneering efforts of the company, be it racing, rallying, motocross or karting. To encourage motorsport enthusiasts MRF has spared no money in offering World-class facilities. The development of MRF Power House – a modern motorsports facility has been a boon to the Indian drivers, who wished to compete and test themselves against international standards. The centre is a testament to the commitment of MRF to raising the bar of Indian motorsports.Being the largest promoters of motorsports in India, MRF has the added advantage of being able to use the racetrack to test the tyres. MRF is the only tyre company in India to have developed formula car tyres, world- class rally tyres for tarmac and dirt, motocross tyres and also FIA-CIK karting tyres. Today, the company caters to almost all segments of the tire industry and is proud to be the manufacturer of the largest range of tyres. Heavy-duty truck and bus tyres, passenger car tyres, two-wheeler tyres and farm tyres are just some of the tyres that MRF manufactures.The one thing that puts MRF head and shoulders above its competition is the fact that MRF is the only tyre company in India without any foreign technical collaboration. The company is where it is today, thanks mainly to its know-how and its ability to develop indigenous technology. With this technology, MRF now supplies original equipment tyres to multinational manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Volkswagen, Toyota, Suzuki and Ford. In total, MRF exports to more than 90 countries. MRF has been the undisputed leader in the tyre industry for more than three decades now, notwithstanding the competition from various multinational and Indian tyre brands.
Sakhir (Bahrain), December 4: The young racers in the MRF Challenge 2018-19 championship are in for a rare treat of getting to drive on a full-fledged Formula One Grand Prix track when the state-of-the-art Bahrain International Circuit here plays host to the second round from December 6 to 8. For the first-timers on the 12-car grid that is brimming with talented young and fearless drivers, it will be an unforgettable experience to race on a GP track which has three straights and 15 corners, not to mention the subtle gradient changes. The idyllic setting is expected to provide more of thrilling and closely contested races that were witnessed in the first round at Dubai last month. The MRF Challenge is now in its seventh season and comprises od three rounds of five races each in Dubai, Bahrain and Chennai. It proved to be a nursery of racing talent. Several drivers, notably Mick Schumacher who is all set for Formula 2 next year after two seasons in MRF Challenge, have graduated to higher levels or used Asia’s premier winter championship offering cars with F3 Dallara chassis and powered by 2-litre engines, to further hone their skills. All cars are fitted with specifically designed MRF Z.L.O. racing tyres. Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, said: “The first round of MRF Challenge in Dubai last month, dished out some exciting fare as the drivers fought it out up and down the grid, while happy at the opportunity the championship has provided them to move to the next level of racing. In fact, it reflects MRF Challenge’s primary objective of offering young racing talent an ecosystem that help nurture their ambitions. Over the years, the MRF Challenge has proved to be a big stepping stone for racing aspirants who have gone on to fare well at the highest levels of racing. We now look forward to the second round in Bahrain and I am sure, the competitors will be eager to race on a full-fledged Formula One circuit.” The Dubai round saw 20-year old Belgian Max Defourny, a graduate of Formula Renault 2.0 Euro Cup, underlining his talent by winning two of the five races and finishing on the podium in the other three. The strong performance fetched Defourny 106 points, well ahead of Britisher Jamie Chadwick, the lone female racer on the grid, who picked up 78 points with three podium finishes after close battles with Singapore’s Danial Frost (70), the winner of Race-2. Ranged behind the trio are four drivers separated by just three points - 18-year olds, German Andreas Estner (50 points) and Finland’s Patrick Pasma (49), who won a race apiece, Belgian teenager Michelangelo Amendola (49) and Czech Republic’s Petr Ptacek (47). For India’s lone representative on the grid, MRF Challenge debutant Chennai-based Chetan Korada, it has been a steep learning curve after several years in the Indian National Racing Championship. He managed to score two points in the Dubai round, but more importantly, improved his lap timings with each outing. “I hope to do much better in Bahrain after the seat-time I had in Dubai. I need to work on a few aspects of my driving, like braking, but I am confident of a better show in Bahrain,” said the 32-year old after the Dubai races. Two Free Practice sessions and qualifying round are scheduled for Thursday (Dec 6) while two races will be run on Friday (Dec 7) and three more on Saturday (Dec 8)
Sakhir (Bahrain), December 4: The young racers in the MRF Challenge 2018-19 championship are in for a rare treat of getting to drive on a full-fledged Formula One Grand Prix track when the state-of-the-art Bahrain International Circuit here plays host to the second round from December 6 to 8. For the first-timers on the 12-car grid that is brimming with talented young and fearless drivers, it will be an unforgettable experience to race on a GP track which has three straights and 15 corners, not to mention the subtle gradient changes. The idyllic setting is expected to provide more of thrilling and closely contested races that were witnessed in the first round at Dubai last month. The MRF Challenge is now in its seventh season and comprises od three rounds of five races each in Dubai, Bahrain and Chennai. It proved to be a nursery of racing talent. Several drivers, notably Mick Schumacher who is all set for Formula 2 next year after two seasons in MRF Challenge, have graduated to higher levels or used Asia’s premier winter championship offering cars with F3 Dallara chassis and powered by 2-litre engines, to further hone their skills. All cars are fitted with specifically designed MRF Z.L.O. racing tyres. Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd, said: “The first round of MRF Challenge in Dubai last month, dished out some exciting fare as the drivers fought it out up and down the grid, while happy at the opportunity the championship has provided them to move to the next level of racing. In fact, it reflects MRF Challenge’s primary objective of offering young racing talent an ecosystem that help nurture their ambitions. Over the years, the MRF Challenge has proved to be a big stepping stone for racing aspirants who have gone on to fare well at the highest levels of racing. We now look forward to the second round in Bahrain and I am sure, the competitors will be eager to race on a full-fledged Formula One circuit.” The Dubai round saw 20-year old Belgian Max Defourny, a graduate of Formula Renault 2.0 Euro Cup, underlining his talent by winning two of the five races and finishing on the podium in the other three. The strong performance fetched Defourny 106 points, well ahead of Britisher Jamie Chadwick, the lone female racer on the grid, who picked up 78 points with three podium finishes after close battles with Singapore’s Danial Frost (70), the winner of Race-2. Ranged behind the trio are four drivers separated by just three points - 18-year olds, German Andreas Estner (50 points) and Finland’s Patrick Pasma (49), who won a race apiece, Belgian teenager Michelangelo Amendola (49) and Czech Republic’s Petr Ptacek (47). For India’s lone representative on the grid, MRF Challenge debutant Chennai-based Chetan Korada, it has been a steep learning curve after several years in the Indian National Racing Championship. He managed to score two points in the Dubai round, but more importantly, improved his lap timings with each outing. “I hope to do much better in Bahrain after the seat-time I had in Dubai. I need to work on a few aspects of my driving, like braking, but I am confident of a better show in Bahrain,” said the 32-year old after the Dubai races. Two Free Practice sessions and qualifying round are scheduled for Thursday (Dec 6) while two races will be run on Friday (Dec 7) and three more on Saturday (Dec 8)
Dubai, November 17: Five races and four winners accurately reflected the highly competitive grid of MRF Challenge as Belgium’s 20-year old Max Defourny achieved a splendid double while Andreas Estner (Germany) and Patrick Pasma (Finland) won the previous two races of the day at the Dubai Autodrome here on Saturday.
For Defourny, the Round-1 of the MRF Challenge proved memorable as he won Race 1 and 5 apart from podium positions in the other three races. Defourny finished the Round 1 with 106 points, ahead of Great Britain's Jamie Chadwick (78) and Singapore's Danial Frost (70), winner of Race 2 yesterday. The MRF Challenge heads to Bahrain (Dec 6-8) for the next round before moving to Chennai (Feb 8-10) for the championship finale.
Defourny could have done even better, but he messed up his pole-position start in Race-3 where he lost track position by Turn-1 itself in the very first lap, but recovered to finish third. “I think, I could have done better and won a couple of more races. I made a few mistakes, but more important was that I picked up points at the start of the championship. My win in Race 5 was far more satisfying than that in Race 1. I won more comfortably and on tyres that I had used in the previous four races,” said Defourny.
In the day’s first race, Andreas Estner, was off to a great start, moving from fourth to first as the pack dived into Turn-1, and, thereafter, literally won as he pleased as he left rest of the field, including pole-sitter Max Defourny, scrabbling for positions. While Estner disappeared into the distance, Britisher Jamie Chadwick slotted herself into P2 which she defended gamely against close attention from Defourny with the Belgian first dropping to fourth before tucking himself behind the British girl for the rest of the race.
Race-4 was all about Pasma who made capital of his reverse grid pole-position start to open up a sizeable lead. Behind him, Defourny set a scorching pace to move from fourth to second and bore down on Pasma. In a tense battle, the Finn defended well to win while Defourny picked up his fourth podium with a second-paced finish ahead of fellow-Belgian Michelangelo Amendola.
“The pole position gave me a lot of confidence and I managed to open up a good lead. In the last couple of laps, Max (Defourny) was close behind me, but I managed to survive,” said Pasma.
In the fifth and final race of Round 1, it was Defourny all the way after starting from pole position and with each of the 10 laps, he increased the lead for his second win of the week by nearly 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Chadwick, the only female competitor on the grid, came through a tough midfield battle to finish a deserving second ahead of Singapore’s Danial Frost, winner of Race 1 yesterday.
India’s Chetan Korada, though finishing way down the grid in all the five races, took some positives from the first round. “I am gradually getting used to the car and this is reflected in my ever-improving timings. I hope to have a better outing in Bahrain next month and hopefully, by the time we get to Chennai in February, I should be more competitive and fighting for mid-grid positions,” said the 32-year old Chennai-based driver competing with a prosthesis leg.
Dubai, November 17: Five races and four winners accurately reflected the highly competitive grid of MRF Challenge as Belgium’s 20-year old Max Defourny achieved a splendid double while Andreas Estner (Germany) and Patrick Pasma (Finland) won the previous two races of the day at the Dubai Autodrome here on Saturday. For Defourny, the Round-1 of the MRF Challenge proved memorable as he won Race 1 and 5 apart from podium positions in the other three races. Defourny finished the Round 1 with 106 points, ahead of Great Britain's Jamie Chadwick (78) and Singapore's Danial Frost (70), winner of Race 2 yesterday. The MRF Challenge heads to Bahrain (Dec 6-8) for the next round before moving to Chennai (Feb 8-10) for the championship finale.Defourny could have done even better, but he messed up his pole-position start in Race-3 where he lost track position by Turn-1 itself in the very first lap, but recovered to finish third. “I think, I could have done better and won a couple of more races. I made a few mistakes, but more important was that I picked up points at the start of the championship. My win in Race 5 was far more satisfying than that in Race 1. I won more comfortably and on tyres that I had used in the previous four races,” said Defourny.In the day’s first race, Andreas Estner, was off to a great start, moving from fourth to first as the pack dived into Turn-1, and, thereafter, literally won as he pleased as he left rest of the field, including pole-sitter Max Defourny, scrabbling for positions. While Estner disappeared into the distance, Britisher Jamie Chadwick slotted herself into P2 which she defended gamely against close attention from Defourny with the Belgian first dropping to fourth before tucking himself behind the British girl for the rest of the race.Race-4 was all about Pasma who made capital of his reverse grid pole-position start to open up a sizeable lead. Behind him, Defourny set a scorching pace to move from fourth to second and bore down on Pasma. In a tense battle, the Finn defended well to win while Defourny picked up his fourth podium with a second-paced finish ahead of fellow-Belgian Michelangelo Amendola.“The pole position gave me a lot of confidence and I managed to open up a good lead. In the last couple of laps, Max (Defourny) was close behind me, but I managed to survive,” said Pasma.In the fifth and final race of Round 1, it was Defourny all the way after starting from pole position and with each of the 10 laps, he increased the lead for his second win of the week by nearly 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Chadwick, the only female competitor on the grid, came through a tough midfield battle to finish a deserving second ahead of Singapore’s Danial Frost, winner of Race 1 yesterday.India’s Chetan Korada, though finishing way down the grid in all the five races, took some positives from the first round. “I am gradually getting used to the car and this is reflected in my ever-improving timings. I hope to have a better outing in Bahrain next month and hopefully, by the time we get to Chennai in February, I should be more competitive and fighting for mid-grid positions,” said the 32-year old Chennai-based driver competing with a prosthesis leg.The results (all 10 laps):Race-3: 1. Andreas Estner (Germany); 2. Jamie Chadwick (GBR); 3. Max Defourny (Belgium). Fastest Lap: Defourny (01:57.038). Race-4: 1. Patrick Pasma (Finland); 2. Defourny; 3. Michelangelo Amendola (Belgium). Fastest Lap: Max Defourny (01:58.729). Race-5: 1. Defourny; 2. Chadwick; 3. Danial Frost (Singapore). Fastest Lap: Jamie Chadwick (01:59.402).
Dubai, November 16: Danial Frost from Singapore and Belgian Max Defourny scored a race and a podium apiece to open their accounts in the first round of MRF Challenge at the Dubai Autodrome, here on Friday. Three more races are scheduled for tomorrow.
Frost, 17, in his second season in the championship, thus notched his maiden win by topping Race-2 after having finished third in Race-1 that Defourny, 20, won from pole position.
In Race-1, Frost made five places to come in third and in the next outing, climbed from fourth on the reverse grid to win. In contrast, Defourny dominated Race-1 with a lights-to-flag victory and in the next race, sliced his way through from sixth on the reverse grid to finish third behind pole-sitter Czech Republic’s Petr Ptacek who did well to hold off the Belgian over the last couple of laps.
“I had a good start and made positions in the very first lap before taking the lead. Thereafter, I consolidated my track position and it was quite comfortable in the end,” said Frost.
Earlier, Defourny put his pole position start to best use in Race-1 and was never seriously challenged even as he nursed his early lead though eschewing risk. Behind him, Jamie Chadwick, 20, who started second, slipped a bit, losing a couple of track positions, but recovered to regain her second spot while Frost drove well to finish third from eighth on the grid.
India’s Chetan Korada, making his debut in the championship, was placed 10th and 12th in the two races. He started Race-1 from the pitlane following an engine change, but said he was pleased to improve his lap times while getting used to the car.
After Race-1, Defourny said: “The race wasn’t too bad. Missed the fastest lap as I was trying to be a bit cautious on the tyres because it was the first race of the season. Was saving my tyres in the beginning and was expecting more track improvement as the race progressed. I opened a comfortable gap and did not want to make any mistakes, though I missed the fastest lap in the last two laps, wanting to save the tyres.”
Earlier, the qualifying session in the morning gradually developed into a two-way battle between Defourny and Chadwick who was provisionally on pole with just a few minutes left on the clock with a 01:57.177. The 20-year old Belgian’s response was a 01:56.819 which eventually ensured him the pole position. Chadwick, also 20, then replied with her best lap of the session, 01:56.937, but had to be content with the second spot on the grid.
“It was my first time out here and it was ok. We managed to get pole for Race 1 and Race 3. So we are positive. We had some issues with the gearbox leading to loss of speed, but we managed to sort it out. I already have two points for pole position and we hope to take as many points as possible from this round,” said Defourny.
Dubai, November 16: Danial Frost from Singapore and Belgian Max Defourny scored a race and a podium apiece to open their accounts in the first round of MRF Challenge at the Dubai Autodrome, here on Friday. Three more races are scheduled for tomorrow.Frost, 17, in his second season in the championship, thus notched his maiden win by topping Race-2 after having finished third in Race-1 that Defourny, 20, won from pole position.In Race-1, Frost made five places to come in third and in the next outing, climbed from fourth on the reverse grid to win. In contrast, Defourny dominated Race-1 with a lights-to-flag victory and in the next race, sliced his way through from sixth on the reverse grid to finish third behind pole-sitter Czech Republic’s Petr Ptacek who did well to hold off the Belgian over the last couple of laps.“I had a good start and made positions in the very first lap before taking the lead. Thereafter, I consolidated my track position and it was quite comfortable in the end,” said Frost.Earlier, Defourny put his pole position start to best use in Race-1 and was never seriously challenged even as he nursed his early lead though eschewing risk. Behind him, Jamie Chadwick, 20, who started second, slipped a bit, losing a couple of track positions, but recovered to regain her second spot while Frost drove well to finish third from eighth on the grid.India’s Chetan Korada, making his debut in the championship, was placed 10th and 12th in the two races. He started Race-1 from the pitlane following an engine change, but said he was pleased to improve his lap times while getting used to the car.After Race-1, Defourny said: “The race wasn’t too bad. Missed the fastest lap as I was trying to be a bit cautious on the tyres because it was the first race of the season. Was saving my tyres in the beginning and was expecting more track improvement as the race progressed. I opened a comfortable gap and did not want to make any mistakes, though I missed the fastest lap in the last two laps, wanting to save the tyres.”Earlier, the qualifying session in the morning gradually developed into a two-way battle between Defourny and Chadwick who was provisionally on pole with just a few minutes left on the clock with a 01:57.177. The 20-year old Belgian’s response was a 01:56.819 which eventually ensured him the pole position. Chadwick, also 20, then replied with her best lap of the session, 01:56.937, but had to be content with the second spot on the grid.“It was my first time out here and it was ok. We managed to get pole for Race 1 and Race 3. So we are positive. We had some issues with the gearbox leading to loss of speed, but we managed to sort it out. I already have two points for pole position and we hope to take as many points as possible from this round,” said Defourny.The results:Race-1 (10 laps): 1. Max Defourny (Belgium); 2. Jamie Chadwick (GBR); 3. Danial Frost (Singapore). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Frost; 2. Petr Ptacek (Czech Republic); 3. Defourny.Qualifying (30 minutes): 1. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:56.819); 2. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (01:56.937); 3. Andreas Estner (Germany) (01:57.502); 4. Dylan Young (Australia) (01:57.730).
Dubai, November 15: Jamie Chadwick, the only female driver on the 12-car grid, put the marker down for the first round of the MRF Challenge championship by topping both the Free Testing sessions at the Dubai Autodrome, here on Thursday. Chadwick, 20, from Bath, England, came out on top in the two, 30-minute testing sessions, clocking a best of one minute, 59.218 in the first outing and 01:59.774 in the next around the 5.390 Kms circuit as she made her debut in the MRF Challenge on a high. She survived a tough battle with Czech Republic’s 16-year old Petr Ptaceck who was second fastest in both the sessions, clocking 01:59.581 (FP1)and 01:59.918 (FP2). Chadwick, who created history in 2015 when she became the first female and youngest winner of the British GT Championship, and Ptacek exchanged fastest laps in the closing minutes of FP-2. However, Chadwick went quicker on last flying lap to top the time charts. Less than a second separated the top eight drivers. “I learnt a lot today – new circuit, new car. I am happy with the way we ended up today in these conditions and I look forward to the races,” said Chadwick. In the first free testing session this morning, one second covered 10 of the 12 drivers, promising a close contest over the five races scheduled for the first round of the championship. Chadwick recorded her fastest lap of the session on her 14 th and final lap as did the rest who all went quicker through the 30-minute practice. The top four, Chadwick, Ptacek, Defourny and Young, all posted sub-two-minute laps. For the lone Indian entry, Chetan Korada, 32, from Chennai, it was his first run at the Dubai Autodrome and he focused more on learning the tricky track with its blind crests leading into corners. Korada, who was 11 th on the time sheets in both the sessions clocking his best laps of 02: 03.734 and 02:04.100, said: “It was my first run on this track and so, it was more about learning the circuit. However, with each lap, I managed to cut my timing. Overall, it was a reasonably good outing, all things considered. I hope to improve as we go along over the next couple of days.” The results (Free Practice): FP-1: 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (01min, 59.218secs); 2. Petr Ptacek (Czech Republic) (01:59.581); 3. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:59.656); 4. Dylan Young (Australia) (01:59.697). FP-2: 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (01:59.774); 2. Petr Ptacek (Czech Republic) (01:59.918); 3. Danial Frost (Singapore) (02:00.115); 4. Andreas Estner (Germany) (02:00.276).
Dubai, November 15: Jamie Chadwick, the only female driver on the 12-car grid, putthe marker down for the first round of the MRF Challenge championship by toppingboth the Free Testing sessions at the Dubai Autodrome, here on Thursday.Chadwick, 20, from Bath, England, came out on top in the two, 30-minute testingsessions, clocking a best of one minute, 59.218 in the first outing and 01:59.774 inthe next around the 5.390 Kms circuit as she made her debut in the MRF Challengeon a high. She survived a tough battle with Czech Republic’s 16-year old PetrPtaceck who was second fastest in both the sessions, clocking 01:59.581 (FP1)and01:59.918 (FP2).Chadwick, who created history in 2015 when she became the first female andyoungest winner of the British GT Championship, and Ptacek exchanged fastest lapsin the closing minutes of FP-2. However, Chadwick went quicker on last flying lap totop the time charts. Less than a second separated the top eight drivers.“I learnt a lot today – new circuit, new car. I am happy with the way we ended uptoday in these conditions and I look forward to the races,” said Chadwick.In the first free testing session this morning, one second covered 10 of the 12drivers, promising a close contest over the five races scheduled for the first round ofthe championship.Chadwick recorded her fastest lap of the session on her 14 th and final lap as did therest who all went quicker through the 30-minute practice. The top four, Chadwick,Ptacek, Defourny and Young, all posted sub-two-minute laps.For the lone Indian entry, Chetan Korada, 32, from Chennai, it was his first run at theDubai Autodrome and he focused more on learning the tricky track with its blindcrests leading into corners.Korada, who was 11 th on the time sheets in both the sessions clocking his best lapsof 02: 03.734 and 02:04.100, said: “It was my first run on this track and so, it wasmore about learning the circuit. However, with each lap, I managed to cut my timing.Overall, it was a reasonably good outing, all things considered. I hope to improve aswe go along over the next couple of days.”The results (Free Practice):FP-1: 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (01min, 59.218secs); 2. Petr Ptacek (Czech Republic)(01:59.581); 3. Max Defourny (Belgium) (01:59.656); 4. Dylan Young (Australia)(01:59.697).FP-2: 1. Jamie Chadwick (UK) (01:59.774); 2. Petr Ptacek (Czech Republic)(01:59.918); 3. Danial Frost (Singapore) (02:00.115); 4. Andreas Estner (Germany)(02:00.276).
