Jordan King gave commanding performances to record two consecutive wins in Round 2 of the MRF Challenge at the Sidvin Festival of Speed at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here on Saturday.
Aston Hare’s strong showing also helped him claim the titles in Rounds 13 and 14 of the JK Racing Asia Series (JKRAS).
Indian guest drivers Akhil Khushlani and Aditya Patel made their mark by climbing the podium in the JKRAS. Khushlani came second in the first race, while Patel was third in the next one.
This was King’s third title in a row in the MRF Challenge. Starting from pole, the UK-based driver lost some pace in the 10-lap first race before passing two competitors and finishing at the top with a time of 19:21.419.
In the dramatic second race, which saw Japanese driver Yuudai Jinkawa’s car crashing on the third lap and the competition being reduced from 15 to 12 laps, King clocked a winning time of 23:20.634.
Parth Ghorpade, who was ninth with 19:46.365, was the best among the Indians in the opening race. Parthiva Sureshwaren, who started from 11th place following a suspension problem in his car in qualifying, finished 10th three seconds behind Ghorpade.
In the second race, guest driver Gaurav Gill, who had managed just one lap in the morning session, emerged as the best home driver with a 10th place finish (24:07.560). Sureshwaren (24:09.035) was 12th, while Ghorpade (24:17.211) was 14th.
In the JKRAS, Hare moved up the table as championship leader Nabil Jeffri had two troubled races with penalties.
Khushlani impressed in Round 13 and was leading the race for four laps before being passed by Hare on lap eight. “My tyres started graining so I had lots of oversteer. Aston caught up, but I didn’t want to overdrive and risk his championship.”
Patel was delighted with his showing in Round 14. “In the first lap it was pretty tight between Akhil, Aidan Wright and me. I just kept my pace,” he said.
The results: MRF Challenge: Race 1 (10 laps): 1. Jordan King 19:21.419; 2. Conor Daly 19:24.893; 3. Luciano Bacheta 19:26.188.
Race 2 (12 laps): Jordan King 23:20.634; 2. Luciano Bacheta 23:28.305; 3. Alice Powell 23:33.737.
JK Racing Asia Series: Race 1 (10 laps): 1. Aston Hare (Eurointernational) 20:23.383; 2. Akhil Khushlani (Eurointernational) 20:23.571; 3. Afiq Ikhwan (Meritus.GP) 20:29.089.
Race 2 (10 laps): 1. Hare 20:16.541; 2. Ikhwan 20:18.914; 3. Aditya Patel (Eurointernational) 20:20.363.
LGB Formula 4 (six laps): 1. Sarosh Hataria 14:48.281; 2. Diljith 14:48.745, 3. Saran Vikram 14:57.804.
Indian Touring Cars (six laps): 1. N. Leelakrishnan 14:58.753; 2. B. Balavijay 15:12.148; 3. V. Ramnarayanan 15:14.839.
Indian Junior Touring Cars (six laps): 1. Fahad Kutty 16:45.111; 2. S. Feroze Khan 16:45.584; 3. S. Sreeram 16:47.222.
Volkswagen Polo-R Cup (qualifying): 1. Jeffrey John Kruger 2:26.039; 2. Avdumber Hede 2:27.562; Ameya Walavalkar 2:28.066.
