Indonesian driver Presley Martono got his second pole position of the MRF Challenge 2017 season at the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) on Friday. Martono came very close to beating the 1min 30 mark, but just felt short and will start alongside championship leader Felipe Drugovich for the first race of the weekend.
Drugovich was the first to set a competitive time before Pavan Ravishankar and Louis Gachot both went faster. Rinus van Kalmthout then set a 1:30.628 only for Martono to go even quicker seconds later. The Indonesian driver went even faster with a 1:30.017 to confirm his pole position. Drugovich could only manage a 1:30.377 to take second position.
Van Kalmthout and Julien Falchero will start on the second row with Ravishankar and Danial Frost locking out row three.
Felipe Drugovich, who took can take the championship if he wins the first race, said, “I am happy to be starting on the front row but disappointed not to be on pole. We tried to find the right balance but we are not there yet. Our race pace is good so looking to get a good start and will take it from there.”
Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s Ashish Ramaswamy of Arka Motor Sports team set the benchmark taking pole position among saloon cars as the first round of the MRF MMSC Fmsci Indian National Racing Championship commenced.
The results (qualifying – top 3):MRF Challenge: 1. Presley Martono (Indonesia) (01min, 30.017secs); 2. Felipe Drugovich (Brazil) (01:30.377); 3. Rinus van Kalmthout (Netherlands) (01:30.468).
Saloon cars: 1. Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motor Sports) (01:53.520); 2. V. Nikanth Ram (Arka Motor Sports) (01:55.816); 3. B. Vijay Kumar (Prime Racing) (01:56.741).
