Harrison Newey dominates to win Race 1

November 18, 2016 07:31 pm | Updated July 08, 2017 04:57 pm IST - Sakhir (Bahrain):

Harrison Newey took advantage of his pole position to dominate Race I of MRF Challenge 2016 season opener at the Baharin International circuit track here on Friday.

The18-year-old British driver, son of famed Formula One engineer Adrian Newey, won the 10 lap race in 20:19.964s. He also clocked the fastest lap of the race when he touched 2:01.497 during the fourth.

Ralf Aron of Estonia came second (20:24.941s) while Joey Mawson of Australia was third in 20:27.788s.

Newey clocked the fastest time (2:00.316) on the circuit in the qualifying event to take up the pole position. When the lights went off, Newey got the perfect start and took a comfortable lead. Mawson, who clocked the second best time in qualifying, managed to keep the second place ahead of Mick Schumacher and Ralf Aron after the first lap.

However, Aron overtook Schumacher in the second lap and tried to catch up with second placed Mawson. As Newey went from strength to strength to increase the lead between him and others by five seconds, Aron and Mawson were engaged in a interesting duel for the second place.

Aron managed to nose ahead of Mawson while Juri Vips pushed Schumacher, who had clocked the fastest time in practice session on Thursday to the fifth place. Rinus Van Kalmthout, who clocked the fifth best time in qualifying, encountered problems with his car and couldn’t finish the race.

Harrison Newey was ecstatic with his commanding win. “I could not have hoped for a better start to the season. In qualifying the car was just great and I was able to extract maximum from it. I had the perfect getaway and after that it was all about controlling the pace. I hope I can carry the same form for the rest of the weekend,’’ he said.

Ralf Aron, who finished second, was pleased with his performance especially after disappointing qualifying round. “I am absolutely thrilled to finish second after a great battle with Mawson. I did not have the best start but managed to pick off Vips and Schumacher in the second lap. It was a clean fight with Mawson and I am happy to start the season with podium. I should have been higher up in the qualifying round but I will take this result,” he said.

The results: Race 1 (10 laps): 1. Harrison Newey (GBR) (20:19.964), 2. Ralf Aron (Est) (20:24.941s), 3. Joey Mawson (Aus) (20:27.788), 4. Juri Vips (Est) (20:33.106s), 5: Mick Schumacher (Ger) (20:34.023).

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