Felipe Drugovich brought the 5.5km-long Yas Marina circuit to life with a commanding triple victory in the third and penultimate round of the MRF Challenge 2017 here on Thursday.
Only the other day, he was a bit anxious about the set-up of his car. But with things falling in place overnight, the Brazilian youngster dominated like never before to score a treble in only his second year into this MRF series.
And, the 17-year-old turned emotional when his country's anthem kept playing during the victory ceremony. “I am beginning to enjoy driving on this circuit. It has brought me joy and luck,” he said.
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Late Thursday night, Drugovich, the pole sitter, began his quest for the title winning the opener amidst some drama. He picked up pace pretty quickly and was in total command for most part.
But the arrival of the safety car twice took some sheen out of the race. It would have been quite upsetting for any leader when in full flow, but Drugovich never looked threatened and emerged a clear winner.
“We did some very good lap times and I was the fastest right through. I got a good gap and so I was not worried about the guys behind. The safety cars coming out was frustrating, but I was confident of pulling the gap,” said Drugovich.
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He said he was also losing a bit on the straight line speed. But, the team sorted it out in time for this daredevil star to go ahead and demonstrate his great skills on this daunting circuit. And, he did not disappoint. He clinched the next two races in similar fashion to further bolster his chances for the title.
In fact, he clocked the fastest timing in all three races.
Drugovich has now a healthy 71-point lead and may score more from the five remaining races.
Frenchman Julien Falchero finished second in two races and third in the other. He appreciated Drugovich for his winning effort.
Earlier, the drivers were given a 10-minute breather to get familiarised to driving under lights, but they preferred to go directly into the first race.
The results (top three):
Race 1: 1. Felipe Drugovich (Bra) 25:50.742; 2. Presley Martono (Ina) 25:53.085; 3. Julien Falchero (Fra) 25:53.606.
Race 2: 1. Drugovich 25:52.221s; 2. Falchero 25:54.098; 3. Alex Karkosik (Pol) 25:56.089.
Race 3: 1. Drugovich 21:58.696; 2. Falchero 22:12.174; 3. Rhinus van Kalmthout (Ned) 22:13.195 .
(The writer is in Abu Dhabi at the invitation of MRF Tyres)