Singapore’s Pavan Ravishankar topped the free practice session in the first round of the 2017 MRF Challenge that got underway at the Bahrain International Circuit here on Thursday.
With track conditions hotter than expected, Pavan set a 2:01.638 to go top of the sheets in Free Practice two in the newly updated MRF Challenge car that has had design inputs from legendary F1 car designer Adrian Newey.
The 17-year old Brazilian Felipe Drugovich, who is a favourite for the title, set the fastest time in FP1 and is looking very strong heading into qualifying.
In the opening practice session of the weekend, it was Drugovich who first went fastest as the other young drivers spent time learning the circuit. Later, Drugovich went even faster posting a time of 2:01.684. French driver Julian Falchero impressed on his debut and slotted into second place with a 2:01.774. Free Practice two saw Drugovich once again setting the early pace en route to a 2:02.451.
Pavan showed his hand with seven minutes to go as he set a time of 2:01.638 for the fastest time of the weekend so far. He said, “It feels good to be back here in Bahrain. The car is different to the one we drove here last year but is much easier to drive and a lot more fun. We have to work to see how we can improve tomorrow as the times with the top 4-5 drivers are very close.”
The results: FP 1: 1. Felipe Drugovich (2:01.684); 2. Julian Falchero (2:01.774); 3. Presley Martono (2:01.811); 4. Rinus Van Kalmthout (2:01.880); 5. Pavan Ravishankar (2:02.251).
FP 2: 1. Pavan Ravishankar (2:01.638); 2. Alex Karkosik (2:01.733); 3. Felipe Drugovich (2:02.451); 3. Presley Martono (2:02.459); 5. Julian Falchero (2:02.631).
(The writer is in Bahrain at the invitation of MRF).
