PUNE: Brazilian driver Felipe Drugovich had the perfect ending to the 2017 MRF Challenge when he won the final two races at the MMRT in Chennai. This gives him 10 wins for the season out of a total 16 races. Both races saw Presley Martono and Rinus van Kalmthout finish on the podium. Martono beat van Kalmthout to 2nd in the championship by 7 points
In Race 3 Martono again had a good start and led into the first corner with Drugovich and van Kalmthout slotting right behind. There was action again heading into turn 2 with Kurt Hill and Nazim Azman both retiring on the spot after colliding. The Safety Car came out for two laps before the racing started again.
With Martono struggling on cold tyres, Drugovich pounced and went around the outside of the Indonesian driver at Anand’s corner on lap 2 to take the lead. With van Kalmthout also trying to find his way past, Drugovich pulled away at the front. Behind them both Danial Frost and Louis Gachot got past Julien Falchero with the French driver having a horrible first lap.
With the championship wrapped up the fight for 2nd place continued between Martono and van Kalmthout. With two laps to go van Kalmthout tried to pass the Indonesian into turn 7 but could not make it stick. Drugovich comfortably won with Martono fending off van Kalmthout for 2nd place. Frost finished in 4th place ahead of Gachot and Falchero.
The final race of the season saw van Kalmthout start on pole alongside Drugovich. Van Kalmthout got bogged down at the start, allowing Drugovich to get a better start and lead into the first corner with Martono slotting in behind
2017 MRF Challenge Champion Felipe Drugovich, commented, “Today was just a perfect day. The car felt great and I had a good start in both races. There is something about this track that makes it very challenging. It’s important to get the right balance and we did that today. Chennai is a great city and we felt very welcome here. ”
RESULTS:
Round 4:
Race 3 (20 laps): 1. Felipe Drugovich (Brazil) 33mins, 09.353secs; 2. Presley Martono (Indonesia) 33:20.422; 3. Rinus van Kalmthout (Netherlands) 33:21.398.
Race 4 (20 laps): 1. Felipe Drugovich 30mins, 08.812secs; 2. Rinus van Kalmthout 30:13.094; 3. Presley Martono 30:16.118.
