|
| As the big F1 race took centrestage, some supporting acts too quietly shared the limelight. |
Austrian Lucas Auer was in a league of his own in the JK Racing Asia series while
British driver Jordan King's consistency gave him the two-race MRF Delhi Championship
title on Sunday. The duo stood out among the many talented youngsters who drove their
hearts out at the support races to the Airtel Indian GP at the Buddh International
Circuit.
Auer of Team Euro international seemed perfectly at home, with the Austrian
teenager dominating completely. Auer had won Race 1 on Saturday and with the grand double
here, he has amassed 235 points in the championship table, increasing his lead in the
title race to 32 points over his nearest rival, Malaysian Afiq Ikhwan Yazid of Team
Meritus.
Ikhwan, who finished second, had a great start to the race, overtaking
Auer's Italian teammate Lorenzo Camplese in the first corner. But the Malaysian just
couldn't catch Auer, who increased his advantage with every lap. Malaysian Irfan Ilyas
benefited from the dogfight between Nabil Jeffri and Camplese to take third place.
The Indians on the grid were never in contention for a podium finish with Akhil
Khushlani of Meritus and Vishnu Prasad of Meco Racing coming out with standout
performances.
Khushlani, who is making a comeback in the series after a year's gap,
finished ninth while Vishnu made his guest debut here a memorable one with a tenth place
finish after starting 14th.
The other local drivers on the grid - Sarosh Hataria, Rahil Noorani, Sandeep
Kumar, Mohit Ahuja, Shashank Ravishankar and Raj Bharath - all completed the race, adding
valuable miles and international experience under their belt.
In the MRF championship, King led a one-two finish for Team Sidwin in Race
2 on Sunday while Race 1 winner Nick Percat crashed out in the opening lap.
Gaurav Gill, who was running fourth for most part of the race, was unlucky
as he went wide and lost a couple of positions in the last corner of the final lap. The
multiple national rally champion finished sixth as fellow Indian Zaamin Jaffer took
advantage of his mistake to take fifth place. Ashwin Sundar (7th) was the other driver in
the top-10.