Parth Ghorpade finishes 9th in Formula Renault ALPS debut

On a grid of 36 cars fielding the best of European motor sport talent, Indian racer Parth Ghorpade finished ninth in the first race of the Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS series at the Vallelunga circuit in Italy. In Race 2, he was running seventh till he got hit from the back, sending him into the gravel and forcing a retirement.

Due to 36 cars on the grid the qualifying was split into two groups where Parth had the fourth fastest time, but an aggregate of both group times placed him 8^th on grid. On qualifying fourth the young racer said "We always knew this was going to be a very competitive series so to qualify 4th in the group in our first qualifying session exceeded all expectations.”

In Race 1, a gear problem leading to a bad start relegated him back to 13^th position after which he had 13 laps to move up the order of the grid. The Kolhapur lad could only managed to gain a few positions and tahe the chequer in 9^th within the top 10 of the grid, bagging his first championship points for the season. “I had a slow start and lost some positions at the start. After that I started pushing and managed to overtake 2 cars and move up to 9th place. I was quicker than some of the guys ahead of me but could not overtake due to the characteristics of the circuit”, said Parth commenting on his first race.

In Race 2, he started 16^th and made it to seventh in the very first lap, until he got hit from behind and was pushed out onto the gravel forcing him to retire. The 19 year old said, “I probably had the best start of my racing career and was up to 7th position from 16th and the car felt really good until I got hit on lap 2.” Despite the retirement in Race 2, he is 13^th in the drivers’ standings out of the 36 drivers. The next Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS round will be at the legendary Imola circuit in Italy, from May 11-12.

Brazilian driver, Bruno Bonifacio who has previously raced the Formula Abarth series took top honours in Race1 and while Ferrari Driver Academy supported driver Antonio Fucco took the top step on the podium in Race 2. 

Also Read: Parth Ghorpade confirmed for Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS