Young Indian racer Parth Ghorpade capped off another great weekend at the 2012 Formula Pilota Championship with a win and a second place in the Asian category at the Ordos International Circuit. With three rounds taking place over the weekend the young Indian driver finished in 5th, 2nd and 1st places respectively. With his fourth podium finish in six races, Parth is second in the championship standings in the Asian category of the series.
Parth had earlier qualified in 6th and 5th position for Races 1 & 3. Race 2 grid is determined by the order of fastest laps set in Race 1 Parth qualified in 3rd position. In the overall category Parth had finished in 6th, 3rd and 2nd positions respectively.
Parth had a slow start to his weekend and he struggled to find the right balance for his car. Qualifying was tough as he tried different set-ups but could not get the car to turn into the corners properly. He was lying at the bottom of the sheet with 5 minutes to go before putting in a reasonably fast lap to finish the session in 6th position. A god qualifying position was always going to be important as overtaking at the Ordos circuit is always a challenge.
In Race 1 Parth made changes to the car and was quick throughout the race even though he finished only in 6th place. However he did manage to set the 3rd fastest lap time which gave him a good grid slot for Race 2. Race 2 was a good race for Parth as he had a good start and managed to finish right behind the leaders in 3rd place. Race 3 saw Parth have his best race of the season so far as he overtook 3 cars to fight from 5th position on the grid to finish in second place. Given a few laps more and he could have even fought for the win.
After a slow start to the race weekend Parth was delighted with the results he achieved. He commented, “We went the wrong way on the car setup for qualifying and paid the price for it. For the race we went back to the basic setup and this made the car a lot more comfortable to drive. Overtaking here is always hard so I finished in the same position I started in for Race 1 even though I was faster than the cars ahead of me. In Race 2 the car felt really good and I managed to finish on the podium which was great for the team after all the work they put in overnight. Race 3 was probably my best of the season so far as I fought from 5th position to finish in 2nd place overall and take the win in the Asian category. ”
“The more I drive the car the more comfortable I feel in it and this gives me great confidence for the second half of the season. I am thrilled with my performance this weekend and more importantly the support the entire Eurasia Motorsport team has given me. I would also like to thank my sponsors Karvy and Flameback Lodges for supporting me.” added Parth
18 year old Ghorpade is a five-time National Karting Champion, runner-up in the inaugural 2010 Volkswagen Polo Cup India, and recently competed in the Renault F4 series in 2011, finishing in the top five multiple times.
Race Results: Ordos International Circuit, China
Qualifying 1: 6th Position
Race 1: 6th Position (Asian Class – 5th Position)
Qualifying 2: 3rd Position
Race 2: 3rd Position (Asian Class – 2nd Position)
Qualifying 3: 5th Position
Race 3: 2nd Position (Asian Class – 1st Position)