Tarun Reddy, driving with control and precision, stormed to victory in Round One to became the youngest winner of the MRF Challenge at the Losail International Circuit here late on Friday.
It was Tarun’s first international success after he made the grade as the winner of the MRF 1,600 title. The youngster was in complete control of the machine and held off Russian Nikita Mazepin’s challenge in Race 2, which was run on the reverse grid. Starting in pole position, Tarun maintained his lead over the second-placed Mazepin, who tried everything in the book to overtake his rival. But Tarun maintained his composure to romp home.
“It was one of my hardest races ever. Mazepin put a lot of pressure and was really fast. It was important for me to put my head down and make sure I made no mistakes. It feels great to win a race which has a good field,” said Tarun. “I would like to thank MRF Tyres for giving me a chance,” he added.
Toby Sowery took the third place, edging out Mathias Lauda in a neck-and-neck battle. Only 0.068 seconds separated the two drivers.
Sowery ran wide in the first corner and dropped back to the 10th spot. He managed to come back strongly to fourth with the last two laps remaining. He and Lauda, who was in third then, were locked in an intense battle with almost nothing to choose between them.
Both drivers came side-by-side in the final lap but Sowery had the last laugh.
Earlier, Sowery, 18, won Race 1 with a dominating show ahead of Ryan Cullen and Kyle Mitchell.
The results (top 10): Race 1: Toby Sowery (GBr) 30:19.592; 2. Ryan Cullen (GBr) 30:38.305; 3. Kyle Mitchell (RSA) 30:40.009; 4. Mathias Lauda (Aus) 30:42.475; 5. Nikita Mazepin (Rus) 30:44.308; 6. Tarun Reddy (Ind) 30:46.125; 7. Vikash Anand (Ind) 30:52.837; 8. Dylan Young (Aus) 30:52.883; 9. Raj Bharath (Ind) 30:53.368; 10. Freddie Hunt (GBr) 30:55.255.
Race 2: 1. Tarun (30:26.545); 2. Mazepin (30:28.200); 3. Sowery (30:31.038); 4. Lauda (30:31.106); 5. Mitchell (30:36.421); 6. Cullen (30:37.339); 7. Bharath (30:38.671); 8. Pedro Cardoso (Bra) 30:39.284; 9. Anand (30:40.927); 10. Vinicius Papareli (30:46.400).
( The correspondent is in Doha at the invitation of MRF Ltd. )
