MRF Challenge: Chennai-based Chetan Korada hopes for better show in Bahrain

Having scored two points in the Dubai round and improved his lap timings, Chetan Korada hopes for a better showing in Bahrain.

UK's Jamie Chadwick (Car No. 55).

The young racers in the MRF Challenge 2018-19 championship are in for a rare treat of getting to race on a full-fledged Formula One Grand Prix track when the state-of-the-art Bahrain International Circuit here hosts the second round from December 6 to 8.

For the first-timers on the 12-car grid that is brimming with talented young and fearless drivers, it will be an unforgettable experience to race on a GP track which has three straights and 15 corners, not to mention the subtle gradient changes. The idyllic setting is expected to provide more of thrilling and closely-contested races that were witnessed in the first round in Dubai last month.

The Dubai round saw 20-year old Belgian Max Defourny, a graduate of Formula Renault 2.0 Euro Cup, underlining his talent by winning two of the five races and finishing on the podium in the other three.

The strong performance fetched Defourny 106 points, well ahead of Britisher Jamie Chadwick, the lone female racer on the grid, who picked up 78 points with three podium finishes after close battles with Singapore’s Danial Frost (70), the winner of Race-2.

Ranged behind the trio are four drivers separated by just three points — 18-year-olds, German Andreas Estner (50 points) and Finland’s Patrick Pasma (49), who won a race apiece, Belgian teenager Michelangelo Amendola (49) and Czech Republic’s Petr Ptacek (47).

For India’s lone representative on the grid, MRF Challenge debutant Chennai-based Chetan Korada, it has been a steep learning curve after several years in the Indian National Racing Championship. He managed to score two points in the Dubai round, but more importantly, improved his lap timings with each outing. “I hope to do much better in Bahrain after the seat-time I had in Dubai. I need to work on a few aspects of my driving, like braking, but I am confident of a better show in Bahrain,” said the 32-year-old after the Dubai races.

Two Free Practice sessions and qualifying round are scheduled for Thursday (Dec 6) while two races will be run on Friday (Dec 7) and three more on Saturday (Dec 8).