Drugovich wins all races, takes 71-point lead: MRF Challenge

Abu Dhabi, 15 Dec 2017: Brazilian driver Felipe Drugovich continued his unbelievable run at the M

RF Challenge in Abu Dhabi by winning the first three races of the weekend. GP3 French driver Julien Falchero finished 2^nd in two races and 3^rd in the other but was no match for the flying Brazilian. Drugovich has a 71 point lead with 5 races still to go.

Race 1: Starting on pole position, Drugovich got the perfect start with Falchero losing out to Presley Martono. Rinus van Kalmthout’s weekend went from bad to worse when he collided with Robert Wagner putting both drivers out on the spot. This brought out the safety car. When the safety car went in on lap 4, Drugovich easily pulled away while Martono had his hands full with Falchero.

Behind them Louis Gachot and Alex Karkosik fought for 4^th place. The safety car came out again when Michael Amendalo stopped in turn 9. With just two laps remaining, Drugovich coasted to an easy win with Martono holding off Falchero for 2^nd. Gachot finished in 4^th ahead of Karkosik and Danial Frost.

Race 2: In the reverse grid based Race 2, Frost made the perfect getaway with Gachot slotting into 2^nd, ahead of Falchero and fast starting Drugovich. On lap 2 Gachot tried to pass Frost but ended up hitting him and putting him out at the spot. Falchero tried to take advantage and pass Gachot only for Drugovich to get past both drivers and storm into the lead. The safety car came out as Frost’s car was taken out of harm’s way.

Martono got past a recovering Gachot for 4^th place, who was later given a 20 second penalty for his collision with Frost.. At the front there was no stopping Drugovich who took his second win of the weekend. Falchero finished in 2^nd place ahead of Karkosik and Martono. Nazim Azman got his best finish of the season in 5^th while van Kalmthout came from 17^th place to finish 6^th.

Race 3: For the third race in succession, Drugovich made the perfect start and led into turn 1 while Falchero lost out to Karkosik and Martono. On lap 3 Martono tried to pass Karkosik but both drivers collided, allowing Falchero to get past in to 2^nd place. Karkosik was forced to retire and Martono, who suffered front wing damage, also retired later in the race. Van Kalmthout, who started in 16^th place, was amazingly upto 3^rd after 4 laps.

Drugovich pulled away to another win while Falchero came in 2^nd, just ahead of a charging van Kalmthout. Amendalo came in 4^th place ahead of Manuel Maldonado and Azman.

Championship leader Felipe Drugovich, commented, “The car just suits this circuit and I love driving here. The second race was more challenging than the other as I took advantage of the chaos in front of me and got to the front. After that it was all about maintaining the pace and ensuring we finished in front. A big thank you to my engineer and mechanics for making this happen.”

Julien Falchero was happy to finish on the podium in all the races. He commented, “Congratulations to Felipe (Drugovich) as he was the quickest this weekend. Our races were not as straight forward but we managed to get the maximum. There is one more race to go this weekend so hope I can get to the top step to finish off what has been a good weekend for me.”

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MRF Challenge 2017, Round 3, Abu Dhabi, Race 1:

S.No.	Driver Name	Total Time
1.	Felipe DRUGOVICH	25:50.742
2.	Presley MARTONO	25:53.085
3.	Julien FALCHERO	25:53.605
4.	Louis GACHOT	25:54.448
5.	Alex KARKOSIK	25:54.885

 

MRF Challenge 2017, Round 3, Abu Dhabi, Race 2:

 

S.No.	Driver Name	Total Time
1.	Felipe DRUGOVICH	25:52.221
2.	Julien FALCHERO	25:54.098
3.	Alex KARKOSIK	25:56.089
4.	Presley MARTONO	25:57.277
5.	Nazim AZMAN	26:00.283

 

MRF Challenge 2017, Round 3, Abu Dhabi, Race 3:

S.No.	Driver Name	Total Time
1.	Felipe DRUGOVICH	21:58.696
2.	Julien FALCHERO	22:12.174
3.	Rinus van KALMTHOUT	22:13.195
4.	Michael AMENDALO	22:26.080
5.	Manuel MALDONADO	22:31.418