Brilliant maiden podium for 16-year-old Tarun Reddy: Formula Renault
Donington Park, 2 June 2014: Chennai racing talent Tarun Reddy took a fantastic podium finish on just his second race weekend in the UK in the Protyre Formula Renault Championship at Donington Park on Sunday.
The 16-year-old, who is also currently leading the Formula MRF 1600 category in the National Racing Championship (of India), won a great battle for third place in the second race of the weekend. Combined with seventh and ninth positions in the other two races, that keeps him in sixth place in the championship.
That was even more impressive considering that Reddy’s plan to get in some testing on the challenging Donington track was scuppered by wet weather, meaning his first laps in the dry at the venue with his MGR Motorsport machine came in qualifying.
Tarun shook off that handicap to qualify fourth for race two, and sixth for the other two races. In the first race his car lacked pace. Reddy lost sixth place just before half-distance but held off an attack from behind to claim seventh.
Race two featured a great battle with title contender and race winner Matteo Ferrer. Reddy had moved up to third by passing Canadian Patrick Dussault, but then came under attack from Ferrer, who got by into the first corner. Tarun then repassed the Italian with an ultra-brave move into the Old Hairpin – which despite its name is the fastest corner on the track – and Ferrer went sailing off the track at the next corner. Reddy then held off a renewed attack from Dussault for his maiden podium in the UK.
A terrific first lap got Reddy up to fourth place in the final race, but he overshot the chicane and dropped to last, before recovering to claim more points in ninth.
Tarun was thrilled to get his first podium in only his second race. He said, “Considering I didn’t get a single dry lap before going into qualifying, to come away with a podium on my second weekend in Formula Renault is a good start. I didn’t get the best of starts, and I lost a little part of my front nose while passing Dussault early in the race but it didn’t affect the car much. I fought my way back up and managed to hold them off, so I’m really happy.
“We struggled with race pace in the first race, and I had to do a lot of defending, while in the last race I generally did have the pace to fight for a front position but I locked up at the last corner. I’m quite gutted about it, because it could have been so much better, but I think I did a good job overall and it’s an improvement from round one at Rockingham.”
Tarun’s manager, Formula MRF 2000 champion Rupert Svendsen-Cook, added: “Tarun made a big step forward from Rockingham, which is all you can ask for. It was his best qualifying so far, and his best race finish – and to finish on the podium is a massive achievement. He drove a very hard race, but very fair as well, and that’s great at such an early stage in his career.”
Tarun now has several weeks before the third round, at Brands Hatch on 26th/27th July. “Now I’ve had my first podium I just have to keep working, and my aim now is to get a win – I don’t see why I shouldn’t get one or two before the end of the year,” he said. “I’ve already done two days of testing around Brands so I should be competitive.”
Eom/Adrenna Communications Press Release; Images: Jakob Ebrey Photography
