Ghiretti on top at MMRT but Shepherd ready to challenge next week

Chennai, 2 Septr 2018: In the Formula 4 South East Asia (F4SEA) fueled by Petron it was an interesting weekend at the Madras Motor Race Track as a bizarre turn of events saw the same three winners as the previous event in Sepang but that led to a completely different event championship.

• First Formula 4 Race in India
• Double-header means the action isn’t over yet – Event 4 next week 7-9 September
• International grid from France, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Belgium, Ireland and Australia
• Three races covering 180 kms
• All races live-streamed to Facebook

Alessandro Ghiretti walked away with the Event 3 champion trophy. After having two very unlucky weekends in Sepang where he narrowly missed out on the weekend honours, Ghiretti pulled everything together at Madras and flew off the line, with 71 points for his efforts at the end of Event 3.

Ever present in Ghiretti’s rear view mirror was the blue number three car of Kane Shepherd. Thailand’s Shepherd managed to secure three second places with his consistent driving style netting him 54 points just behind the Frenchman.

Malaysia’s Muizz Musyaffa drew cheers from his nation’s mechanics when he won the final race of the weekend. Driving the yellow car number 23, he was always in the middle of the action, but some bad luck in the first two races landed him with 50 points, third overall, just four points behind Kane.

Irishman Luke Thompson has been steadily improving and now in his second year he’s starting to challenge for podiums doing well enough to bag 30 points and finish fourth on the leaderboard.

Alister Yoong returned to the championship for the Indian legs. Son of the famous Malaysian F1 driver Alex Yoong, Alister has clearly inherited his father’s flare for race craft, and put on an impressive show when he started from the front of the grid, doing well enough to earn 28 points and an overall P5.

Belgium’s Antoine Potty had a fantastic drive in the first race, finishing third overall. But he had less-than-perfect starts in Races two and three, ending his weekend in sixth place, with 23 points. But we’ve seen great things from Potty and we expect him to be back on the podium for the next event.

Hailing from Japan, Ryo Komikado returned to contest Event 3 where he put in several personal bests and showed how much he has improved. With great potential for the next event, Ryo ended this weekend in P7 with 22 points.

The F4 team had a fantastic weekend at Madras and saw some great racing. But the action’s not over yet and the show will go on next week, back at the Madras Motor Race Track, for one more event before the contingent ships out to Thailand.
Pos Driver # Nat Pts
1) Alessandro Ghiretti (R) 28 France 71
2) Kane Shepherd 3 Thailand 54
3) Muizz Musyaffa (R) 23 Malaysia 50
4) Luke Thompson 42 Ireland 30
5) Alister Yoong (R) 22 Malaysia 28
6) Antoine Potty (R) 66 Belgium 23
7) Ryo Komikado (R) 46 Japan 22
8) Aidan Wright 7 Australia 18

Leading from the first

Race 1 kick-started this Sunday morning bright and early at 9am. The drivers lined up in their positions from qualifying with Ghiretti on pole, followed by Shepherd and Muizz. As the lights went out, Ghiretti took us down the main straight into Turn 1, diving up the inside to block Shepherd, before returning to the racing line.

But Thompson had a better start than the Malaysian Muizz Musyaffa whom he got past coming into T1 just behind the race leaders, putting France, Thailand, Ireland and Malaysia in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions for a short time.

Muizz knocked on Luke’s door for several laps, but coming out of turn 3 the Malaysian lost his rear and spun round just missing the Australian behind him; fortunately he made a good recovery and returned in P6. From there Ghiretti looked set to take the win with Kane and Luke following suit, but when a safety car was called out, everyone got bunched back up.

Ghiretti had a fantastic restart, pulling away from Shepherd, perhaps due to his qualifying strategy which ensured him fresher tyres than the Thai driver behind him – his main competition for the 2018 driver’s championship. But Luke

Thompson in the pink car number 42 had a terrible turn of events when Ozzie Aidan Wright found a way past him on the first turn. Antoine Potty then piled past on his way up to turn 2, opening the door for Muizz to jump through the inside lane at turn 2. Luckily the Irishman managed to regain the position from Muizz, but dropping from third to fifth in the space of two corners was disheartening and his day wasn’t over yet.

Muizz continued to chip away at Luke’s heels and eventually found a way past. As the chequered flag waved an end to the first F4 race on Indian soil, Alessandro Ghiretti, having led from lap 1, stood at the top of the podium with Kane Shepherd in second and Antoine Potty – who had found his pace during the race – finishing a well-deserved third.

Ghirtetti also bagged the rookie title followed by Potty and Muizz.

Race 1 Results

Pos Driver # Nat Time Fast Stat
1) Alessandro Ghiretti (R) 28 France 00:25:42.565 1:37.901
2) Kane Shepherd 3 Thailand 00:25:44.594 1:37.969
3) Antoine Potty (R) 66 Belgium 00:25:52.451 1:38.657
4) Aidan Wright 7 Australia 00:25:53.105 1:38.520
5) Muizz Musyaffa (R) 23 Malaysia 00:25:53.404 1:38.748
6) Luke Thompson 42 Ireland 00:25:57.030 1:38.758
7) Alister Yoong (R) 22 Malaysia 00:26:26;144 1:40.49
8) Ryo Komikado (R) 46 Japan 00:26:28.960 1:40.685

Ghiretti & Shepherd Two for Two

Race 2 saw Alister Yoong in P2 of the reverse grid, just behind Japan’s Ryo Komikado. The Malaysian made a good start jumping up to first, while Irishman Luke Thompson displayed his skill with an amazing start! Moving from third to challenge Yoong for the lead through the first few corners, Luke had to deal with Muizz following right on his tail. Unfortunately for the Malaysian there just wasn’t enough space as Aidan Wright made a move around the outside, and Muizz ended up going through the grass as Alessandro Ghiretti went around Shepherd.

Thompson challenged Yoong for the lead over the next few laps, as the Race 1 winners carved their way through the pack to catch up with the Malaysian and Irishman. Luke tried several moves but couldn’t make anything stick on the rookie driver in front of him and the battle had allowed the blue cars behind them to catch up. So now Thompson had Ghiretti breathing down his neck.

It wasn’t long before the Frenchman made a spectacular move on Luke up the inside of turn 6 and they fought side-by-side through the sweeping right-hand U-turn of curve seven, where Ghiretti pushed Luke off the racing line into the grass and halting his challenge. Car number 42 was airborne for a brief moment, but Luke recovered and rejoined the race behind Shepherd.

Six down, one to go, Ghiretti set his sights on Alister Yoong. The Race 1 winner is ridiculously fast around Madras, and as our driver coach Sandy Stuviq says:

“Alessandro is really really strong under braking. Kane has the better exit in some corners, but Alessandro is really pushing the limit with his braking and that’s where he’s finding the time.”

So it wasn’t long before Ghiretti found a way past the yellow car in front of him. The Frenchman carried a lot more speed through the first corner and got down the inside through turn two, where we’ve seen a lot of overtaking, went through Turn 3 side-by-side with Kane, and Aidan Wright tried a move at the kink.

Alister managed to defend himself and resisted the challenge from Australia’s Aidan Wright that time around. After a stellar drive defending from more experienced drivers, the Malaysian ultimately had to settle for P5 as the chequered flag waved Ghiretti the winner once again ahead of Shepherd and Musyaffa.

Race 2 Results

Pos Driver # Nat Time Fast Stat
1) Alessandro Ghiretti (R) 28 France 00:25:07.949 1:38.713
2) Kane Shepherd 3 Thailand 00:25:10,144 1:38.722
3) Muizz Musyaffa (R) 23 Malaysia 00:25:22.789 1:39.411
4) Luke Thompson 42 Ireland 00:25:27.006 1 :39.163
5) Alister Yoong (R) 22 Malaysia 00:25:38.169 1:40.417
6) Ryo Komikado (R) 46 Japan 00:26:18.261 1:40.852
7) Aidan Wright 7 Australia 00:15:26.352 1:39.356 DNF
8) Antoine Potty (R) 66 Belgium 00:06:37.730 1:41.268 DNF

Muizz Victorious for Malaysia

Muizz had a fantastical start at the beginning of Race three, somehow jumping from fourth to second. The Malaysian rookie started on the right side of the grid, which put him on the inside line, setting him up perfectly as the pack went three maybe four wide through Turn 1, pushing Thompson out.

Ryo Komikado did well to hold his position from the fastest drivers on the track, but the tag team of Ghiretti and Shepherd was too much for any man to handle. While Muizz was busy trying to find a way past Alister Yoong, who had come out of the sector on top, the duo sliced past Ryo up the inside through Turn 5 and then again side-by-side for the second time through Turn 7.

Alister was doing well not giving Muizz an inch, but at the end of the lap he ran a little wide coming out of Turn 12. That was all Muizz needed and carrying more speed down the main straight he blitzed past his Malaysian compatriot with Ghiretti in tow. The French driver also tried to make it three for three up the inside of turn one, but didn’t have the space and was forced onto the grass, letting Alister scoop back up second place.

Alessandro managed to recover his car without any fuss, but the time he lost was enough to give his ever-present rival Kane Shepherd the opening he had been looking for all weekend and he danced his way into third, immediately setting his sights on Alister Yoong.

The excitement at the front of the pack produced some sensational racing, and the intense battle for sixth ended with a beached car and double yellows. The Safety Car was deployed just after Kane jumped past Alister, bunching the duo back up and effectively walling off Ghiretti.

But the Frenchman wasn’t going to be stopped and as the chequered flag waved it was Malaysia, Thailand, France – Musyaffa, Shepherd, Ghiretti – First, Second and Third!

Race 3 Results

Pos Driver # Nat Time Fast Stat
1) Muizz Musyaffa (R) 23 Malaysia 00:26:55.151 1:38.639
2) Kane Shepherd 3 Thailand 00:26:55.612 1:38.698
3) Alessandro Ghiretti (R) 28 France 00:26:56.800 1:38.199
4) Alister Yoong (R) 22 Malaysia 00:27:16.582 1:39.686
5) Luke Thompson 42 Ireland 00:27:17.008 1:39.481
6) Antoine Potty (R) 66 Belgium 00:27:17.556 1:39.553
7) Aidan Wright 7 Australia 00:22:42.309 1:38.696 DNF
8) Ryo Komikado (R) 46 Japan 00:0l:52.058 1:48.299 DNF