Raj Bharath finishes third in Race 1: Formula Masters
Ordos (China), 7 July 2013: After qualifying third at Ordos International Circuit, Indian racing driver Raj Bharath rounded off his race weekend with a podium finish in Race 1 while engine issues in Race 2 didn’t allow him to finish better than sixth at round three of Formula Masters China. He came third.
Driving for Meco Motorsport, the Bangalore lad had posted his maiden win of the season on the last outing at Shanghai International circuit. At Ordos though, mechanical issues which first surfaced in qualifying, prevented him from showing his pace. But the 19-year old manage to hold on through the opening race of the weekend to finish third, a Meco Motorsports release said.
“The car seemed to lack acceleration out of corner exits, so I was losing speed on the straights and couldn’t catch up to my rivals ahead”, conceded Raj.
Things took a turn for worse in race two and Raj found it difficult to maintain his position, having started third. So despite a bout of defensive driving, he could only cross the line in sixth.
“It was much harder in the second race as drivers behind me were quicker, as our issues had become more pronounced”, he said.
“I did the best I could but there was no way of holding them back when you’re lacking a lot of speed on the straights”, he added disappointingly.
Race three of the weekend was cancelled due to some safety issues on the circuit, which turned out be a blessing in disguise as it limited the amount of points that could have been further lost in the championship standings.
The cancelled race will be held at the championship’s next outing scheduled at Inje Circuit in Korea.
“Honestly it was a relief that one race got postponed, so hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of the issues and we’ll be back to our usual competitiveness in Korea”, concluded Raj.
Round four of the Formula Masters Championship is scheduled at Inje Circuit from 2-4 August.
ABOUT RAJ BHARATH:
Born November 20, 1994 in Bangalore, Raj took his first steps in motorsport with karting in 2008 – like all aspiring F1 drivers. Then aged 14, he immediately showed glimpses of his potential in his debut year, winning the trophy for the ‘Most promising rookie of the year’ in the National Karting championship.
He eventually won the title in 2010 and progressed to Formula BMW Asia in 2011 followed by the Ferrari Academy supported Formula Pilota in 2012.
For 2013, Raj aims to participate in the Formula Masters China and win the championship before moving to Europe in 2014, and getting closer to his aim of making it to Formula 1. He posted his first victory of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit in May.
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