Round 2 of MRF Challenge to take place in Bahrain this weekend

David Bodapati November 18, 2015

409 3 minutes read

Bahrain, 17 Nov 2015: The MRF Challenge 2015 season will head to the Bahrain International Circuit this weekend with Round 2 set to take place as the support race for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) 6 Hours of Bahrain. The FIA sanctioned MRF Challenge, is one of four international and regional racing series that that will be backing the headlining WEC. The GP2 Series, GP3 Series and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle are the others. The international field of up-and-coming drivers will showcase their talents this coming weekend in the MRF Challenge, in front of team bosses and manufacturers of the WEC and GP2 series.

Challenge leader Nobuharu Matsushita will return to his GP2 duties with ART Racing team. Brazilian driver Pietro Fittipaldi and female F3 driver Tatiana Calderon will resume their battle for the championship with only seven points separating them. Russian driver Nikita Troitckii and Indian Tarun will be hoping to mount a challenge and get themselves into championship contention. This will also be the first time that the MRF Challenge cars will race under lights in Bahrain.

Arun Mammen, Managing Director, MRF Tyres, commented, “We are extremely excited to return to Bahrain for Round 2 of the MRF Challenge 2015. This will be our third year in Bahrain as we continue our association with the World Endurance Championship. The drivers have always enjoyed the circuit and I am sure that this year will continue to provide some close wheel-to-wheel racing. We are constantly evolving so am also happy to announce that this will be our first race under lights in Bahrain which should be great for the drivers and fans. We have an 18 car grid this year with some exciting talent so looking forward to another interesting round in Sakhir.”

Round 2 in Bahrain will have 18 cars on the grid with upcoming young drivers from across the world racing. 2-time F1 World Champion Emmerson Fittipaldi’s grandson, Pietro Fittipaldi impressed with a win and two podium finishes in Round 1 in Abu Dhabi. Harrison Newey, son of famed Formula One engineer Adrian Newey will be hoping to make amends to a tough opening weekend. The star of Round 1 was undoubtedly F3 driver Tatiana Calderon, who pulled off three brilliant overtaking moves on the last lap of 3 of the 4 races. Former MRF Challenge race winner Sam Dejonghe returns to the series and will definitely be one of the favourites and podium finishes in Bahrain. She will not be the only woman on the grid with Alice Powell and Laura Tillett also returning to the series.

The Indian contingent will be led by Tarun Reddy. Also joining him will be 2015 MRF 1600 Champion Karthik Tharani Singh, who impressed on his first ever time in the MRF Challenge car. He will be joined by Arjun Narendran.

J Anand, Managing Director, JA Motorsports, is looking forward to yet another exciting round. He commented, “We have a great bunch of talented youngsters this year and it will be interesting to see how they fare in Bahrain. This round offers a unique opportunity for our drivers to showcase their talent in front of some of the top teams and names in the world of motorsport. To support the WEC and GP2 races is a huge honour for us and a testament to how the MRF Challenge continues to grow.”

In its fourth year, the MRF Challenge 2015 will feature 16 MRF Formula 2000 race cars, which have been made in India by JA Motorsport based in Coimbatore, in collaboration with Dallara, world’s largest racing car manufacturer and also Jayem Automotives Ltd. The Formula 3 style car has been built by JA Motorsport in technical collaboration with Dallara, and is considered to be the fastest of its kind in Asia. The MRF Formula 2000 is powered by a 2.0 litre 210 BHP Renault Sport Engine and will have a Hewland 6-Speed sequential gearbox. The race car has also been crash tested to FIA F3 safety standards and will race with MRF ZLO slick and wet tyres.

The MRF Challenge has fielded a strong driver line-up in the last two seasons, with drivers going on to win races in GP2 and British Formula 3. The MRF Challenge Alumni include GP2 drivers like Arthur Pic, Tio Ellinas, Jon Lancaster, Conor Daly, GP3 drivers like Ryan Cullen and Carmen Jorda, Former Formula 2 Champion Luciano Baccheta and British Drivers Harry Tincknell (WEC) and Rupert Svendsen-Cook.

MRF Challenge 2015 Calendar:

Round 1: October 29-31, 2015, Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit

Round 2: November 18-20, 2015, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit (World Endurance Championship Support Race)

Round 3: December 17-19, 2015, Dubai, Dubai Autodrome

Round 4: January 29-31, 2015, Chennai, Madras Motor Race Track

Championship Standings: