By IANS,
Guangdong (China): India’s Parth Ghorpade continued his great start to round four of the 2012 Formula Pilota Championship when he won the first race here Saturday.
It was his first win in an international series and moved him to third in the championship. Ghorpade finished only in eighth position in the second race when he was hit from the back by Ren Nagabuchi in the first corner and had to recover after that.
Starting P4, the 18-year-old Ghorpade had a good start and was able to make his way through to P1 at the end of the first lap. He crossed the first lap in the lead which he was able to control till the end of the 18 lap race.
Ghorpade came under pressure from Nagabuchi in the middle half of the race, but was able to pull away in the last four laps to secure his maiden win in Formula Pilota.
The two front runners were able to establish a considerable lead over the rest of the pack and by lap 6, it had become a two-way battle for the win. The win was Ghorpade’s third consecutive podium in the overall class and fourth in the Asian class.
In Race 2, Ghorpade started P3, but was hit from behind in the first corner by Nagabuchi whom he had got past off the start line. The collision launched him into the lead car of Dan Wells, who recovered without major damage, but the damage to Ghorpade’s car was severe and he had to nurse it home to eighth place.
Ghorpade said: “This was probably the biggest achievement in my international racing career and hope it is the first of many. We have been close in many races, but have not managed to step on the top step of the podium.”