MRF Challenge: Pietro Fittipaldi takes pole for finale

Championship leader Pietro Fittipaldi inched a step closer to the MRF Challenge 2015 title after taking pole position for the finale in Chennai on Friday. The speedy Harrison Newey lost out to Fittipaldi by a mere 0.003 secs in the final few minutes, whiel Indian driver Tarun Reddy qualified third, ahead of a hugely impressive Mick Schumacher.

Earlier in the day Newey and Nikita Troitckii topped the free practice sessions. Karthik Tharani Singh picked up where he left off and was fastest in both sessions of the MRF F1600 championship.

Newey went to the top of the timesheets early. Changes at the the top followed with Schumacher also moving up. With five minutes to go Newey did a 1:34.041 only for Fittipaldi to beat him with a 1:34.197. Schumacher jumped up third with a 1:34.237 but was displaced by Reddy’s 1:34.197 on his final lap.

Championship contenders Alessio Picariello, Troitckii and Tatiana Calderon had to settle for fifth, sixth and seventh positions.

Fittipaldi was thrilled to start on pole position in a key weekend. “I decided to save my tyres for qualifying and focus on getting the balance right in practice. It paid off as the car felt really good in qualifying and I was able to push. The MMRT is a very challenging circuit to drive on and a lot of fun. It is always best to start on pole position so I hope to convert this into a win.”

Newey was disappointed to just miss out on pole, “The car has been great all day long and this circuit is just unbelievable to drive on. I was quick from the get go and managed to bring that same form in qualifying.

It is upsetting to miss out on pole position by such a small margin but am happy to have my best qualifying session of the season. The start will be crucial so hope to have a good race.”

This weekend also saw practice sessions for Round 1 of the MRF F1600 Championship. Karthik Tharani Singh was fastest in both sessions, while 2015 Volkswagen Vento Cup winner Anindith Reddy impressed to be less than a tenth of a second off the leader. Anindith finished 2nd ahead of Sandeep Kumar and Tejas Ram.