Chennai MRF Challenge: Troitskiy wins as Reddy and Picariello clash
Nikita Troitskiy won the second MRF Challenge race of the final weekend of the season at Chennai after a clash between Tarun Reddy and Alessio Picariello.
Nikita Troitskiy
MRF Racing
Reddy started on reverse-grid pole in the second race alongside Tatiana Calderon with Picariello and Mick Schumacher behind them.
At the start, Reddy took control of the race, with Picariello sweeping past Calderon for second as the Colombian faced pressure from Schumacher behind.
Up front, it was a race long-battle between the Indian and the Belgian driver, Picariello following in Reddy's wheeltracks and being squeezed onto the grass by the Indian as he attempted to pass.
On Lap 16 of 20, Picariello dived up the inside of Reddy at Turn 10, but the pair collided - Picariello going airborne and Reddy ploughing into the barriers, both eliminated from the race.
Calderon meanwhile was holding Schumacher, Harrison Newey and Troitskiy at bay, but the Colombian dropped back when Schumacher made contact while lunging to her inside, the German also losing places with a spin.
In the melee, it was Troitskiy who moved ahead, going on to take an opportunistic win after the Reddy/Picariello clash, whlile Newey and Nerses Isaakyan completed the podium.
Calderon had to settle for fourth ahead of championship leader Pietro Fittipaldi and Schumacher.
Briton Max Fewtrell moved past Karthik Tharani earlier in the race to take seventh, with debutant Enzo Bortoleto eighth.
The top 10 was completed by Dylan Young and Aleksanteri Huovinen, with Picariello setting the fastest lap with a time of 1m35.326s.
Going into the final two races on Sunday, Fittipaldi leads Calderon at the head of the standings by 35 points - meaning the Brazilian would seal the title in Race 3 with second place.
Race results:
Pos. |
Driver |
Time/Gap |
---|---|---|
1 |
Nikita Troitskiy |
32m18.347s |
2 |
Harrison Newey |
0.756 |
3 |
Nerses Isaakyan |
9.248 |
4 |
Tatiana Calderon |
10.532 |
5 |
Pietro Fittipaldi |
10.983 |
6 |
Mick Schumacher |
11.906 |
7 |
Max Fewtrell |
13.328 |
8 |
Enzo Bortoleto |
22.651 |
9 |
Dylan Young |
23.854 |
10 |
Aleksanteri Huovinen |
24.543 |
11 |
Karthik Tharani |
30.589 |
12 |
Arjun Narendran |
34.875 |
DNF |
Alessio Picariello |
2 laps |
DNF |
Tarun Reddy |
4 laps |
DNF |
Laura Tillett |
8 laps |
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