British driver Rupert Svendsen-Cook took his second consecutive win as he won the first race of round two of the 2013 MRF Challenge at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).
Starting third on the grid, Svensen-Cook got a brilliant start to pass both pole-sitter Tio Ellinas and Arthur Pic around the outside into the first corner on lap one. Svendsen-Cook led from then on but was pushed all the way to the chequered flag with both Pic and Ellinas right on his tail till the chequered flag.
At the start of the race Ellinas and Pic both started well and were side-by-side on the run up to the first corner. As Ellinas and Pic squeezed each other, Svendsen-Cook took the lead by going around the outside of both of them.
Ellinas and Pic continued to battle as Svendsen-Cook pulled away at the front. Pic then set the fastest lap of the race as he started catching Svendsen-Cook. With two laps to go Ellinas joined the fight with the top three being separated by less than a second.
But eventually, Svendsen-Cook managed to hold off both Pic and Ellinas to win the race. Tincknell finished in fourth ahead of Shinya Michimi and Yudai Jinkawa, who will start on pole position for tomorrow's reverse-grid race.
Svendsen-Cook commented, "It feels absolutely great to win again in the series. This has done wonders for my confidence and my pace is really good. I saw Pic and Ellinas battling and I decided to go around the outside of turn one.
"After that I just had to keep them behind and even though they were quick I managed to hold on for the win. Tomorrow will be tougher but I am sure I can get a good result."
Indian drivers Parth Ghorpade and Raj Bharath finished in 13th & 14th place while Vikash Anand retired at the start with a mechanical problem. Bharath, driving in the series for the first time started 19th and fought his way up to 14th position.
Results 2013 MRF Challenge, Round 2
Bahrain International Circuit
Race 1
1 Rupert Svendsen-Cook 21:32.410
2 Arthur Pic +0.693
3 Tio Ellinas +1.290
4 Harry Tincknell +5.304
5 Shinya Michimi +26.359