autocar-logo
Delhi

MRF Challenge: Svendsen-Cook strengthens title bid

The British driver won two races while his main title rivals faltered.
2 min read22 Dec '13
Staff WriterStaff Writer

British driver Rupert Svendsen-Cook stormed back into the title fight with a dominant win in race four of the MRF Challenge 2013 Round 3 at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Svendsen-Cook won race four ahead of Shinya Michimi and Sam Dejonghe as his main title rivals faltered. Championship leader Tio Ellinas was given a drive through penalty for a jump start while Arthur Pic had to retire after a collision with Renan Guerra. Earlier in the day Tio Ellinas beat Svendsen-Cook & Pic to win race three.

In race four, Shinya Michimi started on reverse-grid pole position alongside Sam Dejonghe. Both front row drivers started well holding their positions while Svendsen-Cook had one more of his trademark starts and jumped to third place from fifth on the grid.

It took Svendsen-Cook three laps to get past Michimi to take the lead and behind him there was action all around with Ellinas getting past Dejonghe for third place. Tincknell, Pic and Guerra were involved in a close battle which ended with Guerra colliding with Pic forcing both drivers to retire on the spot.

The drama continued when Ellinas was given a drive though penalty and was forced to come in to the pits to serve the penalty, putting him out of the points. With both Pic and Ellinas out of the points, Svendsen-Cook took advantage to cross the finish line in first in first place with Michimi second and Dejonghe third.

The Indian drivers enjoyed a good weekend, marking their best finishes to date in race four with Vikash Anand finishing eighth with Raj Bharath ninth.

MRF Challenge Round 3
Bahrain International Circuit

Race 3

1 Tio Ellinas 21:07.639
2 Rupert Svendsen-Cook 21:10.470
3 Arthur Pic 21:10.659

Race 4

1 Rupert Svendsen-Cook 21:15.025
2 Shinya Michimi 21:21.987
3 Sam Dejonghe 21:26.274

INRC Chikmagalur: Arur claims overall victory

The season finale of INRC 2013 came to a close with Arjun Rao Arur (co-driver Satish Rajgopal) winning the Coffee Day Rally overall and the 1600 category
1 min read21 Dec '13
Staff WriterStaff Writer

INRC Chikmagalur: Devadasan leads on day one

Day one of the Coffee Day Rally at Chikmagalur saw Bangalore driver Vikram Devadasan (co-driver Ashwin Naik) piloting a Mitsubishi Cedia in the 2000cc class charge into an overnight lead in the INRC c...
1 min read21 Dec '13
Staff WriterStaff Writer

MRF Challenge: Ellinas, Svendsen-Cook win

Cypriot driver Tio Ellinas took the championship lead of the MRF Challenge 2013 with a brilliant win and second place at Round 3 in Bahrain
2 min read20 Dec '13
Staff WriterStaff Writer

Hero EBR to enter WSBK in 2014

Hero Moto Corp will become the first manufacturer to make it to the World Superbike Championship in 2014 thanks to its partnership with American manufacturer Erik Buell Racing
1 min read14 Dec '13
Staff WriterStaff Writer

Perez joins Hulkenberg at Force India for 2014

Sergio Perez will race for Force India during the 2014 Formula 1 season, with the team unveiling the Mexican in London on Thursday
2 min read12 Dec '13
Staff WriterStaff Writer
MRF Challenge: Svendsen-Cook strengthens title bid - Introduction | Autocar India