Indian team, Mumbai Falcons, brought home a large haul of points after round 2 of the Formula Regional Asian Championship in UAE. Leclerc and Beganovic score a historic 1-2 on the podium for the team. Indian driver, Sohil Shah claws back after a tough start to the weekend in the Formula 4 UAE championship.
Formula Regional
Race 1: After a successful start to his Formula Regional Campaign, once again it was Sebastian Montoya who qualified on Pole for race 1 of the Formula Regional Asian Championship here in Dubai for team Mumbai Falcons ahead of the Team 3Y Technology car piloted by the Frenchman, HadrienDavid. The other two Mumbai Falcons cars of Dino Beganovic and Arthur Leclerc qualified 5th and 9th Respectively.
Montoya got off to a blinding start, fending off a fast charging David during the opening laps of the race, only for David to get the better of him just before the safety car was deployed due to an incident. Meanwhile, Beganovic and Leclerc held steady ground in 5th and 9th place respectively. Montoya unfortunate lost another place to Pepe Marti soon after the safety car restart to finish the race in 3rd.
Race 2: Leclerc got off to a flying start, from 2nd on the grid, grabbing the lead from Pierre Louis Chovet into turn 1. The reverse grid format meant Beganovic and Montoya found themselves starting 6th and 8th on the grid respectively. A fighting drive from Chovet led to and intense battle between himself and Leclerc. This allowed the pack of cars from behind to catch up, with Dino Beganovich taking Advantage of the situation to pass four cars with a masterclass drive.
With Leclerc and Beganovich now holding forte, the two drivers brough their cars home to a spectacular 1-2 finish for Mumbai Falcons. Montoya was unfortunate to come in contact with a fellow competitor that resulted in a DNF for the young Columbian.
Race 3: A tough qualifying saw the three Mumbai falcons cars start 7th, 8th and 9th. Oce again, it was Beganovich with a splendid display of race craft, fighting his way up to 5th from 9th on the Grid, while Leclerc and Montoya found themselves in a battle for position with Abu Dhabi Racing’s Paul Aron. In the end, it was Leclerc who gained from the situation to finish the race in 7th, scoring valuable points for the team. The race was won by Hadrien David who held off the fast rookie, Pepe Marti.
Formula 4 UAE
Race 1: Sohil Shah representing team Mumbai Falcons faced a challenging qualifying only to find himself 19th on the grid out of 29 cars. Sohil, who showed incredible pace in Abu Dhabi during round 1, pulled some incredible overtaking manoeuvres to make his way up the field to a very credible 10th position, earning some valuable points in the bargain. The race was won by Prema’s James Wharton who held off a feisty drive from Thai driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvak of MP motorsport.
Race 2: Once again, a difficult qualifying session meant Shah started 17th on the grid and fell down to 20th while trying to avoid an incident around him during a chaotic lap 1. Nonetheless, the youngster from Bengaluru held his nerve to fight back once again with incredible wit and race craft to finish 15th. The race was won Prema’s James Wharton followed by teammate Aiden Neate.
Race 3: After stalling on the grid and falling back to 29th, the young lad from Bengaluru drove the race of his life to fight his way up the order, passing 14 cars on his way to 15th position. The race was won by James Wharton, followed by Charlie Wurz and Aiden Neate.
Race 4: Starting 15th on the grid due to the reverse grid qualifying format from the results of race 3, Shah unfortunately found himself in an early collision that dropped him down to 23rd and once again gained places after a safety car period to finish 14th. The race was won by PHM Racing’s Nikita Bedrin.