Abu Dhabi: Japanese GP2 driver Nobuharu Matsushita continued his domination of the MRF Challenge 2015 with yet another Win at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Matsushita was in a league of his own in Race 3 of Round 1 as he crossed the finish line close to 6 seconds ahead of Formula 3 driver Jake Dennis and Tatiana Calderon. Pietro Fittipaldi made amends for losing out in Race 3 to take his first win ahead of Calderon and India’s Tarun Reddy. Female driver Calderon was easily the star of the weekend as she pulled off two brilliant moves on the last lap of both races to get on the podium. Matsushita currently leads the championship with 80 points, with Fittipaldi on 68 points and Calderon on 61 points.
In Race 3 pole-sitter, Matsushita got the perfect start and comfortably led into the first corner. Behind him second placed man Dennis had a better start than yesterday as he managed to hold off Fittipaldi into the first corner. Behind them Calderon slotted into 4th place ahead of a fast starting Tarun Reddy, who jumped from 8th on the grid to 5th. As Matsushita started to pull away Dennis found himself in a tight battle with Fittipaldi. With the roles reversed from yesterday, this time it was Fittipaldi who was trying everything to get past Dennis. The battle for second was very close with Dennis, Fittipaladi, Calderon and Reddy within 2 seconds of each other.
Matsushita crossed the finish line to take his second win of the weekend with Dennis getting a well deserved second place. Calderon pulled off a stunning overtake move from almost three car lengths behind to get past Fittipaldi on the last lap and take the final step on the podium. Reddy finished in 4th place after getting past Fittipaldi as well, who came across the line in 5th. Race 2 winner Nikita Troitckii finished in 6th place, and will get pole position for the reverse grid Race 4. Karthik Tharani drove well but was unlucky to finish in 13th place.
In Race 4 Fittipaldi and Reddy jumped pole sitter Troitckii to lead 1-2 after the first corner. Calderon also passed the Russian driver to go third. Troitckii spent the next few laps fighting Matsushita and Dennis but could not keep them behind as on lap 7 both drivers went past. Meanwhile in front Fittipaldi continued to pull away, with Reddy maintaining his position over Calderon. Fittipaldi won the race comfortably with the drivers behind him embroiled in an intense battle. On the last lap Calderon made her move once again into the final corner which saw both drivers crossing the finish line side-by-side. The timing screens confirmed that Calderon had beaten Reddy by 0.013secs to take second spot in the race. Matsushita finished in fourth place ahead of Dennis and Troitckii. Nerses Isaakyan from Russia grabbed 6th place ahead of Alice Powell and Laura Tillet. This was also the first time that three women drivers finished in the top 10 in the championship.
Matsushita was happy to get another win under his belt in extremely hot conditions. He commented, “The car has been really good all weekend so I was confident heading into the race. I had a nice clean start and then managed to pull away. I have been very impressed with the whole setup and the MRF F2000.”
Fittipaldi was thrilled to bounce back to win his first race after a tough opening race. He commented, “This was a great race and I am really happy to win today. It was all about maintaining the pace and that is what I did. As I mentioned yesterday there are some great drivers here so it feels even more special to win.”
Calderon was the star of the weekend as she impressed everyone with her overtaking moves. Calderon made three decisive passes on the last lap of the last three races to finish on the podium. She commented, “I have not had this much fun racing in a very long time. There are drivers from GP2 and F3 and everyone is so closely matched. I am third in the championship and very excited for the upcoming races.”
