Aditya Patel & Mitch Gilbert win inaugural round of Blancpain GT Series Asia

Indian racing driver Aditya Patel and his Malaysian teammate Mitch Gilbert got off to a flying start at the inaugural 2017 Blancpain GT Series Asia Race at Sepang. The duo won the first race of the season, driving the no. 86 Audi R8 LMS for team OD Racing.

Gilbert managed to grab pole earlier in the day, giving the duo a fair advantage over rivals. Once the race began, Gilbert held on to his position so as to put a comfortable gap over the car placed in second - the Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Raffaele Marciello/Hunter Abbott - before the driver swap. However, a long safety car period caused due to an incident in the earlier laps meant Gilbert could only put a ten-second advantage before handing over the car to Patel for the second stint. Patel, however, lapped consistently till the end of the race, increasing the gap to 20 seconds, thereby, bagging the race win in the first round.

Commenting on the race win, Aditya Patel, said,  “I can’t believe we’re the winners of the inaugural race of the Blancpain GT Series Asia! I think it will take a while for the feeling to sink in. Mitch did a brilliant job at the front and gave me a comfortable cushion and after the pitstops, we knew it was all about keeping it consistent and keeping the car on track. I’d like to thank Audi India for their support this year, without which, this definitely would not have been a possibility. I now look forward to tomorrow’s race. It will be tough and it will be close.”