MRF Challenge: Schumacher wins, Mawson extends championship lead

Mick Schumacher won the first race in round three of the MRF Challenge F2000, while Joey Mawson won race 2 to extend his championship lead at the Buddh International Circuit.

The MRF Challenge finally returned to the Buddh International Circuit after three years, for the third round of the 2016-2017 season. During qualifying it was Schumacher who claimed his maiden pole by setting a lap time of 1:50.749, the fastest lap ever in a Formula 2000 car at the BIC.

Starting from pole, Schumacher who took dominant victory for the first race on Saturday ahead of Felipe Drugovich and Harrison Newey. In Race 2, championship leader Joey Mawson extended his lead with a win ahead of Ralf Aron n second, while Schumacher finished on the podium in third.

During the first 12-lap race, Schumacher led the entire duration of the race. Going into turn 1, Harrison Newey lost out to Felipe Drugovich, while Mawson dropped down to the midfield at the beginning of the race. Schumacher remained unchallenged through out the race to take his third victory of the season with a healthy gap over Drugovich in second. Newey managed to hold on to third place fending off Mawson’s charge, beating the Australian to the final podium spot.

Race 2 stated with a reverse grid, Yoshiaki Katayama started from pole alongside Kimi Schramm. While all drivers had a clean start there was action at the third corner with Pavan Ravishankar colliding with Drugovich and bringing out the safety car in the process. When the race was restarted, Mawson took the lead from Schramm who eventually dropped down the order. Ralf Aron who started from eight on the grid, climbed up to second with Schumacher making his way up to third.

The championship leader, after taking the race lead, went on to win the race with a comfortable gap 8.805 seconds over Ralf Aron in second. Schumacher, after a fierce battle with Newey, kept the Brit at bay to claim the final spot on the podium and gain some valuable points in the championship. Newey finished fourth ahead of Schramm and Van Kalmthout rounding off the top 6.

The third round of the MRF Challenge will conclude on Sunday, January 29 at the Buddh International Circuit with two more races remaining.