Parth Ghorpade took an accomplished win under great pressure in the first Formula Pilota China race of the weekend at the Guangdong International Circuit in China. His team mates, Antonio Giovinazzi and Sean Gelael, finished fourth and fifth after a coming together on the first lap. Race two was a letdown for Ghorpade after he was knocked into a spin at the first turn whilst Gelael was 4th after a quick spin whilst Giovinazzi non-finished when he was unable to rejoin after spinning to avoid his team mate. Race three will take place on the 16th.
Ghorpade started race one from fourth whilst pole sitter, Giovinazzi, led from the start with Dan Wells alongside him. At the start the Italian got away well to lead Wells, Gelael and Ghorpade. At the end of the back straight Wells got alongside Giovinazzi under braking for turn ten. He was to the left side of the leader on the right hander and Gelael saw an opening up the inside of his team mate which he attempted to fill. The inevitable collision saw Giovinazzi and Wells slide wide allowing Parth to take the lead. Despite pressure from Ren Nagabuchi he led until the flag, never looking like he would lose the lead. Meanwhile Gelael finished with a broken front wing and severely bent suspension whilst Giovinazzi’s engine lost all its water due to damage to the radiator during the accident. Miraculously he made it to the end with an engine that was in meltdown.
The second race saw Wells lead into the first corner with Ghorpade in second having made a great start from third on the grid. As he braked for the first turn Ren Nagabuchi ran into the back of him pushing him into a spin, colliding with Wells in the process. Ghorpade rejoined nearly a lap down and made it to the finish. Gelael looked good for second place with Giovinazzi in tow, the latter now with a fresh engine, but he lost it at turn 4 and whilst he was able to rejoin in 4th place Giovinazzi, who had spun to avoid the Indonesian, was unable to restart the car and retired.
“A bitter sweet day” remarked Mark Goddard of Eurasia Motorsport. “Parth drove very well to take his first win in the championship whilst Antonio and Sean had one of those days to forget. Tomorrow is the last race of the weekend and Parth starts on pole with Sean third and Antonio fourth. I hope we can get another podium lockout to erase the memory of the second race today!”
