Akhil Khushlani finished fifth overall, second in the Rookie Class, in the first round of the Formula BMW Asia Series held at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia today. Team mate, Kyle Mitchell, did not finish after Ross Jamison used the rear of Mitchell’s car as a launching pad damaging the rear wing.
Mitchell made a great start from sixth on the grid to come past the pits on lap one in fourth place, right with the top three. Jazeman, Grunwell, Ali and Mitchell soon opened up a gap on the pack despite a furious battle for the lead. Mitchell, the only rookie in this group, was fighting hard and on lap nine of the twenty lap race out braked Ali into turn four. On the exit they were side by side and Ali forced Kyle onto the grass. This dropped the South African back and allowed Ross Jamison to latch onto his tail. A few corners later Jamison misjudged his braking and flew over the top of Mitchell. “His side pod just missed my head” exclaimed the frustrated Mitchell. The damage was too great and he was forced to retire.
Meanwhile team mate, Akhil Khushlani, had made a storming start from tenth on the grid and fought his way up to sixth which became fifth once Mitchell had retired. Khushlani settled into a rhythm and brought the car home in a great fifth place, second in the rookie class.
“We were very pleased with the performance of both our drivers and they have demonstrated they will be a big factor in the rookie Championship and definite contenders for overall race wins very soon” said Eurasia’s Mark Goddard.
Round two takes place later today, Saturday, with Akhil starting fifth and Kyle tenth.
