European GT4: Rabindra/Lemeret claim Top 10 class result in Race 2 at Zolder
The Indo-Belgian pair had a mixed start to their 2018 GT4 European Series campaign.
India's Akhil Rabindra with Belgian partner Stephane Lemeret kicked-off their 2018 GT4 European Series season at Zolder driving the BMW M4 GT4 car for 3Y Technology in the Silver class after completing the pre-season testing.
The two practice sessions saw them finishing 15th and seventh overall, while they were 10th and fifth in Silver class respectively with Lemeret clocking the best time in both occasions. The qualifying was divided into two sessions.
The Qualifying 1 had all the Pro drivers in the slot to decide the Race 1 grid position, in which Rabindra finished 29th overall and 14th in Silver class with a time of 1m40.239s. The #5 Silver class’ Phoenix Racing Audi's pair of Nicolas Moller-Madsen and Milan Dontje took pole.
The Qualifying 2 saw Lemeret against the Am drivers, finishing fifth overall and fourth in Silver class with a time of 1m39.028s for Race 2 on Sunday. The #55 Silver class’ HHC Motorsport Ginetta's pair of Stuart Middleton and William Tregurtha were on pole.
Race 1
The first race was short-lived for the Indo-Belgian pair after the Indian was hit from behind in a busy pack which resulted in a damage to the #37 BMW M4. He immediately pitted, but the team were unable to fix the problem in time to send him out again.
The 33-lap race, however, was won by pole-sitting pair of Madsen and Dontje by 2.882s margin from the #10 Equipe Verschuur McLaren of Finlay Hutchison and Ricardo vd Ende, as the #55 Ginetta of Tregurtha and Middleton rounded out the Top 3 – all three from the Silver class.
Race 2
The second race on Sunday has plenty of action for Rabindra and Lemeret as the former started the race from fifth and kept his position despite heavy challenge at the start from his rivals.
The Belgian had to give away to a faster Dontje in the #5 Audi just as he pitted after the safety car was in to let open the delayed pit window. Lemeret extended his run before handing it to Rabindra who came out of the pits in 11th position.
It was battle on the cards as the Indian got the taste of heavy GT racing. He dropped position as he battled with the #13 Porsche and the #16 Audi of the Pro-Am class as the duo were battling for second position in the category.
Both of them managed to pass Rabindra who finished 15th overall and 11th in Silver class by keeping the #71 BMW at bay. However, with a penalty to one of the cars ahead post race, the pair were promoted to 14th overall and 10th in class.
The battle at the front saw the #5 Audi of Madsen and Dontje take the chequered flag in first place after a late move on the #55 Ginetta of Tregurtha, but a 31 second time penalty for unsafe release dropped him to fifth.
It helped #55 Ginetta of Middleton and Tregurtha to win the race by over 20 second on Pro-Am winner #77 Racing One Audi of Csaba Mor and Patrick Zamparini, while #87 Team GT McLaren of Paul Rees and Nico Rindlisbacher completing the Top 3.
In one month's time, the field will return to action during May 5-6 weekend for Round 2 at Brands Hatch circuit in the UK - a track which Rabindra is familiar with.
[Image courtesy: GT4 European Series] #GT4 #EuropeanGT4 #GT4Series #Motorsport #GT #BMW #BMWM4GT4 #Zolder #India #Belgium #Europe #GT4European #BMWM4 #smalltribesrule
Join In
Comments (1)
Hi congratulations - your post has been selected by DriveTribe Motorsport Ambassador for promotion on the DriveTribe homepage.