Patel finishes sixth in JKRAS European outing

Le Castellet (France): Indian driver Aditya Patel came up with an impressive performance as he finished the European outing of the JK Racing Asia Series in sixth position at Paul Ricard Circuit here.

It was an intense battle all the way in round six of the JKRAS, where the top drivers battled all the way from the start to finish. Patel, the US Formula Project driver, started the race in ninth immediately climbing to seventh in the first lap and by the second lap was up in sixth. Eurasia Motorsport`s Hiqmar Danial Hidzir suffered from a punctured tyre, dropping him to the back of the grid. Patel then maintained his position until the end of the race. The young Indian impressed everyone with his pace and was happy with the outcome. "I got a good start, I gained two places and was up to seventh and then by the second lap I was up to sixth because I think someone went off. It was quite an interesting race, there was a point when people were catching me and I just put it all together and was getting quicker and quicker. Towards the end my pace was pretty good," said Patel. Despite going off the track right at the last turn of the last lap after contact from Nabil Jeffri, Meritus.GP`s Afiq Ikhwan Yazid managed to regain his position to cross the finish line to take the win ahead of the two Eurointernational drivers, Jeffri and Aston Hare. "I`ve been through so many hard races this year and this is my first podium and I would like to thank my team for putting in so much effort and my sponsor Petronas,"said Yazid. Jeffri leads the championship table after six races of the series. The JK Racing Asia Series will continue with Rounds 7 and 8 at the Spa Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium on July 27-29. PTI