Raj Bharath finishes third overall in MRF Challenge 2015

Raj Bharath in action at the 2015 MRF Challenge

The grand finale of the MRF Challenge 2015 held at the Madras Motor Race Track saw Indian prodigy Raj Bharath finish third in the championship standings – the first Indian to have achieved this significant milestone in the four-year annals of the international championship. He is the first Indian driver in the history of the championship to finish in the top three. Raj is the only Indian driver to take pole position in the annals of the series.

Raj started his 2014 MRF Challenge season on an ominous note with a win and a second place at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar and emerged as a true championship contender and the fastest Indian driver by far! (out of four participating).

In round two at Bahrain International Circuit, Raj secured a pole position in qualifying — showcasing his raw speed and talent in an extremely competitive grid made up of drivers from UK, Germany, Australia, Russia, South Africa, Brazil and Austria to name a few. He became the first Indian driver in the history of MRF Challenge to qualify on pole position.

At the final round held in Chennai over this weekend, Raj worked hard to consolidate his position in the championship amongst stiff competition from his rivals and ultimately managed to clinch third overall in the standings – a commendable achievement considering the level of talent on the grid.

“It has been a good season at MRF Challenge – it was of course great to be back in the car after not having raced in 2014. After Qatar it was clear that we would be fighting for the championship despite some bad luck we had in the first round [pit lane start due to mechanical issues]”, commented Raj.

“Bahrain was also a good weekend and although Chennai didn’t exactly go to plan we were still able to be consistently in the points throughout the four races and secure third place in the standings”, he added.

"I'd like to thank my parents for all their support and I'm now aiming to put together enough sponsorship to race in Formula 3 or GP3 next season.”