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Greater Noida, October 6, 2018: The 2018 season of MMSC MRF Volkswagen Ameo Cup commenced at India’s Formula 1 track – the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) – in Greater Noida today. With only two races to go, all the drivers are now concentrating on clinching every crucial point available.
Before the official weekend took off, all the Ameo Cup drivers got one full day of testing at BIC on Thursday. This was especially necessary as most of the drivers were new to the circuit and this will be the first time the Ameo Cup race cars will be racing around this track. In addition to the mid-season testing on Thursday, the drivers also got an unofficial free practice session on Friday before the official timed sessions that started today.
The day started with Free Practice session in the morning. Topping it was Pratik Sonawane with a best lap time of 2 min 22.856 seconds. Following him closely was guest driver Dhruv Behl, 0.235 seconds of his pace. Title favourite Dhruv Mohite admitted to having made a couple of mistakes on his fast lap that put him way down in fifth, almost eight tenths of a second off Pratik.
In the Qualifying session, Pratik improved his pace further to clock a lap time of 2 min 21.295 sec to take pole position for the race tomorrow. Dhruv improved his mistakes from earlier in the day, however could not challenge the fastest time set by Pratik. He finally settled down with a lap time of 2 min 21.878 sec, 0.583 seconds behind Pratik in the second position. Putting a strong performance and clinching the third position on the grid was Dhruv Behl with a lap time of 2 min 22.306 sec.
Going into the last round of the season, Dhruv is 56 points clear of Saurav Bandyopadhyay who is being trailed closely by Jeet Jhabhak. While Dhruv has a strong lead in the Cup, the title fight is still open with all three top drivers aiming for the top honours.
