Chennai, April 8 (PTI): Indian race driver Aditya Patel and his Malaysian teammate Mitch Gilbert on Saturday won the first race of the inaugural Blancpain GT Series Asia at Sepang, Malaysia.
According to information received here, Gilbert qualified on pole earlier in the day, setting a lap time of 2.04.1 seconds. In the first race, pole-sitter Gilbert got off to a quick start aware of the fact that he needed to create a gap between himself and the rest of the pack before the mandatory pit stop window.
However, a long safety car period caused due to an incident early in the race dented the team’s chances to a certain extent.
Nevertheless, Gilbert managed to pull a 10-second lead before handing over to Patel, who then lapped consistently to increase the gap to 20 seconds and took the chequered flag.The two, thus became the first winners of the Blancpain GT Series Asia championship, driving for team OD Racing. “Mitch did a brilliant job at the front and gave me a comfortable cushion and after the pitstops, we knew it was all about keeping it consistent and keeping the car on track,” said the Chennai-based Patel after the race. The next race will be held tomorrow.
