VICTORY FOR CONOR DALY

Conor Daly took a spectacular, lights–to–flag victory in Round 1 of the MRF Challenge today at The Buddh International Circuit. In front of the entire Formula 1 fraternity, who are here in India for the second time for the 2012 Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix, Conor charged off the start line from his second place grid position, out–dragging pole–sitter Jordan King to the first corner.

Conor arrived in India early Friday morning, direct from a World Series test in Barcelona, and after just 3 hours of sleep left for the circuit on Friday morning to make his seat in time for the single 30 minute free practice session at noon. Later in the afternoon, after a short 30 minute nap on the sofa in MRF Hospitality, he put the car on second place for the grid of race 1.

The reigning FIA Formula 2 champion Luciano Bacheta took 3^rd place in the race, which was a very close battle between the top three for all 9 laps of the race.

Alice Powell and Jon Lancaster battled hard for 4^th and 5^th places, with Alice finding a way past Jon mid–way through the race, and then holding the position until the chequered flag.

Parthiva Sureshwaren and Ashwin Sundar were the only two Indian racers in the field after Parth Ghorpade had an electrical malfunction on his car just minutes before the race started, causing a short circuit in his cars electrical system. Parthiva finished ahead of Ashwin, in 7^th and 8^th places respectively after another race long battle.

Luciano Bacheta posted the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:56.670 on lap 7.

Mr. Arun Mammen, Managing Director of MRF Limited presented the trophies on the podium.

Race 2 of the MRF Challenge 2012 will be held Sunday morning at the Buddh International Circuit at 1100 hrs. Jordan King will once again start the race from pole position, ahead of Jon Lancaster, Matthew Mason, Luciano Bacheta and Alice Powell. Race 1 winner Conor Daly will start in 6^th place.