PODIUM FINISH FOR RAJ BHARATH ON FORMULA MASTERS DEBUT

– Raj finishes third in his first Formula Masters race after starting from pole.
– Completes a solid haul of points with a sixth place in race two, with one more race to go.

May 11, Zhuhai (China): After clinching a stunning pole position on his debut Formula Masters weekend, Indian racer Raj Bharath secured his first podium finish of the season at the Zhuhai International Circuit.

Driving for Meco Motorsport, Raj finished third in first race of the weekend and followed it up by a sixth place finish in race two.

The team made a few small changes before the race to optimise the car for the dry track, which was in stark contrast to the conditions amidst which Raj had clinched pole by a dominant 1.5 seconds margin.

“We did a few changes which we thought would make the car better on slicks, as the qualifying was wet”, revealed Raj.

“Although there was some improvement, it wasn’t perfect. But it’s not a bad result – all of us are still learning the car and especially the tyres, especially the slicks, which are quite difficult to figure out”, he added.

Despite lacking outright pace in the car, Raj didn’t give in without a fight and ultimately crossed the line just 0.9 seconds behind second–placed Ren Nabaguchi and 1.6 seconds behind race winner Afiq Yazid.

The strong result came on the back of a sterling qualifying where an inspired call by the team to let Raj stay on wet tyres while others switched to slicks paid off handsomely.

Formula Masters, erstwhile known as Formula Pilota China, has undergone a major revamp this year including support from Volkswagen China with the new car being powered by the German marque’s Formula 3–spec engines and gearboxes.

There is one more race remaining for the weekend and Raj starts 10^th after things didn’t go according to plan in the second qualifying. But having shown promising race pace, he’s raring to go.

“We’ve seen the data and know there is more scope for improvement. I’ll be starting out of position so it’ll definitely be a busy race tomorrow and I’ll push to get a solid haul of points and cross the line in one piece”, said Raj on his strategy for the final race of the weekend.

“It’ll be difficult to get onto the podium coming from the back but if we can be in the top five it’d be a decent way to wrap up the weekend”, he concluded.