Top 10 finish for Parth Ghorpade @ Albi in Rd 6 of French F4 Championship

Parth Ghorpade, 18yr old racing driver from Kolhapur supported by Amaron and Karvy, finished in the points with a P9 in Race 2 of the French F4 Championship at Albi on the 4th of September. Starting P15 on a damp track with slicks, Parth moved up the order quickly and settled into a quick and consistent race pace that saw him running comfortably in the top 10 from the midpoint of the race . Parth´s own race pace was only 5/10ths off Mathieu Vaxivierre, fastest driver through the weekend and also the championship leader, and one of amongst 3 drivers who had raced or tested at Albi in the past.

Till then the weekend had been difficult. A series of yellow flags when the tyres were at the optimum upset his qualifying rhythm and put him at P17 for Race 1 and P 15 for Race 2. The subsequent pace in both races confirmed he could have qualified in the top 10 in normal circumstances. Race 1 saw a continuation of a streak of bad luck as the engine cover worked itself loose soon after the start and started flapping around furiously. The disturbance to the aerodynamics limited the top speed and made the handling unpredictable . Inspite of this he moved up a few places early in the race before being forced to drive off the track slowly to avoid a spinning car and rejoined at the end of the field. Then followed a series of quick laps to catch up with the backmarkers and he pulled off a last lap move on the Belgian Balthazar by going around the outside at the end of the fastest part of the circuit. Given the condition of the car this gritty drive deserves as much credit as the top 10 finish.

Commenting on the race weekend, the Amaron and Karvy supported driver had this to say : " It was good to be back in the points again after losing sure points positions at Val De Vienne due to mechanical issues and then the accident at Spa . The track conditions were tricky in Race 2, but the car was good and a better qualifying position would have seen me challenging for places just off the podium. Race 1 was also challenging as the loose engine cover car was affecting the handling and top speed. It was satisfying to finish the race inspite of these problems, and at a decent race pace. . "