Raj Bharath from Meco Racing ups the ante with 4 Podiums in the Formula Pilota Championship – Rd 5 at the Sepang Circuit–Malaysia

Raj Bharath from Bangalore, put in a splendid performance in Rd 5 in the Formula Pilota Class by finishing 2nd overall in Race 1 & Race 2 and 1st amongst the Asian drivers in both races. Raj was consistently quick in the free practice sessions notching the 2nd fastest time but could not match the pace of young Italian driver Antonio who was a clear 1 second ahead.

Qualifying did not go well for Raj as he made crucial mistakes in both qualifying sessions and managed to qualify 4th and 6th respectively. However, Raj more than made up for the sluggish performance in qualifying in Race 1. Starting on a damp and drying track, all drivers except Antonio opted for wet tyres which allowed Antonio to run away with the race by miles. However, Raj made some good moves in the first 5laps and moved into 2nd position by lap 6. With the track continuing to dry, the drivers at the back started to struggle with their wet tyres. Raj however managed to use them the best and gradually pulled away from the rest to take a well deserved 2d place overall and 1st amongst the Asian Drivers.

In Race 2, Raj who started 2nd on the grid by virtue of posting the 2nd fastest lap time in Race 1, made a clean start and held off a charging pack behind him. This allowed Antonio who started on Pole to pull away without any challenge. After settling down, Raj found his rhythm and then slowly opened up a gap to 3rd place driver Dan Wells and finished the 2nd race again in 2nd Overall and 1st amongst the Asian drivers.

Having started his racing career with Meco Racing from the JK Tyre National Rotax Max Championship and after winning the Karting Championship, Raj has made steady progress in the Junior International racing championships and this win was a tribute to his team he started racing with.

Raj Bharath: It was good to be back on the Podium and dominate in both races. I could not find the pace to catch Antonio, but had enough under my belt to seal two 1st places amongst the Asian drivers and two 2nd places overall. In Race 3, I started from 6th and moved up to 5th post which I had an semi spin which cost me 2 places to finally finish 7th. I would like to thank the Team for all the hard work put in and providing me with a very good race car. I hope to continue this performance to Rd 6 in Sepang in December.

Akbar Ebrahim – Team Principal: Raj has been showing good progress in pace and maturity this year. His race pace and understanding of the car has improved drastically over the year and it has been a good learning curve for him. Hopefully he can repeat the same performance for the final round in December. As a Team, we are all happy for his 2 credible wins and am sure this will now give him the confidence to move further up the ladder in his racing career.

- Meco Motorsports Pvt.Ltd