Parth Ghorpade ends season with strong top 10 finish at Imola

Parth finished the season ending Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship with a storming drive from P15 to P6 . The race preparation had not gone well as he had to miss a crucial 2 day Imola test due to a shoulder injury, but fortunately he had raced here before.

Qualifying in wet conditions was a first for the Kolhapur lad with the Michelin tyres this season, but he put in a good session to qualify P7 in Group A, which was once again the stronger one. A row 7 start was not ideal, but could have been worse given the difficult conditions.

Race 1 was started behind the safety car due to the track conditions. Parth got away well but immediately had problems with the engine bogging down at random. Inspite of this he was running just outside the points when the engine shutdown completely and he had to retire. Even with the problem, he was 8th fastest on track, getting quicker as he got used to the wet tyres. The problem was traced to water in the ECU connector, and it had cost a certain points finish.

Race 2 was started normally on a drying track with a few damp patches. Starting from P15, Parth made another superb start picking up 4 places on the run down to the first corner. The racing was very close and intense, but he pulled off some smart moves and kept it all together to finish a superb P7 on track. with a race pace that was again very strong. After a post race review Parth moved up tp 6th in result.

Parth Ghorpade completed the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps 2013 season with 24points and at 16th in the championship standing.