Yazid clinches pole, Patel to start ninth

Afiq Yazid of Team Meritus GP grabbed the pole at the qualifying session for the JK Racing Asia Series at the testing Paul Ricard circuit here on Saturday afternoon.

Yazid clocked 2:15:474 to edge nearest rivals Aston Hare and Nabil Jeffri of Team Eurointernational. Hare, who won Round Two of the series at Kuala Lumpur, was 0.119 behind, while Jeffri trailed by 0.131.

India’s Aditya Patel, racing as a guest driver for Team Eurointernational, will start from the ninth position with a timing of 2:17:696. The result, however, was expected as Patel headed into the series without any practice.

“The last time I drove a car similar to this was four years ago. It was a challenging day and I enjoyed it out there,” said Patel after the qualifying session.

“Though I feel I could have been placed seventh if

The last time I drove a car similar to this was four years ago. It was a challenging day and I enjoyed it out there

not for the last turn, where I was overtaken. The Paul Ricard circuit is quite challenging, with a lot of long, short and slow turns. I particularly find long corners physically taxing, and there were three of them here,” said Patel, who has been associated with JK since the last nine years.

The 23-year old hoped that things would “go smoother” on Sunday. “I think I have got used to the car now and will be able to maneuver better tomorrow.

“It is a great opportunity for me to be racing here, since we do not get many chances at the European level,” he said.

It was a good day at office for Team Eurointernational, who managed to secure four places in the top five. Besides Hare and Jeffri, Tan Wei Ron (2:16:056) and Irfan Illyas (2:16:435) – both from Malaysia – will start fourth and fifth respectively. JK PLANS TO GO GLOBAL After adding France and Belgium to its Year 2012 calendar, JK Series Asia is looking to expand further and is looking to include two more new venues.

Said JK Tyre & Industries Limited head-motorsport Sanjay Sharma, “Taking the series to Europe has enhanced the profile of the race, and we would continue to do so in future too.”

Though the organisers refused to elaborate, there are plans to take the series to parts of America and Oceania.