Double podium for Chennai lad
Young Indian racer Tarun Reddy achieved his best result at the international level with a double podium finish in the UK Formula Renault Championship at Snetterton.
The 16- year- old, who also leads the MRF 1600 National Racing Championship, went fastest in Friday practice at a circuit he visited for the first time.
The Chennai lad’s second place finish in the first race was his best result to date in the UK, and he backed it up by taking the third and fourth spots respectively, in the next two races in his MGR Motorsport car.
This came on top of his triple win the weekend before on home ground in the Formula MRF 1600 series.
Reddy had a good start to the opening race, almost managing to pass some of the drivers in front. He jumped to second position on the fourth lap and shook off a challenge from Italian Matteo Ferrer, a race winner this season.
He then consolidated behind triple race winner Pietro Fittipaldi.
“We were very good in testing, but I have to work at optimising my new tyres in qualifying. Even though it was my first visit to Snetterton, I was comfortable with the car. My pace was a lot better than Ferrer so we were able to edge away,” Tarun said after the race.
In the second race, Reddy made a strong start to move from sixth position to third. “I got a very good start and passed three dri- vers on the first two corners,” he said. “That put me into third, and from then on I drove a consistent race and kept up with those in front of me.”
Tarun made progress at the start of the final race of the weekend as well, rising from fourth to third when he passed another race winner this season, Piers Hickin.
But Hickin moved back ahead during the fourth lap, and Reddy had to be content with the fourth spot.
“I had another good start and tried to lunge two drivers at the hairpin, but I only got Hickin,” he said. “The problem was I damaged my wing in race two, so that caused some heavy wear with the tyres. So for Race Three my tyres were finished, and also I was losing power. Hickin came flying past me on the straight, and fourth was all I could manage.”
The penultimate round of the championship will be held at Croft on September 20 and 21.