Technical glitch plays spoilsport for Akhil Rabindra at Circuit Paul Ricard

By PTI

BENGALURU: Indian racer Akhil Rabindra’s second round performance at the European GT4 Championship 2021 was marred by technical glitches at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France.

The 24-year-old Bengaluru-born driver who is also the only Indian at the European GT4 Championships this season, finished at P16 in the silver category.

Akhil, driving an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for the AGS Events Racing team, took to the drivers seat in Race 2 after he and his teammate Hugo Conde had to retire after 16 laps in Race 1 due to engine issues.

Akhil is also the only Asian to have made it to the Aston Martin Racing drivers academy in 2021, a feat that he has achieved for the third straight year in a row.

Earlier, Akhil and Hugo had to retire due to a faulty engine in Race 1 after having qualified at P14 in the qualifying race.

Race 1 saw them completing 16-laps in 38:29.167 minutes.

Post this, Akhil took the steering in Race 2, scripting an impressive run to finish P15 in the silver category.

Akhil completed Race 2 in 1:01:40.275 minutes on Sunday evening to finish 29th overall from a grid of 41 cars.

Rabindra said, “There’re plenty of opportunities for us to improve and we’ll be working on it. I, personally, have grasped a lot and can’t wait to work on my shortcomings to better my performances for the upcoming races now.”

The European GT4 Series now moves to Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands for Round 3 of the championship from June 18-20.