TAASIR NEWS NETWORK UPDATED BY- S M HASSAN -03 OCT
Barcelona, Spain/Bengaluru, October 3rd 2023: Bengaluru born Akhil Rabindra, the only Asian on the European GT4 Series Grid, suffered an unfortunate hit from behind, thereby being unable to finish Race 1 of Round 6 of the European GT4 Series. The impact of the hit was so strong that Akhil, racing for the Racing Spirit of Léman, in the Pro-AM category could not even participate in Race 2 of Round 6 in Barcelona.
Akhil started his weekend with a P8 finish in the pre-qualifying finishing 20 laps with his best lap time being 1:51.858. A P12 finish in Qualifying 1 from 3 laps with his best lap time of 1:49.918 was followed by a P14 finish in Qualifying 2 from 3 laps and a best lap time of 1:51.998. Akhil started Race 1 with confidence but a hit from behind in the first lap itself resulted in Akhil having to leave the race with a broken car. Unfortunately, the impact of the hit was so bad that Akhil’s team of engineers could not get the car ready for Race 2 and Akhil had to leave Barcelona with an unfinished podium finish dream.
“It was a tough weekend for us. We had a favored start, with decent finishes in Qualifying 1 and 2 but the hit from behind in Race 1 completely took us out of the game. We are hopeful of coming back strong for the final race in Italy later this month,” said a visibly dejected Akhil Rabindra.
Akhil currently is placed 14th in the Pro-AM driver’s classification table with 44 points and his team, Racing Spirit of Léman is in 10th position in the Pro-AM team category with 56 points.
Akhil has had a spectacular domestic season winning the Drivers’ Championship in the inaugural season of Indian Racing League. Akhil will be back on the grid for the final race of the European GT4 Series at Vallelunga in Italy from September 29th & 30th October 2023.