Vukovic Benefits from Adhikari Penalty in Pre-Q Win

Onyx Racing driver Milan Vukovic took advantage of a penalty to Asim Adhikari to secure the victory in the Pre-Qualifying race at the Zhuhai International Circuit.

The Best In The World driver would turn around Gia Van Dycke at Turn 7 on the sixth lap of the race en route to taking the lead on the road. A fifteen second time penalty was quickly assessed with more than half the race remaining giving the Nepalese driver the opportunity to overcome the penalty that was assessed. By the time the thirty minute sprint race had concluded, the effects of the penalty was cut in half with the Lamborghini driver sailing into the distance. Even with the near-neutralization of the penalty, Adhikari was classified seventh on the road, resulting in Asim and co-driver Marlin Hortin scoring no points from the race meeting so far, with Adhikari failing to score the lone point for qualifying on pole.

Scoring that point would be Milan Vukovic, securing a perfect four point result out of the Pre-Qualifying sessions. The Croatian would pass Gia Van Dycke for second on the road and classified leader with two laps remaining at Turn 7 after a back and fourth affair with the Belgian throughout the second half of the race. Joining the pair on the podium, and scoring the final point for the race, would be Anita Horford after battling with Nathan Scott and John Magnus in the Aeroracing Ferrari for the final classified podium position.

John Magnus put in his best performance of the season for the troubled outfit, putting his Ferrari fifth on the grid and not backing down from challenges during the race from the likes of Nathan Scott and Tommy Douglas. The sister car, driven by Andoni Garrido, would also advance from Pre-Qualifying with the Spaniard finishing fifteenth; with the top seventeen continuing on to the rest of the weekend’s activities.

Chris Short Racing driver Alexi Melvanov would quickly lose sight of the pack of cars ahead from his eighteenth place starting position, resulting in everyone behind having little chance at making a charge at the cars ahead. The only one who would pass the Russian would be Nazreena Nasser; but it would be too late in the race for the Qatari driver to make a charge. Both ICE-3 Ferraris and the JLD Saleen of Diego Mauricio Batistuta would fall victim and will not continue in the race meeting. Joining them in failing to Pre-Qualify would be Part-Time drivers Kenji Katayama and Min Jun Sun.

 

Race Results – After 31 Laps

Pos	#	Grid	Driver	Team	Time/Retired
1	30	1	Milan Vukovic	Onyx	30:10.063
2	5	3	Gia Van Dycke	Belgio	+3.636
3	11	2	Anita Horford	Best In The World	+4.385
4	77	8	Nathan Scott	Minarae	+4.659
5	12	5	John Magnus	Aeroracing	+5.161
6	73	6	Tom Douglas	JLD	+5.631
7	89	11	Carlton Cho	Team LKM	+6.656
8	39	7	Jose Pablo Mazzacane	Kjellerup	+6.894
9	41	4	Asim Adhikari	Best In The World	+7.374
10	98	9	Raju Chalise	Himalayas	+7.514
11	7	10	Leandro Moreira	Pulsar	+8.482
12	6	12	Roland Davidson	Gulf	+9.242
13	51	13	Quentin Bisping	Euromotor	+9.696
14	40	14	Mattias Kjellerup	Kjellerup	+10.312
15	13	16	Andoni Garrido	Aeroracing	+10.678
16	91	21	Nikolas Hirvonen	Globex Scorpio	+11.388
17	50	20	Dawn Granger	Euromotor	+12.223
18	22	22	Nazreena Nasser	Kiwi	+24.627
19	97	18	Alexi Melvanov	Chris Short	+32.306
20	80	23	Kenji Katayama	Katayama	+33.254
21	17	15	Helena Boveri	ICE-3	+33.614
22	87	19	Diego Mauricio Batistuta	JLD	+34.100
23	18	17	Chiara Rossi	ICE-3	+34.586
24	86	24	Min Jun Sun	Porsche Dealer	+39.229

Fastest Lap – Car 11 (Best In The World Lamborghini – Anita Horford) – 1:29.210