Bangalore, August 24, 2020: India’s Akhil Rabindra, the only Asian to seal an Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy spot this year, kicked off his 2020 season with a top-ten finish at the Circuit Paul Armagnac de Nogaro in the French FFSA GT Championship this weekend (August 21-23, 2020). Akhil and his partner Gilles Vannelet, representing AGS Events Racing Team, clocked 01:00:49.314 hrs after 37 laps in the race 3 despite tricky conditions on the French circuit which is the largest GT4 grid in Europe.
“It was a completely new track for me and it’s one of those tracks that you probably need a lot of running to come to grips with it, but it’s an awesome track. It’s very fast and challenging. It was a very interesting race. There are ample opportunities to improve and hopefully, we’ll get a podium finish soon’’, said Rabindra.
French driver Gilles Vannalet, with his best timing of 1:33.268 mins, finished 10th among the 17 cars in the Pro-am category in Q1 before Akhil, finished 13th with the best timing of 1:33.193 mins. On average, the duo finished 11th in the said category with an average best time lap of 1:33.230 mins.
The AGS Events Team, behind the wheels of the car 69, made a strong comeback on Race 1 to elevate themselves to seventh having clocked 01:00:13.348 hrs after 34 laps. Their best lap time was 1:35.236 mins. Mirage Racing team comprising of Giauque and Moullin-Traffort wrapped up the 34-lap-race in 01:00:01.802 hrs to snatch the pole.
In the subsequent race, the Indo-French duo’s performance dipped to see them relinquish their position and drop to tenth in the Pro-am category with a timing of 01:00:17.639 hrs after 35 laps. Significantly, their best lap time improved to 1:33.920 minsBeaubelique and Jim Pla of AKKA-ASP Team, who were penalised for a too short pit stop on Saturday, took dazzling revenge on Race 2 having taken the chequered flag with a time of 01:00:06.694 hrs. Another team of AGS Events comprising of Gomar and Parisy secured a podium finish with 01:00:08.217 hrs.
In the final race of the day, Rabindra and his partner Vannelet were able to hold the tenth spot with a timing of 01:00:49.314 hrs, 39.996 seconds behind the leaders Gomar and Parisy, who also represent the AGS Events Racing team.
