India's Aditya Patel, racing in the Audi R8 LMS cup, took a lights to flag victory in spectacular fashion here today.
Round six of the Audi R8 LMS cup played host to two races and ran as a support race to the World Endurance Championship here. Aditya went into the final race sixth in the driver's standings and still had a slim chance of clinching the title.
Race one however, did not go as plan. After having engine trouble in practice, the mechanics worked extremely hard to change the car's engine in no more than two hours. Patel then went out and qualified second, alongside Alex Yoong.
However, his joy was short lived. The stewards took a decision to penalise Aditya for a minor technical infringement, thereby putting him 17th on the grid for the first race of the weekend. Patel remained undeterred and put in a stellar performance to move up to 9th place and set the fastest lap of the race which put him on pole position for race two.
Being a standing start, Patel shot off and never looked back. The Indian quickly built a comfortable gap over championship rivals Yoong, Franky Cheng and Marchy Lee. From there on, Aditya kept his calm and crossed the chequered flag to win the final race of the season ahead of Marchy Lee and Franky Cheng.
Former Formula 1 driver Yoong was crowned champion of the Audi R8 LMS Cup while Aditya ended the championship fourth overall.
