Top 10 finish for Amer Beg in Lamborghini Super Trofeo race at the Shanghai International Circuit
Nothing like a full grid of Raging Bulls bellowing in unison, is there? Well, as the crowds gathered at the Shanghai International Circuit discovered, there really isn't. You see, it was the opening round of the 2013 Blancpain Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series this weekend, and the fans were out in full force to cheer on professional racers and gentleman drivers alike. And of particular interest to Indian fans was the fact that there was a familiar face from the Indian motorsport fraternity on the grid at Shanghai in the form of Amer Beg.
Beg, who is currently third in the MMSC F1600 National Racing Championship, is sharing a car with a Chinese gentleman driver, which as he discovered, adds a certain amount of challenge to the proceedings thanks to driver changes. After Amer started the race last on the grid, he managed to carve through the pack ahead of him and soon found himself running all way up the order in eighth place. However, things didn't stay that way for too long. The minute he had to pit for the driver change, and when the second driver took charge of the car, they slipped through the grid and down the order, eventually finishing the race 13th.
With the performance from Race 1 behind them though, Beg and his team decided that a change in strategy was of utmost importance - however it remained to be seen whether or not it would help matters. So, after starting eighth on the grid, where Amer had qualified the previous day, his co-driver took to the wheel first and quickly fell down the order. By the time Amer got to take over, the car was in 13th place, from where progress had to be made up the order, a task that was uphill to say the least. But, not one to be deterred by such matters, Amer, with some canny racing, managed to move up the order. It wasn't an easy task given that the car was on old tyres that had already been used during qualifying and then 25 minutes of the race as well, but the Indian driver slowly chipped away at the lead and managed to overcome a deficit of 35 seconds on the cars ahead of him. He caught them and went past into tenth place just as the chequered flag fell.
Meanwhile, at the front of the grid, it was celebration for Jiang Xing and Max Wiser, who finished first in the race, while William Lok and Davide Risso finished second, and Japanese driver Akahiko Nakaya and his co-driver finished third.
Away from the champagne celebrations though, Amer Beg is still looking very determined to turn that top 10 finish, into something far better. In fact, we'd go so far as to say he's even been eyeing a podium finish at some point - here's hoping he manages to get there soon. The next round of the Super Trofeo Asia Series will be held at the Sepang Circuit between June 28-30.