After Daytona: MRF Challenge in Chennai next up

Winter series provides valuable off-season practice

Linus Lundqvist will be on the grid this weekend as Asian single-seater winter series MRF Challenge comes to a close in Chennai, India.

The reigning British Formula 3 champion will use his MRF outing, which comes in the third and final round of the championship, primarily to gain some extra track time during the European off-season.



MRF Challenge is a one-make single-seater series, featuring cars built by Dallara and all centrally run by the organiser. The 210-bhp engine comes from Renault and the overall performance of the package is comparable to Formula Renault/Formula 4 levels.



The previous two rounds of the 2018-19 MRF Challenge were staged in Dubai and Bahrain respectively. This weekend’s finale takes place at the Madras Motor Race Track on the outskirts of Chennai on India’s eastern coast.



Having recently participated in the Daytona 24 Hours in Florida, Linus Lundqvist is already on site in India and up for his next exotic challenge.



“This is a good opportunity for me to get some valuable track time in a competitive environment before the main season begins,” Lundqvist explains. “It’s my first visit to India and my first single-seater race since I won British F3 at Silverstone back in October. While the overall ambition is simply to get back into the groove, as a racing driver you always want to be competitive and I’ll give it my all this weekend. Let’s see how it goes, but I’m happy to have been given this opportunity.”



Popular among drivers from throughout the world thanks to its appealing positioning on the calendar, MRF Challenge has attracted the likes of Mick Schumacher – the reigning European F3 champion – in recent years.



The current season has seen Belgium’s Max Defourny and Britain’s Jamie Chadwick – two of Linus Lundqvist’s 2018 British F3 rivals – share most of the spoils so far. Some 15 cars are expected to line up in Chennai for the concluding round this weekend, which will feature five races across Saturday and Sunday.

FURTHER INFORMATION

MRF Challenge – www.mrfracing.in