King in pole position to retain his MRF title

The Stoneleigh driver was even able to miss two races and still return home at the top of the title standings.

King travelled to the Indian Grand Prix venue on the outskirts of New Delhi eager to shine in the inaugural MMSC-Sidvin Festival of Speed, for which the MRF Challenge topped the bill.

With all drivers competing in identical Dallara-designed, Renault-powered single-seaters, the reigning series champion was bullish about his prospects of success despite facing off against the recently-crowned FIA Formula Two champion, a GP3 Series race-winner and a former GP2 Series contender.

Qualifying comfortably on pole position, King atoned for a sluggish start which saw him slip back to third with a composed drive helping him work his way back to the head of the field.

“I didn’t get the best of starts in race one and fell back to third,” said the 18-year-old. “The MRF car has less power than the Formula Renault I’ve been used to all year, and it’s a tricky balance to strike in terms of knowing when to release the clutch.

“Several drivers were struggling with it and making mistakes, and as I knew we had the pace to win and that there are a number of passing spots around the lap, I reasoned that it wasn’t worth risking a jump-start.

“The car felt almost perfect and I regained second place on lap two before closing down and overtaking the leader.

“After that, I could hold a steady gap and control the race as I wanted.”

With the top six finishers reversed to determine the grid for race two, King began the weekend’s second encounter from sixth and needing to score as many points as possible in the knowledge that he would be missing the two outings the following day in order to fly home for the AUTOSPORT Awards ceremony in London.

“I knew it would be tough from sixth, although I was optimistic that the podium would be within reach,” he said.

“It was an eventful first lap and I was mindful of not wanting to get caught up in any trouble as we knew we had the speed to progress once everything settled down. But I was up to fourth when the red flags came out for an accident.

“When the race re-started, I snatched third place pretty quickly and then, shortly after, I took advantage of the two leaders fighting ahead of me.

“They both ran wide on the exit of the first corner, which allowed me to dart past. They stuck to my tail for the next half-a-lap, but once I had broken their tow, I focused on pushing as hard as I could to establish a gap.

“By the time the chequered flag appeared, I was more than nine seconds ahead.”

Despite missing out on the opportunity to reassert his authority on Sunday, the Hugo Boss brand ambassador saw his lead cut by just one point, meaning he will head to Chennai for the final round in February still five clear of his closest pursuer in the defence of his crown.

“I’d feared I would be really up against it there, so this is an absolutely mega outcome - I couldn’t have asked for much more.

“It was disappointing not to be able to race on the second day, because I’m pretty convinced we could have taken another double win and it would have been nice to have a greater cushion.

“But I guess it makes the championship battle a bit more interesting with the points the way they are.”