Photo: MRF Racing
Indian driver Raj Bharath clinched pole position in the second round of the 2014 MRF Challenge season at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Bharath, who turns 20 next Thursday, managed to beat GP3 regular Ryan Cullen to the top spot by 0.076 seconds. The Briton’s late lap was a marked improvement, but not enough to give him pole.
Cullen’s compatriot, championship leader Toby Sowery, will line up third alongside another Indian driver Vikash Anand, who popped up from ninth to fourth with a last-gasp lap.
Australian driver Dylan Young was fifth quickest ahead of American racer Camren Kaminsky.?Kyle Mitchell took seventh on the grid, ahead of?Mathias Lauda, son of three-time F1 champion Niki.
Series newcomer and BRDC F4 regular Struan Moore?will share the fifth row of the grid with fellow Briton?Laura Tillett, who rounded off the top ten grid spots for race one.
Race results
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Raj Bharath | 2:04.613 | 11 | |
| 2 | Ryan Cullen | 2:04.689 | 0.076 | 13 |
| 3 | Toby Sowery | 2:05.126 | 0.513 | 14 |
| 4 | Vikash Anand | 2:05.282 | 0.669 | 13 |
| 5 | Dylan Young | 2:05.311 | 0.698 | 13 |
| 6 | Camren Kaminsky | 2:05.324 | 0.711 | 13 |
| 7 | Kyle Mitchell | 2:05.412 | 0.799 | 13 |
| 8 | Mathias Lauda | 2:05.600 | 0.987 | 10 |
| 9 | Struan Moore | 2:05.616 | 1.003 | 13 |
| 10 | Laura Tillett | 2:06.240 | 1.627 | 13 |
| 11 | Lee Keshav | 2:06.464 | 1.851 | 13 |
| 12 | Freddie Hunt | 2:06.496 | 1.883 | 14 |
| 13 | Tarun Reddy | 2:06.520 | 1.907 | 12 |
| 14 | Vinicius Paparelli | 2:06.771 | 2.158 | 12 |
| 15 | Advait Deodhar | 2:07.282 | 2.669 | 5 |
| 16 | Christophe Mariot | 2:13.826 | 9.213 | 11 |