Photo: Auto GP World Series
MRF Challenge guest driver Narain Karthikeyan powered through to victory in race four of the final round of the series at Madras, while Tio Ellinas nullified Rupert Svendsen-Cook‘s championship lead.
The experienced Indian spent most of the race hanging back in third behind the duo of title challengers and then established himself as a victory contender during the final laps after a safety car restart.
He first picked off Svendsen-Cook and then made it past Ellinas on the penultimate lap to take over the race lead and cross the line in first.
Ellinas had to settle for second and the fastest lap of the race, which, combined and given Karthikeyan’s ineligibility for points, allowed him to completely negate third-placed Svendsen-Cook’s points advantage.
Race two winner Sam Dejonghe took fourth, ahead of the round’s surprise performer Dylan Young. Brits Ben Anderson, Max Marshall, Harry Tincknell, Sam Brabham and Laura Tillett made up the remainder of the top ten.
Coming into the final race, Svendsen-Cook leads Ellinas on victory countback, with the pair level on points.
Race results
| Pos. | Driver | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Narain Karthikeyan | 15 laps |
| 2 | Tio Ellinas | +1.691 |
| 3 | Rupert Svendsen-Cook | +2.056 |
| 4 | Sam Dejonghe | +3.939 |
| 5 | Dylan Young | +19.372 |
| 6 | Benjamin Anderson | +20.683 |
| 7 | Max Marshall | +20.861 |
| 8 | Harry Tincknell | +21.886 |
| 9 | Sam Brabham | +29.719 |
| 10 | Laura Tillett | +30.326 |
| 11 | Abdulla Al-Thawadi | +38.031 |
| 12 | Gustavo Myasava | +41.859 |
| 13 | Gaurav Gill | +2 laps |
| Not classified | ||
| Oscar King | +10 laps | |
| Ryan Cullen | +11 laps | |
| Raj Bharath | +12 laps | |
| Vikash Anand | +13 laps | |