Lapping it up

DRIVER Alvaro Parente finished ninth in the 22-lap GP2 Asia Series race in Malaysia and earned the Arab world's leading GP2 Asia Series team My Qi-Meritus.Mahara a point after setting the fastest lap.

He began the race in 11th place on a wet track after the start of the race had been delayed by 30 minutes because of torrential rain that fell just as the cars were lining up on the grid at the Sepang International Circuit.

Parente said: "I am very pleased to have scored a point for the team. I was a bit careful behind the safety car because there was so much water on the track at the start. It seemed such a short race! It felt as if the engine was not running cleanly until the last laps due to all the water. There was not much we could do to improve, but I did set the fastest lap with 2.03.693."

The team's Marco Bonanomi finished in 14th place.

Peter Thompson, team founder, said: "I am very pleased that the team scored a point. It is good to have Alvaro do the fastest lap and Marco climbed from 21st to finish 14th."

Firhat Mokzani, My Qi-Meritus.Mahara's team president, added: "We're now looking forward to the future and a good race in Bahrain, a track that both drivers like to race on."

In Bahrain the cars will again be sporting the GulfWeekly's name during the GP2 Asia Series race which is part of the action to be featured during the F1 weekend on April 24-26.