Hockenheim (Germany), Oct 23 (IANS): India's Aditya Patel finished overall sixth in the concluding race of the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup and occupied fifth position in the final drivers' standings.

"To finish in the top five of such a highly acclaimed championship is great for my career and I am really looking forward to what next year has in store for me," said Patel.

The race happened Saturday.

After a poor qualifying session due to a 'mistake' with the tyre selection, the 23-year old Patel from Chennai, had only himself to blame for starting 12th on a strong grid of 26 cars which included former World Rally champion Juha Kankkunnen and ex-Ferrari F1 driver, Patrick Tambay.

Although the weekend began on a high note with Patel setting the third quickest time in the 30 minute free practice session, qualifying was a mystery for him as he could not figure out where he went wrong, but later found out that he had made a mistake while entering his tyre choice on the setup sheet. By this point, the damage was done.

Due to safety reasons, the race was shortened to just 10 laps which gave the Chennai lad work to do.

The race yet again proved to be more than action packed for the drivers as well as the spectators.

While the top six drivers were battling out for the podium spot, Patel steadily clawed his way up the pack, setting the fastest lap of the race in the bargain, and was in contention for a podium spot on the last lap.

After moving up as high as fifth place on the last lap, Patel had to give up a place after an intense battle with championship rival, Stefano Proetto, and settle for sixth.

"Overall, it has been a marvellous year and I am ever so grateful to my sponsors JK Tyre, Amante, Jet Airways, Virtu Technologies and Volkswagen Motorsport for all their support," Patel added.