Mumbai Falcons’ Jehan Daruvala continued to sparkle in the Formula 3 Asian Championship, grabbing the second position in Race 1 of Round 3 here at the Yas Marina International Circuit late on Saturday evening.
After winning two out of the three races in Round 2 over the last two days, India’s top racer underlined his form by grabbing a Double Pole in the two qualifying sessions in the morning.
This is his fourth consecutive podium finish over three nerve-wracking days. On Sunday, the last two races of the round will take place.
The Mumbai Falcons duo of Jehan Daruvala and Kush Maini seemed to be in their elements as the action began. Jehan straightaway went to the top of the time sheet, on his first flying lap itself. His laptime of 1:53.399 earned him his third pole position of the Championship.
Chovet, 0.190 slower, came in second while Alpine F1 Junior Guanyu Zhou from China took the third position.
Jehan did well in the second qualifying session too, immediately going to the top of the time sheets to earn his second consecutive Pole position. Zhou and Chovet were second and third respectively.
Jehan did not have the best of starts from Pole in Race 1 though. Chovet made the best of the opportunity to reach the first corner even before Jehan. Zhou also had a sluggish start but managed to retain third.
Chovet steadily began to openup a small lead and Jehan could not catch him. But Zhou who was close on his tail made sure that he remained alert.
Mumbai Falcons’ Kush Maini, meanwhile, had a good race even though he started from eleventh. He overtook 2 cars on the run down to the first corner moving into ninth. A few corners later Kush managed to overtake yet another car, to move into eighth. A few laps later Kush was up into seventh and drove an excellent defensive race. Eventually he dropped back down to eighth.
The starting grid for Race 2 is based on the fastest lap from Race 1, which means Chovet will start on Pole while Jehan will from sixth position and Kush from tenth. Race 3, though, will see Jehan start from pole.
“After the bad luck I have had with engine issues and a brake pump failure and multiple incidents on track which were out of my control, I just wanted to have a clean race and get some points for the team. I am now much happier and confident of doing better tomorrow.” Kush Maini said.
“After being on pole in both qualifying sessions, it is disappointing to fall to second. I did not have the pace to challenge for the lead. But we will work hard, and I am looking forward to the races tomorrow,” Jehan, who relinquished his championship lead to Chovet, said.
Moid Tungekar, CEO of Mumbai Falcons, said: “The championship is very competitive at the top. We have had 3 separate championship leaders before the halfway mark in the championship. Tomorrow’s races are going to be exciting to watch.”
Race 2 and Race 3 will be streamed live from Abu Dhabi, on the Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited YouTube Channel.
More photographs are available at – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QENJUGrvGFBRIEFPRVEPNadIeyx7JJl-?usp=sharing
Credit for Pictures – Ishaan Bhataiya/Red Bull Content Pool
