Mumbai Falcons and Jehan Daruvala continued their winning spree with a second consecutive victory in the Formula 3 Asian Championship. The thrilling battles on track kept fans on their toes as Jehan fought tooth and nail to win Race 2, and then went on to complete a hat trick of podiums, finishing second in Race 3, moving into the championship lead as a result.
The Mumbai resident had a near perfect launch from pole position and held his position into the first corner. Behind him, French racer Isack Hadjar held onto second, while championship leader Guanyu Zhou dropped a spot, allowing Dino Beganovic into third. The first few laps were uneventful and once the top few settled into a rhythm, Hadjar picked up the pace, piling on the pressure on Jehan. Hadjar then had a good run out of the corkscrew section, coming alongside Jehan. The two entered the corner side by side, but Jehan held on.
A few laps later a similar situation repeated, this time however, the duo went side by side for more than one corner, allowing Beganovic in third, and alongside Jehan. In the run down to the braking zone, it was three cars wide with barely centimetres between the cars. The Mumbai Falcons’ racer in the middle of the sandwich, momentarily fell behind the duo. He was the bravest though, and braked last, allowing him to surge ahead. Jehan somehow managed to stay on track and held the lead.
Proceedings settled for a bit, before Hadjar made another attempt, but Jehan was able to fend that off despite Hadjar pulling slightly ahead. Jehan held off a final attempt on the last lap as well, crossing the finish line and bagging his second straight victory, with Hadjar and Beganovic second and third respectively.
The grid for Race 3 of Round 2 was based on the second qualifying session on Thrusday. French racer Pierre-Louis Chovet started on pole and snatched the lead, pipping championship leader Guanyu Zhou, with Jehan moving from third into second and Hadjar in third. The championship format allows only two sets of tyres per round, to be used and Chovet was on fresher tyres, while Jehan and Hadjar were on older sets. Hence, they were unable to challenge Chovet, who comfortably won the race. The Mumbai Falcons’ racer was second, ahead of Hadjar.
“I was under a lot of pressure from behind, and was fighting hard to hold my position. Hadjar drove well and I really enjoyed the moment when we were three wide. It was an enjoyable battle and it is good that we were all able to race close and clean.” said Jehan, the new championship leader.
“We were all on edge, watching the really close battle for the lead in race 2. Jehan drove superbly. We must continue working hard and hope we can build on this momentum we have now. We are really proud to have an Indian from an Indian team, lead the championship.” said Moid Tungekar, CEO, Mumbai Falcons.