Academy driver Jehan Daruvala shows his class to the World

Sahara Force India Academy driver Jehan Daruvala tested himself against the best karters of the world as part of his preparations for the final round of the British KF3 Championships, to be staged next weekend in Shenington.

Jehan put in a very good performance in the CIK World Championship at the southern Italian track of Sarno, qualifying second overall and first in his group. The heats, taking place on a heavily wet track, provided a steep learning curve for the Indian talent, who quickly mastered the lines on the slippery track and managed to rack up three podiums, including a win, to set him up competitively for the pre–final and final.

A good performance in the pre–final was rewarded with second place, allowing Jehan to start the final race of the weekend in P4. Bad luck struck the Sahara Force India Academy driver, however, as a rival collided with him, relegating the faultless Jehan to the back of the grid, in a daunting 33rd position: the youngster had to resort to all his talent to recover up to tenth place in just 15 laps, with laptimes significantly faster than the leaders.

Mentor and coach Terry Fullerton: "Jehan claimed P4 for the start of the first main World Final after the heat races and Pre Final. Unfortunately, one of his RFM team mates collided with our Sahara Force India Academy driver in a start line incident that sidelined both drivers. Jehan then made a fantastic recovery to finish in tenth place lapping faster than all the front runners. The second and final leg of the Championship will take place in Bahrain on 20/23 November."

Sahara Force India Academy driver Jehan Daruvala: "It was a great week from a learning perspective. The continuous change in weather conditions and the ups and downs of the weekend will all add to my experience. I am disappointed with the result in the final as I had the confidence and the speed to win this race on one of my favourite tracks. With a clean start, I feel I would have had a great chance of winning or at least being on the podium. The support from the team was brilliant. The kart was running really well. In the rain, the guidance from Ricky Flynn and Terry was so important for me."