Force India Academy Driver Daruvala on pole in Sarno comeback

Sahara Force India Academy driver Jehan Daruvala made an excellent comeback from injury as he blitzed a very experienced field to claim his first pole position in the KF Senior class.

After being sidelined for four weeks due to a broken thumb suffered in training, leading to him missing crucial testing time on the southern Italian Sarno track, Jehan did not look out of his depth against older and more experienced drivers – even though this was only his second outing in this class.

In qualifying, the Sahara Force India driver claimed pole by 0.123 seconds over a field of 49 competitors, a result that set him in a good position for the heats: he duly converted this into a second place in Heat One, following a race–long battle with Callum Ilott and Nicklas Nielsen, and into a dominant win in Heat Two, never relinquishing his lead.

An accident in Heat 3 saw Jehan line up sixth for the Pre–Final; however, heavy rain over the track meant the Sahara Force India Academy driver was faced with a steep learning curve, this being one of the first instances in which he raced with the new front brakes required by KF Senior in wet conditions. With the front–runners being able to to enjoy years of experience at this level, Jehan had to use all his wet–weather ability – one of the traits that allowed him to triumph in KF Junior in 2013 – to claim fifth in the race.

Jehan lined up in tenth place for the final race of the weekend, and an excellent start saw him climb to fifth by the third corner under even heavier rain. Unfortunately, the poor visibility caused him to be hit from behind and sent off track in as many as three different occasions. Despite being as low as 28th early in the race, a good recovery drive meant he crossed the line 18th.

All in all, a very encouraging weekend for Jehan and the Sahara Force India Academy, with our driver showing he can compete with – and beat – some of the best drivers in the world of senior karting in the dry, and with plenty of experience gained in wet conditions. Jehan, who also set the fastest time of all drivers across the weekend in Sarno, returned to action last weekend at Lonato in the Margutti Trophy.