Double Podium for Jehan in Waikato

 Waikato, New Zealand : Sahara Force India Academy racer – Jehan Daruvala had a good weekend in round 3 of the Toyota Racing Series, New Zealand. The Indian teenager was quick throughout and won two podiums out of 3 races. His consistent performance brought in a good points haul and Jehan improved his championship standings from sixth to third.

Jehan qualified second, 0.17 seconds behind pole sitter Lando Norris and both racers had a good start as the lights went off. Lando had excellent pace in the first few laps as he opened up a gap on Jehan, who in turn opened a gap to the racers behind him. In the mid-section of the race, both lapped consistently and the gap remained unchanged. In the last few laps though, Jehan was on a charge and managed to close the gap considerably to Lando. Jehan’s pace saw him put in the fastest laptime of the race, but it was too late to catch Lando who won by a margin of 1.5 seconds to Jehan. Son of Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet, Pedro was third, 3.4 seconds behind Jehan.

The start order for race 2 was based on the top eight finishers in race 1 being reversed. Jehan therefore started 7^th and had one of his best starts so far. He almost made it upto fourth, but was pushed wide by another racer into the grass. This dropped him down the order to tenth. Amidst two safety car restarts, Jehan overtook 3 cars and was soon 7^th. He then benefited from a few cars crashing out, and overtook another car to finish the race in fourth position and earn some additional valuable points.

Qualifying for Race 3 was extremely close, as the top 3 were within 0.09 seconds! Pedro Piquet was on pole ahead of Lando Norris & Jehan. Lando was however demoted with a penalty and Jehan started second, but lost a place at the start. The race however saw two periods of safety car and the race was eventually won by Brazil’s Pedro Piquet followed by local racer James Munro. Jehan came third to ensure his second visit to the podium at a another good weekend for him.

“I have been consistent the entire weekend. It was unfortunate that I fell from fifth to tenth in race 2. Climbing back to fourth ensured the points. The championship is much closer now but I am going to stay focused and treat each race individually. I must thank the team for a good and consistent car as well.” Said Jehan.

With 2 rounds and six races left, Jehan has managed to close the gap to the front runners in the championship points table. After entering this round in sixth overall, he has now moved up to just 3 points adrift Pedro Piquet in second. Ferrari Academy racer, Guanyu Zhou from China is in turn, just 3 points behind Jehan in fourth. The next race will be the coming weekend in Taupo.