26 Oct 2012

While the countdown to the 2012 Formula 1 Airtel Indian Grand Prix is underway, the Final Round of the CIK FIA Karting World Championship just concluded in Macau at the Kartodromo de Coloane.

The event started with a total of 8 official practice sessions on Thursday, Friday & Saturday. Jehan Daruvala was absolutely dominant in each and every practice session. The Sahara Force India Academy Driver topped the time sheets in every session from 2 to 8, making an impressive recovery after running in his engine in the first session. His fastest lap time was quicker by 0.4 seconds on some occasions.

Jehan’s excellent form continued through the weekend, where after losing the lead at the second corner, he came back hard and grabbed the lead back to go on and win Heat 1. Heat 2 was a straightforward lights-to-finish victory. The day ended with Jehan on pole. Sunday’s Heat 3 was a repeat of Heat 1, where after losing the lead at the second corner, Jehan made a quick recovery to go on and win again.

In the Pre-Final, starting on pole, Jehan maintained his lead at the start and steadily pulled away. So dominant was his pace that his victory in the Pre-Final was the largest victory margin of any race in any category the entire weekend. He won the Pre-Final by a margin of 5.8 seconds.

In the Final, Jehan made a good start and held the lead past the first corner. However, he was muscled down to third in the second corner. Four corners later he was back in 2nd place and closing in quick on the leader. As Jehan chased him down, both drivers were extremely consistent and pulled out a 2 second advantage over the rest of the pack. It took Jehan almost 7 laps to bring the gap down from 0.8 seconds to 0.2 seconds. The two drivers kept the crowd on their feet, as lap after lap they exchanged fastest laps with each other.

Eventually on lap 17 out of 21, Jehan made his move into the second corner, only to use the lead again on the fourth corner. Once again Jehan made a move on lap 19 and this time he protected his line well into the fourth corner. It was the first time in the final that Jehan crossed the start / finish line in the lead. Jehan could not pull away and both drivers were neck-and-neck again on the immediate next lap. On the very last lap, the leader covered his line well into the fourth corner, but came out slow. Jehan seized the opportunity and made a brilliant move down the inside of the leader into the fifth corner. With only a few corners remaining, Jehan Daruvala took the chequered flag to become the CIK FIA Asia Pacific KF3 Champion of 2012.

His achievement is the biggest by an Indian in Karting till date. Very notable is the fact that Jehan had the fastest lap in 13 out of 15 official sessions. “Everyone at the Sahara Force India Academy has been instrumental in my performance. This is my biggest victory so far. It feels good to have proved myself at one of the biggest events in World Karting,” said Jehan after the exciting 21 lap Final.

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