30 April,2017 07:25 AM IST | Italy | A Correspondent
Jehan Daruvala created history by becoming the first Indian racer to occupy pole position in the FIA Formula 3 European Championships in the qualifying session for Round 2 here on Saturday
Jehan Daruvala
Jehan Daruvala
Jehan Daruvala created history by becoming the first Indian racer to occupy pole position in the FIA Formula 3 European Championships in the qualifying session for Round 2 here on Saturday.
Jehan put in a near perfect lap to claim his maiden pole position in F3 in only his second event. His lap time of 1:44.105s was a mere three hundredths of a second ahead of his Carlin teammate Lando Norris.
He will start on pole for race 1 while an additional qualifying session after it will decide the grid for races 2 and 3.
The 18-year-old Indian's feat came over 16 years after Narain Karthikeyan was on pole in Macau while competing in the erstwhile British F3 Championship. The thrilling qualifying session for Round 2 of the Championship at the Grand Prix Circuit of Monza saw British racer Callum Illot on top of the time sheet as the chequered flag fell.
Jehan was still out on track and yet to complete his flying lap around the 5.793km iconic Formula 1 circuit where average speeds are near the 200km/hr mark and top speed at 255 km/hr. "I like this track a lot. This is where I had my first pole in Formula Renault. The car felt good and we made a few changes after practice which worked well. Importantly I got a good slipstream and also ensured that I took no risks, once I saw I had a good time on my last lap," said Jehan, a Sahara Force India Academy racer.
