Jehan Daruvala To Make GP3 Series Debut At F1 Finale In Abu Dhabi

Indian racer Jehan Daruvala will be making his GP3 Series debut this weekend at the Has Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The GP3 is a support series that runs alongside Formula 1 and comes as a big push for the Mumbai-based driver's motorsport career. Jehan, who became the first Indian to win a race in the FIA F3 European championship, has collaborated up with Dutch team MP Motorsport for GP3. He will be a teammate to Dutchman Richard Verschoor and Canadian Devlin Defrancesco.

The 20-year-old is already familiar with MP Motorsport and had taken part in the GP3 end-of-season test with the team in 2017. Jehan joins GP3 after a favourable season in European F3 wherein he scored a win, one pole position and five podiums. Speaking on his GP3 debut, Jehan Daruvala said, “After my 2017 test, it will be good to gain some more GP3 experience ahead of the 2019 season, and I'm happy that MP has given me the opportunity to do so. It's a busy November month for me, adding Abu Dhabi straight after Macau, but that's only good!”

Speaking about having Jehan onboard, MP team manager Sander Dorsman said, “I'm pleased to welcome Jehan to our GP3 team for the final weekend in the series' nine-year history before we move on to the all-new FIA F3 in 2019. I'm sure Jehan will gel well with Richard and Devlin, and will help us wave goodbye to GP3 by going out on a high.”

Starting out young, Jehan's racing career began with winning the JK Tyre National Karting title, followed by the CIA FIA Asia Pacific KF3 championship and British Superone Karting Championship. The young driver moved to single-seater championships in 2015 with the Formula Renault 2.0. NEC Series and finished fifth in his first season. He also participated in the 2016 Toyota Racing Series coming in second. He began 2017 winning the New Zealand Grand Prix (Toyota Racing Series).

Jehan debuted in the FIA F3 European Championship last year finishing sixth in the championship, taking a win, a pole and three podiums. Daruvala managed consistent results in the 2018 season as well with two more podiums and a fastest lap.