Jehan Wins in Hungary; Takes Lead in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Series

By Carandbike Team

1 mins read

Published on June 21, 2016

Highlights

Jehan Wins at the Hungaroring
The win sees him at the top of the championship standing
He's the first Indian to win a race at the F1 circuit

The flag swayed high as the Indian national anthem blared through the speakers at the Hungaroring F1 circuit for the first time in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Series. And this was all thanks to Jehan Daruvala of the Sahara Force India Academy who clinched his maiden victory in the series. The win saw him at the top of the championship standings after 3 rounds. It wasn't an easy weekend for Jehan as he started with third and sixth position in the Practice session and qualifying for Race 1 did not turn out well for him. Both of Jehan's fastest laps were deleted for exceeding track limits and Jehan therefore had to start Race 1 positioned eighth on the grid. There were also problems when the lights went green as the car immediately in front of Jehan stalled which saw him take evasive action, however by that time he had lost a few more positions. The worst was yet to come as on the last lap while fighting with another racer, the other car's front wing clipped Jehan's rear wheel and Jehan spun around. This saw him finish in 13th place while Lando Norris of Great Britain won the race ahead of Russian racer Vasily Romanov and Ferdinand Habsburg of Austria. Jehan Daruvala at the Hungaroring This is probably was spurred the determination of the young Indian driver in Race 2 as he started from second on the grid. A strong start saw him pole sitter - Lando Norris. The duo started pulling away from the rest of the field and soon, the race went in favour of Jehan when Lando went off track, into the barriers on lap 4. A brief safety car period ensued and Jehan made a good start after the Safety Car pulled in. He ensured he made no mistakes and went on to earn his maiden Formula Renault victory with a comfortable lead of 1.4 seconds, ahead of Russian racer - Robert Shwartzman. He in turn, was half a second ahead of Ferdinand Habsburg. "After having everything seem to go against me in Race 1, I am really happy with the way Race 2 turned out. It was crucial for me to protect the lead at the restart and after that I was able to consistently lap quicker than everyone behind me. It was a special moment to hear our National Anthem being played across the circuit and I would like to thank the entire team at Josef Kaufmann Racing, Pieter my coach, Jon and Craig of PAP, and Don my mind coach. Thank you also to Sahara Force India for all their support." said an elated Jehan.