India’s Jehan Daruvala starred on Sunday winning the reverse grid FIA Formula 3 Race 2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Driving for Prema, he produced a dominant drive ahead of Hitech Grand Prix’s Juri Vips and Niko Kari of Trident.
In a dramatic Lap 1, Daruvala started well from the front row to take P1 from Kari off the grid as Vips dropped from third to fifth behind Marcus Armstrong and Max Fewtrell.
Drama
There was drama further back at Turn 1 with Ye Yifei and Artem Petrov making contact.
Raoul Hyman and Jake Hughes had nowhere to go and the ensuing collision sent all four drivers into the gravel and out of the race.
The safety car was deployed while the cars were recovered.
Five laps later Kari looked to pressure Daruvala for P1 from the restart, but the Indian calmly held position before building up a healthy lead.
Another safety car later in the race meant that Daruvala’s lead over Kari, by this point 7.4 seconds, was reduced to nothing as the racing pack was bunched together.
It didn’t seem to bother the Indian though, and following the restart he picked up just where he’d left off and began rebuilding a gap.
Looking supreme
Daruvala looked supreme out in front with an unassailable lead to take the chequered flag ahead of the Hitech man in second, Kari in P3.