Daruvala "happy with pace" despite "mixed" Macau weekend

Following a successful rookie season in European F3 where he lodged one victory en route to sixth in the standings, Daruvala took part in the prestigious Macau F3 race for Carlin.

The Force India protege’s weekend was however compromised when he crashed during both parts of qualifying, leaving him 19th on the grid for Saturday’s qualifying race.

To compound his problems, he was forced to start on a worn set of rubber - a consequence of damaging too many tyres in crashes.

Despite the double setback, he was able to move up the pack and eventually finished in 16th position.

There was more trouble in the main race on Sunday, when one of his rivals pushed him wide and into the barriers on the opening lap. He suffered a slow puncture in the incident and had to make an unscheduled pitstop, rejoining the race in last position.

From there on, he scythed his way through the field, taking advantage of others’ crashes to take the 10th spot at the chequered flag.

Although the 19-year-old admits that he could have had a better result with a clean weekend, he was nevertheless satisfied with the pace he showed on his debut outing.

“I expected a mixed weekend – and it was exactly that. It was a steep learning curve with absolutely no margin for error,” he said.

“My qualifying race was compromised because I ran out of tyres. At the start of the GP race I was forced into the barriers, which was a shame because I had good pace.

“Considering all the setbacks, I am happy with the pace I managed at the end, in my first Macau GP. I have learnt a lot and would definitely love to come and race here again next year”

Daruvala will next be seen in action in the post-season GP3 test, which runs from November 30 to December 2.