How Indians performed over the weekend (August 18-20)
Despite showing plenty of promise, Indian drivers had an underwhelming weekend across the race tracks of Asia and Europe.
Jehan Daruvala, Carlin, Dallara F317 - Volkswagen
FIA F3 / Suer
Jehan Daruvala (European F3 Zandvoort)
Photo by: FIA F3 / Suer
Best result: ninth
Jehan Daruvala qualified a lowly 13th for the opening F3 race at Zandvoort, but a good start propelled him to ninth place.
The rest of the weekend was compromised by a crash in Q2/Q3, forcing him to start Sunday’s two races from 12th and 14th on the grid respectively.
In the first of the two races, a clutch issue caused a jump start, with the subsequent drive-through penalty dropping him down to 16th.
Race 3 wasn’t much better; the Force India protege started 14th and finished in the same position after being unable to overtake a trail of cars that stood right in front of him.
Despite enduring his worst weekend of the year where he could add only two points to his tally, the 18-year-old continues to hold fifth place in the standings.
Aditya Patel (Blancpain GT Asia Fuji)
Photo by: GT Asia Series
Best result: eighth
Aditya Patel spun at the start of Race 1, dropping from ninth to 28th in a matter of seconds.
Despite the error, Patel didn’t lose hope and initiated a stunning recovery drive, clawing himself up to 15th place before handing the car to OD Racing teammate Mitch Gilbert.
Gilbert continued to make progress through the field in the second stint, crossing the finishing line in 11th place.
The second race of the weekend saw an improved performance from the pair. Gilbert gained two positions in the first stint and a further during the pitstop, meaning Patel emerged out of the pits in seventh place.
The Audi-backed driver fought hard with #47 D'station Racing duo of Satoshi Hoshino & Seiji Ara, but couldn’t keep the Porsche at bay and ended the race in eighth.
Armaan Ebrahim (Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Fuji)
Photo by: Lamborghini Super Trofeo
Best result: Sixth
Armaan Ebrahim and FFF Racing teammate Jack Bartholomew qualified 10th on the grid for the first Lamborghini Super Trofeo race at Japan’s Fuji Speedway.
Bartholomew drove the Huracan in the first stint, before handing over the duties to Ebrahim for second half of the race.
The Indian was on the move straight away, dispatching rivals in quick succession to end the race in fifth place.
The Indo-British duo were due to start the second race from fifth on the grid, but a technical problem led to an unfortunate DNS (Did Not Start).
Narain Karthikeyan (Super Formula Motegi)
Result: DNF
Narain Karthikeyan appeared to be in good shape to score his first points of the 2017 Super Formula season in Motegi.India’s first F1 driver qualified ninth on the grid and was able to run as high as sixth by extending his first stint.
After the first pit stop he was running on the cusp of top 10, only for a technical problem to force him to retire the car.
Ameya Vaidyanathan (European F3 Zandvoort)
Photo by: Mario Bartkowiak
Best result: 13th
Having joined the highly-competitive European F3 championship in the middle of the season, it was always going to be difficult for Ameya Vaidyanathan to fight for topline results straightaway.
So one shouldn’t be surprised by the 20-year-old tolling at the back of the pack until he gets to grips with the Dallara F317.
Speaking of his Zandvoort results, Vaidyanathan gained a whole second between Q1 and Q2, but couldn’t qualify higher than 19th. He finished the three races in 13th, 18th and 19th positions respectively.
MRF F1600 (Chennai)
Photo by: Vivek Phadnis
Championship leader Anindith Reddy asserted his authority in the penultimate round of MRF F1600 in Chennai.
After a difficult Race 1 where he had to pit for a fresh nose, the Hyderabad-based driver won both races on Sunday to extend his points lead.
Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Chennai)
Photo by: Volkswagen Motorsport
Much like MRF F1600, the Volkswagen Ameo Cup saw one driver grab the headlines. Delhi’s Karminder singh won two out of the three races, with Kolkata’s Saurav Bandyopadhyay being the only other driver to take the top step of the podium in Round 3.
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