Mumbai Falcons Continue Strong Form In F3 Asia Round 3

The third round of the 2021 F3 Asian Championship, held at the Yas Marina circuit, Abu Dhabi, saw a decent run of form for the Mumbai Falcons. While Jehan Daruvala rounded off the weekend with a win and a second-place finish, teammate Kush Maini also managed to bag points finishes.

It was another strong start to the weekend for Mumbai Falcons with Daruvala on pole for Race 1. But he was beaten off the line by championship rival Pierre-Louis Chovet of Pinnacle Motorsport. While the Indian driver shadowed Chovet for the majority of the race, it wasn’t enough in the end as Daruvala had to settle for second place. Kush Maini, starting 11th, made his way into the top ten with a strong 8th- place finish to finally get his first points on the board.  

 

Race 2 was set to be a tough one with Daruvala sixth on the grid (for having scored the sixth fastest lap in the previous race). Unfortunately, he got stuck at 6th , not helped by the safety car being called for the majority of the race. Starting at 10th, Maini put up a strong showing, eventually finishing 7th and just behind his teammate.

Pole in Qualifying 2 meant Daruvala was back at the front for the final race of the weekend, with Maini starting 10th. This time, Daruvala got off the line well and drove a controlled race to take the win over Prema’s Guanyu Zhou. Maini also gained places early on and held off an intense challenge from Lorenzo Fluxa to finish 8th in the end.

In the drivers’ standings, Jehan Daruvala stands 2nd, with the difficult Race 2 costing him the lead to Pierre-Louis Chovet. But victory in the final race helped close the gap to just 10 points. Kush Maini’s points finishes put him at 13th overall. As for the teams’ standings, the decent points tally for Mumbai Falcons promoted them to second place.  

Racing action for the penultimate round will take place next week at the Dubai Autodrome. All races will be livestreamed on the Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited YouTube channel.

Image credits: Ishaan Bhataiya / Red Bull Content Pool