Jehan Daruvala showed his class to triumph in the second round of the WSK Super Master Karting Series in Castelleto, Italy.
Following his good performance in the opening races in Sarno, the Sahara Force India backed driver enters the final round of the Championship in second place, with the final event in La Conca on April 27.
On a track where he had raced only once in his career, Jehan put in a solid qualifying effort to record the ninth best time out of 48 drivers last weekend.
The three heats saw the young Indian driver constantly improve as he gained more confidence with the Italian track. He gained one position from his starting slot of fifth to finish fourth in heat one, then even took the lead from fifth in heat two. He was eventually pushed wide by another driver and crossed the line in sixth.
Heat three saw him convert a fifth place starting position into third by the chequered flag, a result that completed his heat performances and ensured he was to start fourth on the grid in the Pre-Final.
On a track where starting on the outside is very difficult, Jehan managed to hold on to a good fifth place and by lap seven he was already up to P3. Another overtake saw him slot into second, 1.1 seconds behind experienced British driver Lando Norris. Lap after lap, the Mumbai-based driver reeled his rival in, finally passing him for the lead with two laps to go and holding on to win the race.
Galvanised by this impressive result and starting from pole position in the final, Jehan went on to build his gap steadily, finding himself one second ahead of the closest competitor after just three laps. He was able to control the race and crossed the line 0.7 seconds ahead of second placed Gabriel Aubry to claim his first European Championship win in a lights-to-flag display of dominance.
Jehan is now 12 points behind series leader Karol Basz of Poland with just one round to go ahead of the final race.
