India’s Jehan Daruvala capped off his rookie campaign in Formula 2 with a brilliant maiden win in the Sakhir Sprint Race on Sunday.
Daruvala emerged on top after a long battle with Dan Ticktum, eventually winning by a 2.9 second margin. Feature race winner Yuki Tsunoda made it a Carlin 1-2 by overtaking Ticktum late in the race.
At the start, Mick Schumacher, who sealed the F2 title on Sunday, was brave off the line. The German attempted an audacious drive down the middle in an attempt to get past Ticktum and Daruvala. The Indian fell back to third but Ticktum held on and opened up a 1.2s gap.
However, the British driver warned over the team radio that he was losing his rear tyres.
Schumacher, too, suddenly started to feel the wear on his tyres from an earlier lock-up and dropped back behind Daruvala. The 22-year-old from Mumbai then shuttled up the road and caught up with Ticktum when racing resumed after a Virtual Safety Car period.
Pulling ahead
After a hard-fought battle for a few laps, Daruvala nosed ahead on Lap 26 with a daring move on the outside. Once in front, Daruvala managed to stave off Ticktum’s challenge and opened up a 3.5s gap before cruising to his first F2 victory.
“It feels good to win the last race of the season and finish on a high. It was a great battle with Dan (Ticktum), which got close at times. We respected each other and raced well. The car was good and I couldn’t have asked for a better ending,” said Daruvala.
