Motorsports: Daruvala qualifies third in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Series

Sahara Force India Academy racer Jehan Daruvala impressed in the qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring for Round 3 of the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Series here on Saturday, by finishing third overall for two of the three races in a 20-car grid.

The seven-round series returns to the Austrian venue and the weekend will see the racers battle for glory over three races instead of the usual two.

Qualifying for Race 1 saw Jehan as the top-placed rookie and was third overall as he clocked a best lap time of 1:31.530, just four-tenths of a second behind Louis Deletraz of Switzerland who was fastest overall. Kevin Jorg, also of Switzerland, was second.

For qualifying session 2, Jehan was once again the top-placed rookie driver and was third overall.

For Race 3, Jehan will start in the 12th position as the second-best lap from qualifying session 1 would count.

The Indian's second-best time from that session was, however, removed from the time sheets by officials after he was forced to leave the track limits to avoid another driver who had an incident right in front of him.

His third best lap was therefore counted and that was good enough for only 12th overall.