Formula Renault 2.0 NEC: Difficult second round for Jehan Daruvala

After taking an eighth and fourth place finish in the opening round of the Formula Renault 2.0 North European Championship (NEC), Sahara Force India Academy's Jehan Daruvala endured a far more difficult outing in the second round of the junior racing series at Silverstone in his first ever car racing season in his career. After qualifying 20th out of 25 drivers Jehan Daruvala tried to haul himself further up the classifications but got mired in the lower midfield battles that are a hallmark of a competitive junior racing series like Formula Renault 2.0 NEC. In the first race of the weekend on Saturday, Daruvala finished 16th, 43.459 seconds behind race winner Louis Deletraz after the 13 lap race. However, the drivers placed 14th to 20th were separated by just over seven seconds with any gain of position seen as progress in the eyes of young, hungry racing drivers. Jehan Daruvala followed this up with a 15th place finish in the second and final race on Sunday as Deletraz again won to record his third consecutive Formula Renault 2.0 NEC win of the season. The 16-year-old from Mumbai finished 21.864 seconds behind Deletraz and was again caught up in a highly competitive lower midfield as the drivers placed 13th to 19th were within four seconds of each other. Daruvala will next be in action at Austria's Red Bull Ring on the 6-7 June weekend for the third round of the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC.