Daruvala praises “very professional” PREMA

No race day is ever the same, just ask Jehan Daruvala. Lamented for a poor start on Saturday, lauded for a superb one on Sunday. The Indian qualified as one of the three PREMA drivers in the top 5 ahead of Race 1, but was soon back in seventh and left rueing his struggle to get off the line. Come Race 2 and it was a whole different story – his overtake when the lights went out set him up for the win.

In the aftermath of his victory, Darvula highlighted the efforts of his team, who worked through the night to ensure there was no repeat.

“I didn't really move and I lost like five positions from the second row,” assessed the 20-year-old. “The whole of last night we were just trying to analyse the best way to get off the line. We found a good procedure I think that worked for me today, and I got off the line pretty well.”

The move on Niko Kari ahead of Turn 1 proved crucial and it allowed him to build up a steady lead out in front, while the Trident man squabbled with the rest of the top 5. Jüri Vips would be the greatest threat to his position when he eventually escaped the fighting going on around him and slipped into second.

“I didn't really know Jüri was so quick,” admitted the Indian. “Luckily, my engineer told me that there was pressure from Niko so I could relax a bit, but another couple of laps and I think it would have been a tougher race for me.”

Pre-season testing had underlined PREMA as one of the series’ strongest sides and they were able to translate that into race pace in Barcelona. Daruvala praised the labours of his team which provided him with such a competitive car.

The grid now have Le Castellet to look forward to in just over a month’s time and the PREMA man is confident of further success.

“I think the guys are very professional, they know what they're doing,” he said of his team. “My job as a driver is basically to just drive as fast as I can because I'm pretty sure every time I go out there I have a good enough car to be up there.

“I'm going to go first back to India now and enjoy a couple of weeks off but obviously keep training. I'll come back in a week/10 days before the race to prepare for Le Castellet. We've already done some testing there, so we have good data going into the second round.”