Top racers Jehan, Kush to spearhead the challenge

The team that swept almost all the titles in the inaugural X1 League last year will be led by F2 stalwart Jehan Daruvala and British F3 Runner-Up Kush Maini, according to a press release here on Wednesday.

Mumbai: Mumbai Falcons is all set to create history by becoming the first full-fledged team from India to compete in the prestigious F3 Asian Championship, commencing in Dubai on January 29.

The team that swept almost all the titles in the inaugural X1 League last year will be led by F2 stalwart Jehan Daruvala and British F3 Runner-Up Kush Maini, according to a press release here on Wednesday.

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With former F2 and GT1 racer Armaan Ebrahim as the Team Principal and 8-time National Champion Rayomand Banajee as strategy and communications head, Mumbai Falcons is confident of winning the Championship.

“Our goal is to take Indian Motorsport to new heights. Asian F3 is just the beginning,” Navjeet Gadhoke, owner of Mumbai Falcons, which came into existence just last year, said. “With Jehan and Kush, we have the best driver line-up on the grid. We are confident of going all the way and winning the Championship,” he added.

“We have quietly been working on this and we are ready to enter the international stage in a big way,” Moid Tungekar, CEO of Mumbai Falcons, declared.

The Asian F3 Championship is the continent’s most competitive racing event, with nine strong teams boasting of multiple F2 and F3 drivers, competing. Last year, two racers from this Championship had even made it to Formula 1.

Incidentally, MSport had fielded a team last year but had only one Indian driver in the lineup.

The five-round 15-race long season will kick off in Dubai on January 29 and conclude on February 20 in Abu Dhabi.

Jehan Daruvala, who is being hailed as the next big thing in Indian racing, is just one step away from Formula 1. The multiple International Karting Champion is the only Indian to have made it to the podium of an FIA World Championship (third in the 2014 FIA CIK World Karting Championship).

He also remains the only Indian to win an official Grand Prix (New Zealand Grand Prix). His 26 Rookie Podiums in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship is a record. He had multiple wins and was second runner up in the 2019 FIA F3 Championship, after remaining in title contention till the last round. A few weeks ago, he became the first Indian to win an F2 Race in its current iteration too.

Kush Maini is the youngest Indian to ever win an Asian Karting race and is a multiple Karting Champion and race winner across Formula categories. He made waves last year when he was in title contention for the BRDC Formula 3 Championship. With 3 victories to his name, the young Indian proved himself, across some of the most iconic British circuits. Kush was the most prominent driver in the inaugural X1 Racing League, en route to winning the Indian International Driver’s title with Mumbai Falcons.