Indian racing star Jehan Daruvala names role model on Twitter Q&A and he's NOT from F1

Indian race driver Jehan Daruvala’s rise has been much discussed about in the motorsport circuit after his historic win recently in the Formula 2 Grand Prix in Bahrain. As Daruvala beat Michael Schumacher’s son and hot favourite, Mick Schumacher, the former is widely being considered as India’s next motorsport sensation and quite possibly, a future Formula 1 champion from the country. His success saw him answer questions from his well-wishers and motorsport enthusiasts as part of a special Twitter Q&A organized by the social media platform on Tuesday.

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Jehan Daruwala’s sporting idol is surprisingly not a motor racer

The writer of this article posed a question to Daruvala as part of #AskJehan, the hashtag which was trending on Tuesday afternoon. One of them was on the race driver’s role model in sport. While many would expect to him answer someone like Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton, Daruvala sprung a surprise by taking the name of Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli.

Kohli’s popularity has surged primarily due to being a fitness icon across the country, changing his lifestyle drastically after publicly admitting in several media interactions that he was ashamed to look at himself in the mirror during the IPL 2012, a tournament in which he felt he hit a new low in his career. It is his discipline and leadership qualities that Daruvala is a huge admirer of and the Indian racer driver did not take very long in answering this question.

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Jehan Daruvala also reveals childhood influence that made him take motorsport plunge

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In the same Twitter Q&A, Daruvala was asked about the person majorly responsible in influencing him to take up motorsport as a profession. Although he started out at a relatively late age of 13, he said it is India’s 8-time Formula Car and Karting champion and his mentor Rayomand Banajee who was his biggest inspiration to dream big and not just become the best race driver in India.

At the age of 22, Daruvala has certainly come a long way with Carlin Motorsport, retaining beverage giant Red Bull. The Jehan Daruvala sponsors conducted a talent hunt in 2011, which he won. Recently, the Jehan Daruvala podium finish trended on social media, as Indian fans felt a huge sense of pride in seeing him stand for the national anthem in Bahrain, marking it as a huge step in his career.

Daruvala could also be India’s face in the Aditya Patel and Aditya Ibrahim-backed Xtreme 1 Racing League, which was expected to involve the best drivers across the globe with eight Indian franchises, much like the Dream11 IPL in cricket.

At present, the motor racing prodigy is set to continue with Carlin as he would once again aim for a win in Bahrain, the venue at which the 2021 Formula 2 season is expected to begin. With Daruvala having the ideal kind of role models as his inspiration, he could become India’s biggest name ever in motorsports history.

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