Indian drivers and teams start 2017 on a winning note

Aditya Patel set the tone by becoming the first Indian driver to win a major international race this year.

Patel’s OD Racing teammate Mitch Gilbert started the first ever Blancpain GT Asia race from pole position at the Sepang International Circuit. After briefly losing the lead to Anthony Liu Xi at the start, he fought back over the next few laps to retake first position.

Midway through the race, Patel took over from driving duties from the Australian and cruised to the finishing line, raising the Indian flag at the Formula 1 venue.

Reigning APRC champion Gaurav Gill put on an emphatic display of speed in the opening round of the intercontinental series in New Zealand.

After trailing teammate Christian Veiby by half a minute due to technical gremlins, Gill overturned a 33.2s second deficit in Leg 2 to take a narrow victory in the island country.

Arjun Maini turned into an overnight star when he notched his first ever GP3 win in Barcelona, days after joining the Haas F1 team as a development driver.

Maini was quicker off the line than fellow frontrow starter Raoul Hyman and seized the lead heading into turn 1.

But before the 19-year-old could stretch his legs at the front of the field, he came under intense pressure from Trident’s Dorian Boccolacci.

The two drivers ran neck-to-neck for several laps and banged wheels in the opening sequence of corners once, before the Indian managed to break away from the Frenchman.

As a result, Maini became the first Indian driver to win a Formula 1 feeder race since mentor Karun Chandhok triumphed in the Hockenheim GP2 sprint race in 2008.

Ameya Vaidyanathan (EuroFormula Open Spa)

Two weeks after Maini’s win, Ameya Vaidyanathan stood at the top step of the podium at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit in a EuroFormula Open race.

Vaidyanathan passed polesitter Harrison Scott at Les Combes on Lap 3 to take over the lead and never looked back, eventually winning the race by a margin of 2.479s.

He could have repeated the same result in Race 2 after taking over the lead on the opening lap, but a collision with teammate Devlin de Francesco dropped him down to fourth.

After several podium finishes, Indian manufacturer Mahindra scored their first Formula E win in the opening race of the Berlin double header.

Team’s new signing Felix Rosenqvist passed slow-starter Jose Maria Lopez on the run down to turn 1 and reeled in pole-sitter Lucas di Grassi a lap before the pitstop sequence to put himself into the lead.

Despite di Grassi having the luxury of fanboost, the Swedish driver held on to his position to score Mahindra’s first ever victory in the all-electric championship.

The second race of the weekend, however, turned out to be bittersweet. While Rosenqvist won on road with a faultless drive from pole position, he was handed a 10 second penalty after Mahindra released him in the path of teammate Nick Heidfeld during the mid-race car swap.

The penalty dropped him down to second position, but it was nevertheless another great result for the Indian outfit.

Jehan Daruvala became the latest Indian to join the winner’s circle in 2017 when he delivered a faultless drive in Germany last weekend.

Like several other drivers on the above list, Daruvala started the race from second place and came out of turn 1 as the race leader.

Two Full Course Yellows eradicated his 1.1s lead and made him vulnerable to championship leader Maximilian Gunther.

But the Force India protege didn’t put a foot wrong and managed to keep the Prema driver at bay to take the victory.

With this remarkable result, Daruvala became the first Indian to win in European F3 and the first in any major Formula 3 race since Narain Karthikeyan.