Dubai: The Formula 3 Asian Championship Series is headed for a three-way fight with Frenchman Pierre-Louis Chovet of Pinnacle Motorsport tussling with India’s Jehan Daruvala and China’s Zhou Guanyu at the end of the first three rounds of the series.

After three rounds of the series, Chovet is at the top of the standings with 156 points, closely chased down by Mumbai Falcons India Racing’s Daruvala (146 points) and Abu Dhabi Racing’s Zhou (141 points).

French driver Isack Hadjar of the 3Y Evans GP team and Swedish driver Dino Beganovic from Abu Dhabi Racing are also in a position to make things more interesting as they occupy fourth and fifth spots with 95 and 88 points, respectively.

The first races at the Dubai Autodrome saw a sensational trio of races that saw Daruvala jump to the top of the drivers’ classification following two consecutive victories in Races 4 and 5, and a podium in the final race.

A flawless wire-to-wire win in Race 6 on the 4.73km corkscrew track configuration put Chovet second in the standings, just one point behind the 22-year-old Indian driver, also a member of the Red Bull Junior Team who ended the 2020 season with his first win in the Formula 2 Sprint Race at Sakhir, Bahrain.

The next two rounds were held at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi and it was here that Chovet took control with two commanding wins in Races 7 and 8. However, Daruvala fought back with an untroubled run in Race 9.

Round 3 once again turned out to be a battle between Chovet and Daruvala with the French driver winning the first two races and the Indian capping a third win to remain in contention.

The Teams’ Championships are also being tightly contested with Abu Dhabi Racing leading the standings with 229 points followed by Mumbai Falcons with 160 points, Pinnacle Motorsport in third with 156 points and 3Y Evans GP in fourth with 128 points.

Meanwhile, Isack Hadjar is leading the Rookie Cup with 160 points, followed by Dino Beganovic (147) and Ayumu Iwasa (139), while the UAE’s Aman has had a memorable debut so far while standing in ninth place with 27 points.

The fourth round of the five-race championship will be held in Dubai on February 12-14 followed by the final round at the Yas Marina Circuit on February 19-20.