Category: Indians Abroad

Baku, 29 April 2018: Haas Development driver Arjun Maini made an inspired comeback here at the weekend in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Starting from P17, he made 11 overtakes to finish the race in P6. However, a post-race penalty to Sette Camara meant Arjun moved up to P5, scoring his first points in his debut season of the F2 championship.

Meanwhile, in Rockingham, UK, Arjun’s younger brother, Kush Maini secured his first win in the BRDC British F3 Championship. The Lanan Racing driver won Race 2 at Rockingham and finished off with yet another podium in Race 3 to end the weekend on a high.

Arjun began his race weekend with a P7 in qualifying, and showed some great promise at the start of the Race 1 when he moved swiftly into P4, but problems with the engine meant an early retirement from the race.

Looking to make up for his rather unlucky start to the weekend, the JK Racing and TVS Motorsport supported driver began Race 2, which he started from P17 on the grid, on the front foot. He moved up into P9 by the end of the first lap itself with some great driving. He followed this up with some gritty racing and eventually passed a few cars ahead, a difficult task in the tricky streets of Baku and finished ahead of his fellow Trident teammate Ferrucci.

Arjun Maini said: “It’s nice to finish the weekend on a positive note and get my first points in the championship. After the disappointing end to Race 1, I felt it was important to come back strong and this race will hopefully give me and the team momentum going forward.”

Speaking about Arjun’s notable drive, Karun Chandok, Former F1 driver and Arjun’s mentor said: “Arjun did a great job all weekend. Racing for the first time in a new category on a street circuit can be quite daunting, but he coped with the challenge well.

“It was a real shame that he had a car problem in the first race when running strongly in the top 5 and that sent him down the grid for the next race. However he showed on Sunday that he’s got the speed and potential to mix it in the top 6 and that’s where we’re aiming to be going forward.”

Talking about the next round of the championship he added: “He knows the Barcelona circuit very well and won there in GP3 last year, so fingers crossed he can have some good reliability and deliver strong result.”

Arjun will be in action at Barcelona shortly, as round 3 of the FIA F2 Championship is set to take place in a couple of weeks, between May 11-13. It’s the same track where he, last year, created history by becoming the first Indian to win a GP3 Series race.

Arjun also joined the thousands of people in India in demanding justice for Asifa, in his own way, by having a message on the side of his car throughout the race weekend to raise awareness through his sport.

KUSH MAINI WINS RACE 2 AT ROCKINGHAM

ROCKINGHAM: Kush Maini secured his first win in Round 2 of the BRDC British F3 Championship. The Lanan Racing driver won Race 2 and finished off with yet another podium in Race 3 to end the weekend on a high.

Kush Maini’s determination to win finally paid off as he came from P5 to claim his maiden race win in the championship. Also combining his second consecutive podium in Race 3, this weekend’s results meant he acquired a considerable chunk of points towards the driver’s championship, putting him currently in fourth place with 113 points, just six points off third placed Gamble.

Kush Maini, who started off the weekend in the wet by qualifying in P6, was involved in an incident early on in Race 1, but fought back strongly to claim P7. As the track dried out over the next day, Kush started the race from P5, and won a couple of places off the start itself. He then chased down the front two, and was in the lead by the end of the first lap. A string of consecutive fastest laps helped him pull away from the rest of the pack as he ended the race with almost a 5-second gap back to the driver in P2.

In Race 3, Kush, starting from pole, couldn’t capitalise on his momentum from the previous race as he battled hard in thrilling encounter. Lundqvist and Kjaergaard got off the line quicker as Kush stayed right on their tail. However, a string of safety cars and yellow flags made it difficult for him to keep the pressure. Nevertheless, he managed his second consecutive Race-3 podium in a close race with the top 3 separated by just 0.638s.

Kush said, “In race 2, it was a case of keeping my nose clean the first lap. We knew from the start of the season, our pace in the dry is superior so as long as I could go the distance we could get a good result. It was disappointing to not win in Race 3 from pole, but it was a good race and another load of points so I’m looking forward to the next round.”

The next round of BRDC F3 Championship takes place at Snettorton at the end of May where Kush will be looking to make this momentum count.