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Hard-fought podium for Kush Maini: F3 Sprint
Budapest (Hungary), 30 July 2022: Indian racing ace Kush Maini earned a hard-fought podium as he took the third place in the FIA Formula3 Round 6 Sprint race here on Saturday. His MP Motorsport teammate won the race.
Caio Collet brought home his first win in Formula 3 in an impressive fashion, mastering the wet to drying conditions in a race of attrition that caught several of the title contenders out. Starting fourth, the MP Motorsport driver made his presence known, slicing his way through the field and up into the lead before driving off into the distance to finish 8.7s clear of second place Franco Colapinto, who fought hard to hold off the charging Brazilian until the third Safety Car appearance.
There would be plenty of celebrations for MP, as Kush Maini made it a double podium for the Dutch team having carved his way up from P7 to P3 at the chequered flag. Isack Hadjar couldn’t quite cling on to the podium, but fourth place was enough to see him usurp Victor Martins at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.
Oliver Bearman was the biggest beneficiary of a late squabble between his teammates Jak Crawford and Arthur Leclerc to seal fifth, ahead of Martins. Grégoire Saucy secured his first points since the opening round of the season in seventh, as Oliver Goethe kept himself out of trouble to achieve points on his debut. Trident added more points to their tally as Roman Stanek and Zane Maloney rounded out the top 10.
Kush Maini, left, celebrates with MP Motorsport team for the double podium. AS IT HAPPENED
Heavily predicted going into the Budapest weekend, the downpours finally began in the lead up to the race. If leading the pack on debut wasn’t enough of a challenge, Goethe faced a rolling start around a soaked Hungaroring. Bunching up the field, the white, black and orange Campos car couldn’t quite keep his car on the racing line and went wide into the final corner.
Not one to let an opportunity pass by, Goethe’s mistake allowed Colapinto to sit on his rear wing, slipstreaming along the pit straight and diving up the inside of the Monégasque driver. Experience paid dividends as Hadjar and Collet also swooped their way past him and up into second and third, as Crawford got the better of Martins up the inside of Turn 5 to move up into fifth.
No sooner had the racing started than it would swiftly ground to a halt, as David Vidales found the barriers between Turns 2 and 3 and the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap. Colapinto caught Hadjar napping on the restart, dropping the Hitech Grand Prix back into Collet’s clutches and the MP Motorsport driver wasted no time in diving around the outside of the silver car at Turn 1.
While Colapinto had the advantage of being out front, the pace appeared to be with the MP Motorsport car behind. Corner after corner, Collet tried to squeeze his way past the VAR driver, running out of grip into Turn 13 and despite selling the Argentinian the dummy down the inside of Turn 2, Colapinto’s valiant defence held firm as Collet failed to find a way through.
Although the track temperature continued to rise and the rain began to ease off, conditions were still a challenge for the field to overcome. Brad Benavides locked his brakes into Turn 1, running into the side of Jenzer Motorsport’s Ido Cohen to necessitate the return of the Safety Car on Lap 5.
Learning from his mistake earlier on, Hadjar was immediately alert on the restart, attempting to charge his way around the outside of both Colapinto and Collet. While he couldn’t move up into the lead, he did manage to repay the favour on the MP driver, recreating his overtake into Turn 1 to snatch second momentarily. The pair continued to swap and change positions when Colapinto closed the door on Hadjar, enabling Collet to swoop into second from under him.
In the fight for fourth, Maini was a man on a mission in the second MP Motorsport car, diving down the inside of Martins and then setting about putting Hadjar under pressure, while the leading duo began to pull away from the pack.
Martins’ morning got increasingly challenging and wet conditions led the Frenchman to make a run of errors. Going wide into the final corner left him vulnerable to the PREMAs behind, as Crawford squeezed past him along the main straight and forced him to go side-by-side with title rival Leclerc. Another wide moment on to the slippery run-off area proved costly as the Ferrari Driver Academy member sailed past him and up into fifth.
Out front, Colapinto continued to prove impossible for Collet to pass. However, a small mistake at Turn 2 gave the Alpine Academy junior the moment he had been waiting for to snatch the race lead on Lap 10. Now with a clear track up front, Collet put his foot to the floor and didn’t look back, giving himself plenty of breathing room with the gap up to 2.7s after only a single lap.
As the spray faded and the tyres waned, the race turned into survival of the fittest as the field attempted to conserve their wet Pirelli compounds to the chequered flag with five laps remaining. Nobody seemed to be immune – Leclerc’s moment of oversteer saw him take a hefty whack over the red and white kerbs at Turn 4, while Hadjar’s overly wide line off on to the run-off at Turn 13 gave Maini a chance to pounce.
The Indian driver had no hesitation in breezing past him at Turn 4 and forcing Hadjar to go on the defensive from fellow Red Bull junior Crawford. It was clear that the Frenchman’s tyres had fallen off their cliff as he slowly started to slip down the order behind Crawford and Leclerc and straight into Martins’ eyeline.
With his heart set on a maiden Formula 3 podium Maini refused to give up the fight, going side-by-side with Crawford on the penultimate lap as the MP Motorsport driver attempted to break the tow. Thankfully for him, the move paid off and the American driver dropped back, ultimately getting caught out in late drama and coming together with his teammate Leclerc.
Although he was able to continue, the damage was already done, and Leclerc found himself unable to turn left into Turn 13, drifting into Martins’ path.
While all the chaos unfolded behind, Collet cruised to his first victory in the third tier ahead of Colapinto and Maini. Hadjar hung on to fourth, as his teammates’ troubles benefited Oliver Bearman, who claimed fifth. Despite the contact, Martins crossed the line in sixth ahead of ART teammate Grégoire Saucy and newcomer Goethe. Trident’s Roman Stanek and Zane Maloney held off Reece Ushijima to take the final points in ninth and 10th, respectively.
KEY QUOTE – Caio Collet, MP Motorsport
“Really good day today! My first win in F3, I’m really, really happy. I think after yesterday the team deserved that one. Thanks a lot to them for the support this year, it’s been tough, but we got a win. We celebrate today and recover tomorrow.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW
The pendulum has swung and for the first time this season, Isack Hadjar leads the Drivers’ Championship by one point to Victor Martins as 104 points play 103. The late incident has proved costly for Arthur Leclerc who drops back off the two Frenchmen in third on 91. Jak Crawford remains fourth, one point ahead of Roman Stanek.
PREMA Racing continue to lead the way in the Teams’ Championship on 226 points. The top three teams remain the same as ART Grand Prix hold firm in second ahead of Hitech Grand Prix. A 1-3 finish has allowed MP Motorsport to leapfrog Trident into fourth on 113 points.
WHAT’S NEXT?
It’s all to play for in the final Formula 3 race before the summer break and MP will have the chance at doing the double with Alexander Smolyar starting on pole – the lights go out for the Budapest Feature Race at 10:05 local time.
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Hungarian GP: Russell takes surprise pole ahead of Ferrari pair
Mercedes’ George Russell took a shock pole in F1 Hungarian GP ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Q1:
While the clouds hovered around the Hungaroring circuit, it was dry to start the first part in F1 Hungarian GP qualifying. With soft tyres use all-through the grid, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace initially at the front with a 1m18.509s lap.
The Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc slotted in second and third. Late laps from Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell put them first and second, with the former setting the pace after a 1m18.374s lap which was 0.033s quicker.
Sainz was third, as the knockout zone had both the AlphaTauri cars along with the Williams pair. Yuki Tsunoda (1m19.240s) was 16th, missing Q2 by 0.035s with teammate Pierre Gasly (1m19.119s) only 19th in a bad show from both.
The Frenchman was frustrated on the radio, as Williams’ Alexander Albon (1m19.256s) was 17th with teammate Nicholas Latifi (1m19.570s) 20th while another frustrated driver Sebastian Vettel (1m19.273s) was 17th in his updated Aston Martin car.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Hungarian GP qualifying saw a bad start for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez whose initial quick lap was deleted due to track limits. But his lap was reinstated by the stewards which brought him inside the Top 10 but just in ninth.
But he was eventually knocked out in 11th with a 1m18.516s lap, missing out on Q3 by 0.071s. On replays, it was shown that he was blocked by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m18.825s) as he complained on the radio.
The Dane was out too in 13th behind Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu (1m18.573s), with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m19.137s) in 14th from Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m19.202s). At the front, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fastest with a 1m17.703s lap from Leclerc and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.
Q3:
The final part in F1 Hungarian GP qualifying had Ferrari’s Sainz on provisional pole with a 1m17.505s lap after the first flying lap, with teammate Leclerc third behind Mercedes’ George Russell with the Brit beating one of the Ferrari cars.
Red Bull’s Verstappen did not have the best of laps to be seventh after a lock-up in the left-hander which pushed him onto the run-off. The problems for the Dutchman continued on his second lap as he complained about ‘no power’ on his radio.
At the front, Ferrari’s Sainz upped his pace to seemingly take pole but Mercedes’ George Russell came out of nowhere to take his first F1 pole in Hungarian GP with a 1m17.377s lap after not going purple in any of the sectors on his fast lap.
Sainz (1m17.421s) had to settle for second being 0.044s down, with Leclerc (1m17.567s) in third as McLaren’s Norris (1m17.769s) slotted in fourth from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m18.018s) who managed to beat his teammate Fernando Alonso (1m18.078s).
While Russell took F1 pole, teammate Lewis Hamilton (1m18.142s) was only seventh after aborting his final lap due to DRS issues. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m18.157s) was eighth from McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m18.379s) in ninth, while a frustrated Verstappen (1m18.823s) rounded out the Top 10.
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Hungarian GP: Latifi was fastest in wet FP3 from Leclerc, Albon
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi was fastest in a wet FP3 of F1 Hungarian GP as Alexander Albon was third behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The wet weather arrived at expected at Hungaroring for FP3 in F1 Hungarian GP with wet tyres used mostly. The latter stages saw may using the intermediate compound too, to understand the tyres better for qualifying ahead.
There were some offs and spins which included AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell. There was a red flag for an incident for Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, who smashed onto the tyre barrier.
Post red flag, there was a surprise lap time on the drying track and the intermediate tyres, as Williams’ Nicholas Latifi set the pace with a 1m41.480s lap whereas teammate Alexander Albon was third after setting a 1m42.381s lap.
Ferrari’s Leclerc slotted in second with a 1m42.141s who was surprised by Latifis late lap. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth after his 1m43.205s lap with Mercedes’ Russell (1m43.434s) in fifth from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m43.570s).
McLaren’s Lando Norris was eighth being the last of the intermediate runner, with Aston Martin’s Vettel slotting in ninth from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in the Top 10 who set their pace on the wet compound. His teammate Mick Schumacher did same in 12th.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was 11th on the intermediate tyres, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 13th from McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. There were wet tyre runners Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in 16th and 17th.
AlphaTauri’s Gasly was 19th, with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ending up 18th and 20th using the intermediate tyres.
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Rally of Coimbatore flagged off: Blueband Sports INRC Round 2
Coimbatore, 29 July 2022: The Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2022 (INRC) for four wheelers was flagged off here on Friday.
The second round organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC) has attracted 54 entries. INRC, one of the popular Nationals in the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) calendar returns after a long break for Round 2. The first round was held in Chennai in April.
The delayed 2021 season, was completed in March 2021 with the MMSC South India Rally (SIR) which was run along with the APRC Asia event. Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai, won their maiden APRC event. The MRF duo are leading the 2022 season Overall table.
Chennai, also hosted the first round of the Blueband INRC Round 1, a month later in April 2022, and after tough fight Arka Motorsports Karna Kadur, in MRF colours, overcame the challenge from Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah to take the overall lead in the 2022 championship.
Arka Motorsports’ Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) will spearhead the MRF Tyres campaign in the top INRC class along with defending champion Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virender Kashyap, who moved up to INRC 2 this year. Both are leading their respective classes after Round 1. Thakur and Kashyap, the Chettinad Sporting duo, competed in the INRC-3 class in 2021 and won the Overall honours.
Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) being flagged off at Coimbatore on Friday. The JK Tyre team is led by Arjuna Awardee and seven-times INRC Champion, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) in a Mahindra XUV 300. However, with Amittrajit Ghosh, moving abroad, and missing the Round 1, talented rallyist from Mangalore Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah) gets an upgrade to the premier INRC class. He will be driving a rally-spec Baleno R2. Ghosh’s navigator and top rallyist Ashwin Naik, who also missed Round 1, will be calling notes for Rohan Pawar of Team Slideways Industries in a INRC2 Polo.
Others to watch out for in INRC are, former champion Chetan Shivram, who is back with his brother Dilip Sharan, with whom he won the title in 2019, and Mandovi Racing’s Arjun Rao and Sathish Rajagopal. Veteran navigator and former champion BS Sujith Kumar makes a comeback (INRC) and will be calling the pace notes for Monish in a VW Polo 1.2GT. Arka Motorsports’ Dhruva Chandrasekhar and PVS Murthy complete the six-car INRC class.
In INRC2 class, JK Tyre’s Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Sanath G, who lost by a whisker last year, will be fighting with defending champions Adity Thakur (Kashyap) once again. Aroor Vikram and AG Somayaa of Snap Racing along with Suhem Kabir (Coorg) and co-driver Jeevarathinam will be the other experienced drivers in INRC2.
Talented Jahaan Singh Gill, who lost in scrutiny after winning on the ground in Round 1, will be in JK colours in INRC3 class along with Kuber Sharma and co-driver Kunal Kashyap INRC-3 victory. The class will have also have strong representation from women in motorsports. Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonka, Davangere doctors Shivani Pruthvi and co-driver Deepti Pruthvi, along with Shivani Parmer and her mom Dr Vani Parmar will all vie for honours in INRC3 class. Another talented driver Anushriya Gulati of Formula Woman fame (DB motorsports) will have Arjun Dheerendra as co-driver. Athira Murali, another talented lady driver from Kerala, will be missing from the line-up for this round.
There will be only three Gypsy entries this time around. The Gypsy class in a non-championship support class.
Note. Feature image caption was corrected on 30July2022.
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Hungarian GP: Leclerc quickest in FP2 from Norris, Sainz
Ferrari was on top again in FP2 of F1 Hungarian GP with Charles Leclerc on top whereas teammate Carlos Sainz was third behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Ferrari remained on top in FP2 of F1 Hungarian GP at Hungaroring with Charles Leclerc setting the pace with a 1m18.445s lap whereas his teammate Carlos Sainz (1m18.676s) was third this time in a swap from FP1 session.
McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m18.662s) put in a solid lap to end up second despite some iffy moments for him during the session, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo (1m18.872s) doing well to be fifth behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m18.728s), who was only fourth.
The Dutchman did not have a good lap, much like teammate Sergio Perez (1m19.397s) who was only ninth. Leclerc, meanwhile, had to wait a bit inside the garage after the team found some issue. He also had a late moment at Turn 4 where he ran wide.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m19.049s) was sixth from Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m19.253s), with the German getting a good lap time with the new rear wing. Mercedes’ George Russell (1m19.355s), who had a major lock-up at Turn 1, was eighth from Perez.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m19.411s) rounded out the Top 10, who made his first presence after missing the FP1 for Robert Kubica. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was 11th as he didn’t get a lap time in after being held-up by Norris.
The Mercedes driver also had a moment off track, much like Haas’ Mick Schumacher. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was 12th from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 14th from first of AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.
Despite the updates, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was only 16th from Schumacher, with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in 18th ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Alexander Albon, who lost his rear and spun around at Turn 1.
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Hungarian GP: Sainz tops FP1 from Verstappen, Leclerc
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz headed the FP1 session in F1 Hungarian GP with Charles Leclerc in third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
It was a relatively sedate FP1 session in F1 Hungarian GP where only couple drivers had some minor off moments like Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso. The weather remained dry all-through, but Saturday is slated to be a wet one mostly.
The standings saw Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz lead the way in FP1 of F1 Hungarian GP after his 1m18.750s lap as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m18.880s) slotted in second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m19.039s) to break them apart.
The Spaniard seemingly had more time after a small twitch on his initial fast lap. McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m19.299s) did well in fourth from Mercedes’ George Russell (1m19.606s), with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m19.622s) only sixth in the order.
The other Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton (1m19.710s) was seventh from McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m19.841s), as Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon (1m20.348s) and Alonso (1m20.377s) rounded out the Top 10, leading the Aston Martin pair.
It was Sebastian Vettel ahead of Lance Stroll, with the team bringing in a rear wing update having armchair endplates which generated lots of eyeballs towards them. The AlphaTauri pair followed them with Pierre Gasly in 13th and Tsunoda in 14th.
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was 15th from Williams’ Alaxander Albon, whereas the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher slotted in 17th and 18th. The Dane had all the updates on his car, with taunts of ‘white Ferrari’ echoing in the paddock.
Alfa Romeo once again fielded Robert Kubica in the FP1 session in place of Valtteri Bottas – with the move not related to giving youngsters a chance. The team is yet to utilise either of its two sessions, as Williams’ Nicholas Latifi rounded out the 20 runners.
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Vettel will retire from F1 at the end of 2022 season
Sebastian Vettel has announced his retirement from F1 at the end of the 2022 season in a special post on his first day on Instagram.
Despite hints of staying at Aston Martin and in F1 in recent weeks, Vettel dropped the bomb on his first day on Instagram by announcing retirement from the sport at the end of the 2022 season, thereby ending a career spanning for over 10 years.
Vettel made his F1 presence in 2006 as a test driver at BMW Sauber and got his first drive with them in USA. He had his first full year in 2008 and has been a regular since then with four world championships against his name in this period.
Post the BMW Sauber stint, he has raced with Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari and most recently Aston Martin. He has 53 races thus far with 122 podium finishes to go with 57 pole positions and 38 fastest laps against his name in this period.
The 2022 F1 season will be his last in the sport as he looks to life outside the sport as he spoke on his Instagram post. His departure will open up a seat at Aston Martin and likely shuffle up the 2023 grid in the midfield.
“I have had the privilege of working with many fantastic people in Formula One over the past 15 years – there are far too many to mention and thank,” said Vettel. “Over the past two years I have been an Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team driver – and, although our results have not been as good as we had hoped, it is very clear to me that everything is being put together that a team needs to race at the very highest level for years to come.
“I have really enjoyed working with such a great bunch of people. Everyone – Lawrence, Lance, Martin, Mike, the senior managers, the engineers, the mechanics and the rest of the team – is ambitious, capable, expert, committed and friendly, and I wish them all well. I hope that the work I did last year and am continuing to do this year will be helpful in the development of a team that will win in the future, and I will work as hard as I can between now and the end of the year with that goal in mind, giving as always my best in the last 10 races.
“The decision to retire has been a difficult one for me to take, and I have spent a lot of time thinking about it; at the end of the year I want to take some more time to reflect on what I will focus on next; it is very clear to me that, being a father, I want to spend more time with my family. But today is not about saying goodbye. Rather, it is about saying thank you – to everyone – not least to the fans, without whose passionate support Formula One could not exist,” summed up Vettel.
Team boss Lawrence Stroll shared his thoughts too: “I want to thank Sebastian from the bottom of my heart for the great work that he has done for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team over the past year and a half. We made it clear to him that we wanted him to continue with us next year, but in the end he has done what he feels is right for himself and his family, and of course we respect that.
“He has driven some fantastic races for us, and, behind the scenes, his experience and expertise with our engineers have been extremely valuable. He is one of the all-time greats of Formula One, and it has been a privilege to have been able to work with him. He will continue to race for us up to and including the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which will be his 300th Grand Prix entry. We will give him a fabulous send-off.”
And finally, Mike Krack added: “Sebastian is a superb driver – fast, intelligent and strategic – and of course we are going to miss those qualities. However, we have all learned from him, and the knowledge that we have gained from working with him will continue to benefit our team long after his departure.
“Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team is a great project, with unlimited potential, and the groundwork that Sebastian has done last year, and is still doing this year, is crucial. When we become fully competitive – and we will – one of the architects of that future success will be Sebastian, and we will always be grateful to him for that.”
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Arjun Maini gets ready for 24-hours of Spa; Kush gears up for Budapest F3
Belgium/Hungary, 28 July 2022: Arjun and Kush Maini will once again be representing India on the world stage as the brothers get ready to compete in the 24 Hours of Spa and the FIA Formula 3 Championship respectively this weekend.
Arjun’s race will take place this weekend, July 29-31, at the historic Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Belgium with the 24-year-old racing his HRT Mercedes AMG GT3 in the car number 5 in the Gold-Cup category. The 24 Hours of Spa is considered the most important endurance event on the GT3 calendar with several prominent racers from around the world lining up on the grid.
Arjun will share his driving duties alongside HRT team owner Hubert Haupt as well as German driver Florian Scholze and Italian Gabriel Piana. There will be several prominent manufactures alongside Mercedes who will also be entering the event, with the likes of Audi, Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini and Aston Martin on the grid as well.
“I’m excited to take part in my first ever 24 Hours of Spa,” Arjun Maini commented.
“To race at such a historic race circuit at such an iconic event is a real privilege and I’m hoping we as a team can secure a strong result.”
“The race won’t be easy and I’ll have to draw on all my DTM experience to make the most of the pace of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and while the format of the event is drastically different to the sprint races I’m used to, I’m still hoping I can leverage my familiarity with the car and the experience that I have from the 24 hours of Lemans to do the best job possible for the team.”
Kush who drives car number 12 on the other hand will compete at Budapest as FIA F3 Championship which reconvenes for the sixth round of the championship. Maini, who is backed by Mumbai Falcons, Omega Seiki and JK Racing, has displayed great pace in the series so far and has been unfortunate to not secure his first podium in the championship.
With 30 of the world’s best junior racers all vying for glory, competing in the F3 championship is no mean feat, with Maini aware of the challenges which lie ahead.
“While the end result maybe lacking, I’m confident in my ability to end the season strongly,” Kush Maini stated.
“The MP Motorsports team have done a great job so far of providing me with a car that is capable of racing at the front and with a bit more luck I’m sure we’d have secured a podium finish by now.”
“Nevertheless, it is important for me to keep pushing to ensure that result comes and I’m working as hard as ever to ensure I finish the season strongly.”
“I’m also grateful to the support I have received from my sponsors Omega Seiki and JK Racing and am Proud of my association with the Mumbai Falcons whose Livery is carried on my car from the Silverstone race onwards.”
Kush’s race in Budapest will take place on the final weekend of July, alongside F1 races between the 29-31and can be viewed live in India on the Star Sports Select 2 and HD channel.
Arjun’s Race on Saturday starts at 8 pm IST and can be seen Live at the https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/ website.
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MiniGP: Summary from 2022’s Round 1 at Meco Kartopia
Kolhapur’s Jinendra Kiran Sangave displayed calmness and plenty of skill to score a double in the first round of the FIM MiniGP World Series India 2022 at the Meco Kartopia circuit, here over the weekend.
Jinendra, 13, held off Shreyas Hareesh, who likes to be known as “The Bengaluru Kid” and a few days short of his 12th birthday, in both the 15-lap races with Chennai’s 13-year old Rakshith S Dave, trailing the front-running duo in third place. The trio dominated the field through the weekend with some fearless riding and filled the podium spots in both races.
Meanwhile, 12-year old Nithila Das from Bengaluru, was the lone girl among four who competed, to complete both the races in sixth and fifth positions.
Jinendra and Shreyas, who had qualified for pole position, put on a thrilling contest marked by slight contacts at high speeds, but both displayed tremendous skill to stay astride their respective Italian Ohvale mini bikes. Jinendra’s calmness eventually helped him to get past Shreyas.
The Bengaluru schoolboy, who, despite posting fastest laps in both the races, paid the price for small errors, while surviving a huge moment in the second outing when he averted a potential high-side.
The pace in the second race was particularly stunning. As in the first race, Shreyas led at the start but yielded ground to an aggressive and a bit more experienced Jinendra who never held back in attacking the corner or exploiting the slightest of openings Shreyas presented.
The weekend programme was compressed for an early finish in view of the inclement weather with spells of showers and consequent safety issues on a wet track.
The FIM MiniGP World Series India is part of the global programme, comprising a total of 15 countries, and initiated by the FIM, the World governing body for two-wheeler racing, in conjunction with Dorna Sports, promoters of the FIM MotoGP.
The FIM launched the MiniGP Series in 2021, as part of the Road To MotoGP programme, aiming to create an equal platform for young riders around the World to begin their motorcycle racing careers.
The results:
Race-1 (15 laps): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Kolhapur) (16mins, 39.078secs); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (16:39.261); 3. Rakshith S Dave (Chennai) (16:52.251).
Race-2 (15 laps): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (16:00.218); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (16:01.277); 3. Rakshith S Dave (16:24.502).
Qualifying (top 4): 1. Shreyas Hareesh (01:03.369); 2. Jinendra Sangave (01:03.641); 3. Rakshith Dave (01:04.103); 4. Nandanan Mahendran (Chennai) (01:04.603).
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French GP: Verstappen comfortably wins after Leclerc’s crash
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took a comfortable F1 French GP win ahead of Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
It was a clean start to F1 French GP at Paul Ricard with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc leading from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen comfortably. His teammate Sergio Perez lost out to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, whose teammate George Russell lost to Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard gained two places to be fifth from Russell, with McLaren’s Lando Norris dropping to seventh whereas teammate Daniel Ricciardo gained to be eighth right behind him. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll rounded the Top 10.
All of the three drivers gained where Ocon had a tangle with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in the chicane which dropped the Japanese to the back of the field. Stroll had to take avoiding action which brought teammate Sebastian Vettel in the fight.
As expected, Ocon was handed a 5s time penalty as he passed Ricciardo to move up to eighth. Ahead of him, Alonso was passed by Russell for fifth as Verstappen started to pile on the pressure on Leclerc for the F1 French GP lead.
The Haas pair went for an early stop in a strategic move, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – on the hard tyres – got himself up to the Top 10 in the early stages of the grand prix. Thing started to settle down and Verstappen eventually pitted on Lap 17 for the hard tyres.
But the grand prix turned upside down when Leclerc crashed out at Turn 11 when he lost control and dumped his car onto the tyre barrier. He was angry on the radio and noted about throttle pedal, but replays showed his tyres graining as well.
The safety car was deployed as Verstappen assumed the lead of F1 French GP from Hamilton who managed to keep himself ahead of Perez. Despite the double stack, Russell kept fourth with Alonso rounding the Top 5 position.
With everyone pitting, Ferrari had another spot of bother due to a slow stop for Sainz and an unsafe release situation which earned him a 5s time penalty. The Spaniard though made up three places on re-start to bring himself into the Top 5.
Alonso was sixth from Norris, Ricciardo, Ocon and Stroll in the Top 10. The safety car period saw the end of Tsunoda’s race due to damage from Lap 1 incident while a post safety car period saw a tangle between a Haas and Alfa Romeo driver.
Mick Schumacher tried a move around the outside at Turn 11 with Zhou Guanyu on the inside, but a small touch spun the German. The Chinese racer had to pit for a new front wing, with the move under investigation by the stewards.
As Verstappen led the way from Hamilton and Perez, the fight for fourth started to pump on with Russell defending hard from Sainz. The Spaniard took few laps to get through him but managed to get him eventually at Turn 11 in a good move around the outside.
Replays showed AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly having to take the run-off at chicane while trying a move on Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. There was another incident involving the Dane and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi later in the race, where the Canadian spun.
Both of them retired from the race due to damage. At the front, Verstappen was miles ahead of Hamilton but Perez, Sainz and Russell had a hard battle for third. The Spaniard pushed the Mexican hard to eventually pass him for third.
Perez then had Russell on his tail where the British driver tried a move on the chicane. The two touched with the Mexican taking avoiding action. Despite complaints from the Mercedes driver, the stewards took no further action on the matter.
Russell stayed on Perez’s tail and pounced on the Mexican post the Virtual Safety Car period for Zhou’s stranded car. Ahead of him, Verstappen took a comfortable win in F1 French GP from Mercedes pair of Hamilton and Russell.
The Brit eventually managed to fend off Perez’s late push as Sainz ended up fifth with the fastest lap. Alonso was sixth from Norris, Ocon, Ricciardo and Stroll in the Top 10 where the Canadian had to fend off a late charge from teammate Vettel.
Gasly was 12th from Williams’ Alexander Albon, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Haas’ Schumacher. Even though Guanyu did not finish the race but he was classified in 16th. DNF: Latifi, Magnussen, Leclerc, Tsunoda.
