INDIA in F1

Tag: British Formula 3

  • Kush Maini finishes second in Race 2: British F3

    Kush Maini finishes second in Race 2: British F3

    Oulton Park, 30 July 2020: Lanan Racing’s Piers Prior took a controlled win in the reversed grid second race of the weekend at Oulton Park. The polesitter led every lap despite sustained pressure from Hitech GP’s Kush Maini, who claimed the team’s maiden BRDC British F3 podium on their first weekend, with F4 graduate Bart Horsten completing a 1-3 for the Lanan team. The top three finished a long way ahead of fourth place finisher, Double R Racing’s Benjamin Pedersen.

    Kush Maini, Hitech GP, said: “After being the quickest driver in the majority of the test sessions, obviously after qualifying we were really disappointed as I went off and damaged the car, and didn’t really put a lap in. So we had to start race one at the back but in race two we had good pace and I think Bart and Piers both had four new tyres and we were the only ones with two new, and we could match their pace. The car is back, the car is fast and I’m sure tomorrow we will get some more podiums.”

    Chris Dittmann Racing’s Nico Varrone headed a train of cars that pursued Pedersen throughout the race, finishing half a second behind the American, and half a second ahead of Hitech GP’s Reece Ushijima in sixth.

    Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke was just three tenths behind at the flag, and in turn three tenths ahead of teammate Sasakorn Chaimongkol. Carlin’s Guilherme Peixoto was just over a second further back in ninth, with Chris Dittmann Racing’s Josh Skelton completing the race two top-10.

    Prior started on pole after damaging his front wing in race one held earlier this afternoon, and finishing last in that contest. He benefited from the reverse grid for race two, and took full advantage with a strong start that ensured he kept the lead on the way down to Old Hall, while second place starter Maini moved across the track to defend his position from Horsten, who started third.

    The top-three immediately began to operate in their own race, lapping closely together and exchanging fastest laps throughout the race, while building a big gap to Pedersen. Prior’s lead was just under eight tenths at the end of lap one, though Maini trimmed two tenths off that gap on lap two. Maini’s charge continued to gain momentum in the early stages, with less than four tenths covering the pair at the end of lap four, with Horsten only 0.366s further back.

    That was to be as close as Maini got though, as Prior was able to pull out a further three tenths on lap five, with the gap hovering between five and eight tenths for the remainder of the race, with the winning margin being 0.639s, while Horsten dropped back a little, finishing 1.2 seconds behind Maini.

    The lead trio finished over seven seconds clear of Pedersen, who had to contend with immense pressure for the entire race, as Argentinean Varrone looked to find his way past, with seemingly the rest of the field following by with small gaps between each car.

    Despite the close running, the only incident of note came on lap seven as Manaf Hijjawi dropped from ninth to 16th, and then retiring, promoting his pursuers up a position.

    Two more races follow this weekend, with race three due to start at 12.30 tomorrow (Sunday) and the final contest at 15.30. Both races will be streamed live on the official BRDC British F3 website and Facebook page

    BRDC British F3 Championship, Oulton Park race two provisional result:

    1. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, 13 laps
    2. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +0.639s
    3. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +1.934s
    4. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +9.441s
    5. Nico Varrone, Chris Dittmann Racing, +10.019s
    6. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +10.592s
    7. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +10.899s
    8. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +11.219s
    9. Guilherme Peixoto, Carlin, +12.413s
    10. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +13.240s
    11. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +14.308s
    12. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +15.116s
    13. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +16.569s
    14. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +16.979s
    15. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +20.005s
    DNF. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, 6 laps completed
    DNF. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, 6 laps.

    eom

  • Kush Maini tops Friday session 2 in British F3

    Kush Maini tops Friday session 2 in British F3

    Oulton Park, 31 July 2020: Hitech GP’s Kush Maini returned to the top of the testing timesheets after posting the quickest time in session two on Friday morning.

    Maini’s effort of 1m31.945s was slightly slower than this morning’s outright pace, but was enough to ensure he topped the testing times for the fourth time in six sessions so far this weekend. Maini was just 0.025s quicker than session one pace setter Kaylen Frederick (Carlin), with Louis Foster just 0.004s further behind for Double R Racing. 

    Lanan’s Bart Horsten was fourth fastest, the Australian almost four-tenths further back and 0.058s ahead of Carlin’s Nazim Azman, who enjoyed his best session of the weekend so far. 

    Nico Varrone set the sixth fastest time for Chris Dittmann Racing, less than a tenth clear of Douglas Motorsport’s Kiern Jewiss, with his teammate Ulysse De Pauw in eighth, just 0.013s ahead of Varrone’s teammate Josh Skelton. 

    Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke completed a top-10 covered by just eight tenths of a second, with Lanan’s Piers Prior 11th and only 0.084s further back. Benjamin Pedersen was 12th fastest for Double R and a tenth clear of Josh Mason, with Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol in 14th and 0.007s away from Mason. 

    Manaf Hijjawi and Reece Ushijima completed the 16 cars that participated in the session. The third session of the day starts at 14.15 UK time.

    BRDC British F3 Championship, Oulton Park, Friday test session two result:

    1. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, 1m31.945s
    2. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +0.025s
    3. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +0.029s
    4. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +0.412s
    5. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +0.470s
    6. Nico Varrone, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.514s
    7. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +0.598s
    8. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.745s
    9. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.758s
    10. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +0.822s
    11. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +0.906s
    12. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +1.056s
    13. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +1.191s
    14. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed +1.198s
    15. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +1.261s
    16. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +1.547s

  • Arjun Maini scores first points in F2; Kush Maini notches win and a podium in F3

    Arjun Maini scores first points in F2; Kush Maini notches win and a podium in F3

    India’s Kush Maini (centre) with the winner’s trophy.

    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.

    Arjun Maini in Baku. Photo: Sebastiaan Rozendaal / Dutch Photo Agency

    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.

    Arjun Maini on a charge in Baku. Photo: Sebastiaan Rozendaal / Dutch Photo Agency

    “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.