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Tag: DTM Championship
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Arjun Maini finishes 4th in a wet race on Sunday: DTM
Styria (Austria), 25 Sept. 2022: Ace Indian driver Arjun Maini excelled in rain and made a dash to the top on slicks gaining places rapidly but had to contend with a fourth place, missing the podium in the DTM races on Sunday.
Freaky weather at the Red Bull Ring showed completely different race days in Styria. Bengaluru’s Arjun Maini, however, showed an impressive race pace with his #36 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the colours of team-partner PAUL in the first race, when he was turned around by an opponent in the first lap and drove from the last position up to the final 13th position – in the field of 27 GT3 cars.
DTM Spa 2022 Arjun had qualified 7th but had to start 10th due to a penalty from the previous race. He clearly showed tremendous Pace during the entire race as it is extremely difficult to overtake at the Red Bull ring.
The race on Sunday which was completely wet went much better and ultimately Arjun was able to bring the car across the finish line in 4th after an extremely exciting race on a wet Track that was drying towards the end of the race. Arjun Maini again showed his driving quality in the Wet and rewarded himself with 12 valuable championship points for the drivers’ and team standings.
Arjun pitted at the very end of the Pit Window to take a Chance on the Drying conditions and went out on Slick tyres with 15 minutes left to go. While he came out in P3, he fell back to P12 as the tyres were taking time to get heat into them. Towards the last few laps, he was able to recover several positions to make it to his best result this year in DTM. With all the known Brands in 27 cars, DTM is the most Competitive GT3 race driven by Single drivers across Europe.
Arjun Maini in action at the DTM races on Sunday in Styria. Arjun Maini, #36 Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I’m very happy with my race on Sunday. I was finally able to get a result with my pace. I like the Red Bull Ring – and now even a little bit more. It was very challenging today – but it was also a lot of fun to drive in these conditions. I want to Thank my team and Omega Seiki Mobility for making this happen.”
The last weekend of the DTM championship will be held at Hockenheimring between 7th and 9th October and will be Shown in India Live on Eurosports.
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Arjun Maini misses podium: 2022 DTM championship
Lausitzring, 22 May 2022: Arjun Maini driving for Mercedes-AMG with team HRT narrowly missed his first podium of the season in only his third race of the 2022 DTM Championship.
After starting sixth in an extremely competitive qualifying session, Maini made a good start and was able to move into fourth during the first lap of the race. A quick pit stop from the team saw him briefly move into third, ahead of Lucas Auer. However, Maini’s colder tyres meant he fell back to fourth, a position he would maintain till the checkered flag.
The 2022 DTM championship boasts of 29 drivers, which is not only the largest grid in DTM history, but also an extremely competitive grid with some of the world’s best talent from the GT3 world taking part. Given its competitive nature, there were 21 cars that qualified within one second of pole in Qualifying 1 and 23 cars within a second in Qualifying 2.
Maini’s second qualifying session was compromised due to a Red Flag with 4 minutes to go, with the Indian failing to set a lap time when the session was halted. He eventually qualified 14th and lost some places as he went off on one of the corners as he battled side by side with several cars. He was, however, able to recover to finish 13th in Race 2.
Arjun Maini, Mercedes-AMG GT3 #36, said: “It was a mixed weekend for me. P6 in qualifying and P4 in the race on Saturday. We had good pace and a good pit stop. There was then a turbulent qualifying on Sunday, which meant I ended up starting from down in P14. In the end, I came home 13th – not ideal, but I feel positive looking ahead to Imola.”
“I want to thank OSM (Omega Seiki Mobility) for Supporting me in this extremely competitive series”.
The next Race Weekend of DTM will take place in Imola in Italy on June 18th and 19th 2022.
While the DTM championship will be broadcast live on Eurosport, the FIA Formula 3 championship will be broadcast live on Star Sports Select HD2 in India.
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Maini finds a new home in Haupt Racing team: DTM series
Bengaluru, 16 Feb. 2022: After a successful rookie season in Germany’s premiere racing series, Maini will look to build on his solid foundation as he joins the team that brought 2021 champion Maximillian Gotz to the title, a press release said here on Wednesday.
Arjun Maini The 2021 season marked a new chapter in Maini’s life, as the Omega Seiki Mobility backed racing driver became the first Indian to compete in the German Championship. Maini demonstrated incredible one-lap speed, finishing in the top five in several practice and qualifying sessions, and his perseverance was ultimately rewarded with a fine second place in the season-ending race at the Norisring.
The DTM series was revitalized when it switched to the GT3 regulations in 2021, with a slew of supercar manufacturers joining its ranks. This included the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini, Porsche, and Audi to name a few. The new format also ensured that the championship remained one of the most competitive racing classes outside of Formula 1, with current Williams driver Alex Albon competing alongside former stars such as Lucas di Grassi, Timo Glock, and Markus Winkelhock in a sprint format that captivated audiences from around the globe.
Despite the influx of new manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz maintained its dominance, with the Stuttgart-based behemoth winning both the Manufactures’ and Drivers’ titles in 2021. In fact, Mercedes’ continued support is a testament to Maini’s performances in 2021, with the championship winners offering the Indian the opportunity to compete with one of their flagship teams in the form of HRT.
HRT has a long history in motorsport, having competed and tasted success in a variety of GT championships such as the Asia Le Mans Series, the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, the GT World Series, and the DTM. Given their wealth of experience, Maini will be hoping to capitalize on their acumen as he seeks to establish himself as a consistent front runner.
After only a few days of testing in 2021, Maini has had a much more structured off season, with the Indian currently racing in the Asian Le Mans Series. Maini, who is sharing the car with team owner Herbert Haupt is currently in the UAE competing in all four rounds of the championship and is the team’s lead qualifier.
The Indian will also contest the preseason tests in his official DTM Mercedes AMG car prior to the season opener in Portimao, Portugal, between April 30 and May 1, 2022.
Arjun Maini:
“I’m thrilled to be joining HRT. Having achieved the majority of my goals in 2021, I’m better prepared to face the challenges of the upcoming season, and my goal is to become the first Indian race winner in DTM.
“Given the Haupt Racing Team’s pedigree, I believe we can mount a series fight for a top five finish in the championship, with the objective being to accumulate as many podiums and wins as possible.”
“I feel at ease in the car, and after an entire season last year, I genuinely believe I am better equipped to navigate the subtleties involved in driving the Mercedes AMG GT3 racecar to extract the best of its Potential.”
Mercedes AMG:
“I am convinced that, together with our teams and the high-quality driver line-up, we can deliver success in the new season as well,” Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, adds.
Ex-DTM driver Thomas Jäger is Mercedes-AMG’s sporting director DTM. “In its debut season, DTM has shown how high the sporting aspiration of this series is. The teams and drivers involved are the absolute top level in GT racing. Accordingly, for us at Mercedes-AMG, it is an obligation to support our teams in the best possible way,” Jäger says.
Ulrich Fritz, Managing Director of Haupt Racing Team (HRT):
“Strategic aspects played the major role in the selection of our driver line-up for the 2022 DTM season – a decision that was made together with Mercedes-AMG. We are confident that, with Luca Stolz and Arjun Maini, we will line up with a very competitive package for Haupt Racing Team.” -
Historic DTM silver for Arjun Maini
Nuremberg, 9 October 2021: Ace Indian racing star Arjun Maini of Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed won his maiden DTM podium with silver in the Saturday’s race. Thus, he became the first Indian on a DTM podium and accolades poured in for the Indian star, who embraced this form of motorsports at the beginning of the season by becoming the first Indian to take part in DTM series.
Watch the Video here, courtesy DTM.
Watch Arjun Maini’s short interview here, courtesy DTM.
The Omega Seiki and J.K.Tyre backed driver was justly rewarded for the pace he has shown throughout the season with the Indian managing to hold off a strong challenge from championship leader Liam Lawson towards the end of the race.
As expected going into the weekend, Maini was able to make full use of his prior knowledge of the Norisring race circuit from his Formula 3 days. The Indian finished second in Free Practice 2 before qualifying fourth for the weekend’s first race. While the Indian was overtaken by Mercedes stablemate Maximillian Gotz at the start, he managed to keep out of major trouble, despite banging wheels with Lawson and mildly damaging his front right suspension.
It took Arjun many laps to get used to the damage and yet retain a reasonable pace.
A cleanly executed pitstop from the GetSpeed racing team further aided the Indian’s effort, with Maini leapfrogging Lawson and settling in behind Gotz, a position he would go on to maintain for the remainder of the race.
“I’m absolutely delighted with the result,” a clearly jubilant Maini stated.
“We’ve worked so hard throughout the year and while our qualifying pace has been good, we’ve never been able to stitch together a clean race. Today was just one of those days where everything came together, our pace was good and GetSpeed executed a well-judged pitstop.
“We have one more race to go tomorrow so I won’t be celebrating too much, but I have to say it feels good to finally achieve my aim for the season.”
The result also marked GetSpeed’s first podium in the championship, the team made their DTM debut this season with Maini and the pair have performed admirably over the course of the season given their relative lack of experience.Earlier, in DTM Norisring powered by BWT, the ultimate showdown is imminent on Sunday. With his victory on Saturday, Maximilian Götz has made the three-way battle for the coveted DTM title even more thrilling. With the Mercedes-AMG run by the HRT team, the driver from Uffenheim scored his second win of the season. Points’ leader Liam Lawson secured third place with the Red Bull Ferrari behind Indian Arjun Maini with the GetSpeed Mercedes while Kelvin van der Linde finished fourth with the ABT Audi at the 2.3 kilometres long Norisring.
With this thrilling outcome of the race, Lawson, now leading with a total of 224 points, extended his margin to 18 points over Kelvin van der Linde (206), but Götz (205) reduced his gap to only one point to van der Linde and 19 to Lawson. In total, there are still 28 points up for grabs, three in qualifying and 25 in the deciding race on Sunday. Arjun Maini, who was plagued by mechanical failures and engine issues earlier, is 13th in the standings with 40 points.
Arjun Maini with his Silver at DTM Series on Saturday. Photo courtesy Twitter @ArjunMaini The Bengaluru-born Maini, began the week-end on a confident note posting a 49.842 sec in Free Practice on to finish 7th , just 0.256 second off the pace of P1, and put on a good 42 laps with only Esteban Muth putting more laps, and derived good data to set up the car. He did another 43 laps in Free Practice 2 and was the second quickest posting a time of 49.405, missing the top entry on the timesheets by just 0.030sec. He continued the good run improving the time below 49s but could only get a P4 on the start grid for the Saturday race as the top-8 were all in 1/100th of a second. Maini P4 is just 0.007off the pole man as he clocked 48.938. The Indian bagged 18 points to take his tally to a decent 40 points despite all the hiccups with the mechanical issues.
“What an incredible race! It’s a big day for @ArjunMaini, the first Indian on a DTM podium,” tweeted Mercedes AMG official handle with a hashtag #DTM2021″ and tagged Maini. “Thank you guys! The care was mega,” was the Indian star’s reply.
“Yes, we did it. P2. I am so happy to get my first podium in DTM (series) here in Norisring and also the first podium for India,” Maini said after the race and thanked all his supporters, his team Mercedes AMG and GetSpeed,for the car, on the Social Media. `”Raring to go for tomorrow’s race,” he quipped.
THE LONG WAIT IS OVER: Arjun Maini gets his first chance to spray champagne and celebrate at DTM Series on Saturday after winning a Silver.
The season’s final qualifying session and race can be streamed on AutoCar India’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/autocarindia1) with Qualifying flagging off at 1 pm IST with the race starting at 5 pm IST. -
Arjun Maini raring to go at the Red Bull ring in Styria
Spielberg (Austria) 3 Sept. 2021: Mercedes-AMG driver Arjun Maini will enter the fifth round with confidence after his good performance at the Nürburgring, where he got into the points for the first time scoring two valuable points in the 2021 DTM Championship after suffering initial hiccups which are not under his control.
After enduring a difficult start to his campaign, due in part to a series of o-track incidents, the Omega Seiki and JKTyre-backed Bengaluru driver finally broke his points-scoring duck with a stellar performance at the legendary Nürburgring race circuit.
Racing for the all-new GetSpeed DTM team, Arjun, the elder of the two Maini brothers, managed to bring his Mercedes GT3 racecar home in 10th at the conclusion of Race 1, in turn becoming the first Indian to score points in Germany’s apex racing championship.
“The last two races were fantastic and were an accurate reflection of my pace,” Maini said.
“I haven’t had the cleanest of weekends up until that point so it was good to finally have an incident-free weekend where I was able to bring home a solid amount of points. This marked GetSpeed’s first points in the series as well so it definitely was a memorable affair.
“Looking ahead I have fond memories of the Red Bull Ring and I hope I can build on my previous weekend and experience by bringing home some more points. The circuit’s undulations will be tricky to master but I’m confident about the preparation both the team and I have made in the lead up to this weekend,” he said about the circuit at Styria.After a few years’ absence, the DTM is making its comeback in Styria in 2021. The Red Bull Ring is located in Spielberg in the beautiful Murtal valley. The track is following the topography of the landscape, so that there is a lot of undulation. From the hotel located on the hill above the track, there is an unparalleled view, not only of the race track, but over the wide valley! The entire circuit facility is state-of-the-art and very nice, significantly contributing to the positive overall experience for visitors. Fascinating race cars are on display in the large welcome building, exclusive merchandise items can be purchased in the shop. Of course, in typical Styrian hospitality tradition, a wide variety of food is available, too, from tasty Leberkäse rolls via Wiener Schnitzel up a to delicious Kaiserschmarrn.
The weekend will get underway this Friday, August 3rd with the two practice sessions, with Qualifying 1 and Race 1 taking place on Saturday, August 4th, and Qualifying 2 and Race 2 concluding the weekend on Sunday, August 5th.
The full schedule can be viewed below and the qualifying sessions and races can be viewed live on Autocar India’s YouTube channel here.
Saturday Sept 4”
Qualy 1: 1.50 pm IST
Race `1: 5.00 pm IST
Sunday Sept 5th
Qualy 2: 1.50 pm IST
Race 2: 5.00 pm IST -
Arjun Maini becomes first Indian to race in DTM GT3
Monza, 20 June 2021: Mercedes-AMG driver Arjun Maini had a baptism of fire during the first round of the DTM championship held at the Monza race track in Italy this weekend. Maini became the first Indian to race in the DTM championship.
Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM) and J.K.Tyre Motorsport backed racing driver Arjun Maini had a difficult start to his DTM campaign as the rookie faced a stern challenge against the championship’s more experienced campaigners.
The Indian had to deal with the added burden of having to adjust his driving style to suit the requirements of a GT3 racecar with very limited testing, after spending the last few seasons in Endurance Racing competing in the LMP2 class. Further Maini only had two practice sessions of 45 minutes each to acclimatize to both the circuit and racecar.
Racing for the GetSpeed team, Maini made steady progress over the course of the weekend with the Indian feeling more comfortable in his Mercedes AMG GT3 car as the sessions progressed.
The highpoint of Maini’s weekend came in Race 2 when he was locked in a battle with Mercedes stablemate Vincent Abril (who finished second in Race 1) before a mechanical failure ended his weekend prematurely.
“Today [Sunday] we were fighting for points before we had to retire with an ABS issue,” Maini explained.
“We had a Good start and we were Three Cars Side by side between Turn 1 and 2 . I held on to my Position but a small contact at that point caused the final failure later on in the race.”
“We had good pace in the second race and there was definitely significant progress made over the course of the weekend.”
“Becoming the first Indian to race in the DTM for me personally was a very special moment. While the final result may not have been what we wanted, I am proud of the progress we made as a team and we will regroup and come back stronger for the next round.”
Considering Maini has essentially missed an entire year’s worth of racing in Europe due to the ongoing pandemic, and the fact that there is a learning curve for even the most experienced of drivers given the shift to GT3 specification, Maini’s weekend could be classified as a success.
The second round of the DTM Championship will take place at the Lausitzring in Germany on 23rd and 24th of July. The Mercedes-AMG driver has previously tested on this circuit meaning he should be in contention to score his first points in the series.
