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Tag: Formula 2
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Russell prevails in action-packed feature race; Arjun Maini crashes out: F2
Barcelona, 12 May 2018: George Russell claimed victory in a thrilling FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race while Indian racer crashed into the wall on the exit of turn 5 here on Saturday.Russell, the ART Grand Prix driver took the lead from a fast-starting Nyck de Vries before holding on throughout four virtual safety car periods for the win, keeping the Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing racer at bay as Carlin’s Lando Norris followed the pair home for third.Heavy clouds loomed over the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with sporadic spots of drizzle peppering the start-finish straight at the start of the race. The rain held off, and a flurry of activity at the race start resulted in de Vries wresting control of the lead after polesitter Alexander Albon endured a slow getaway, which also allowed Russell and Luca Ghiotto to filter through. Immediately, a virtual safety car was called for Maximilian Gunther’s beached BWT Arden machine at turn 2, neutralising the race before the action resumed on lap 4.Albon sought redemption for his slow start and overtook Ghiotto a lap later, cruising past on the inside of turn 1 as Norris closed down on the pair. Ahead, de Vries and Russell were battling hard for the lead, with the British driver snatching a tow from the leader before making a move down the inside of the first corner at the opening of the sixth lap – taking the lead.The virtual safety car (VSC) emerged again as a tussle between the two MP Motorsport drivers boiled over – Roberto Merhi and Ralph Boschung made contact in their scrap for 12th place, with the Swiss driver ending his day in the tyre barrier as Merhi retreated to the pits with damage. The race returned to full-speed action on lap 8 as the race restarted, and de Vries soon found himself under pressure from Albon – who fired his way up into to second place two laps later.The Thai driver then went in pursuit of Russell, but any charge was halted by a third VSC period after Trident’s Arjun Maini found the wall on the exit of turn 5. The running resumed on the 14th lap, and soon after, the drivers on soft tyres were making their mandatory stops as the threat of rain appeared to subside.All wearing medium sets of tyres, the leading trio continued to push on with Albon the first to hit the stages of tyre degradation, losing second to de Vries once more as the Dutchman sought to get back on level terms with Russell. With Albon out of the picture shortly after, having pitted to fall behind Norris and Jack Aitken, the front-running pair came into the pitlane nose to tail, Russell maintaining his position by fractions.De Vries opened lap 27 with an assault on Russell, but the Brit held firm before the PREMA driver’s teammate Sean Gelael had contact with Louis Deletraz on the next lap, bringing out a fourth VSC with Artem Markelov and Nirei Fukuzumi leading – and yet to stop.The pair pitted at the end of lap 32 once the race was restarted, which went down to the clock as the slower speeds had resulted in a longer race time. De Vries almost collected the lead at the restart, trying a move down the inside of Russell at turn 5, but braked too deeply and conceded the place. With Norris looming larger in the pair’s mirrors, having converted his alternate strategy into a top three berth, Russell refused to be drawn into a battle and edged ahead of de Vries, opening the taps enough to seal his second F2 win.Despite Norris’ best efforts to snatch second in the final stages, de Vries held on by 0.7s ahead of the Carlin driver. Ghiotto emerged ahead of Albon once more to take fourth place, as Aitken’s alternate strategy helped him to sixth ahead of Sergio Sette Camara. Markelov recovered from a lowly 19th on the grid to take eighth, swiping the reverse-grid pole slot from teammate Tadasuke Makino on the last lap, as Antonio Fuoco completed the top 10.Markelov also swiped the points available for the fastest lap and, having completed 32 laps on his medium compound tyres, will be a formidable opponent from pole in tomorrow’s Sprint Race – which promises to deliver plenty of excitement once more.2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race Provisional Classification – Barcelona, SpainDriverTeam1George RussellART Grand Prix2Nyck de VriesPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing3Lando NorrisCarlin4Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing5Alexander AlbonDAMS6Jack AitkenART Grand Prix7Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin8Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME9Tadasuke MakinoRUSSIAN TIME10Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System11Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden12Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing13Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport14Nicholas LatifiDAMS–Sean GelaelPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing–Louis DeletrazCharouz Racing System–Arjun MainiTrident–Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport–Maximilian GuntherBWT Arden–Santino FerrucciTridentFastest Lap: Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) – 1:30.039 -
Albon takes pole position in Barcelona; Arjun Maini to start P18
Barcelona, 12 May 2018: Alexander Albon held on from a flurry of last-minute flying laps to secure pole position in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Qualifying session, his 1:28.142 good enough to withstand an onslaught from Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing’s Nyck de Vries and Campos Vexatec Racing’s Luca Ghiotto.Meanwhile, Indian racer Arjun Maini of Trident could only manage P18 in the qualifying session. Earlier, Maini got the session underway at the green flag under warm and breezy conditions, leading out Sean Gelael (Prema) and ART Grand Prix’s Jack Aitken, before Gelael snatched track position for the first push lap of the session. Aitken briefly went quickest, before de Vries and Maini found even more time before having to quickly concede control of the timesheets as the pace continued to drop.Nicholas Latifi of DAMS was first to beat the morning’s practice pace set by Albon, who then ended the first phase of hot laps on top after setting a pair of purple opening sectors. Running then hit a brief hiatus at the midpoint of the session after Trident’s Santino Ferrucci hit the wall at turn 11, bringing out a red flag.DAMS got the session back underway at the restart with both drivers, taking advantage of the empty track. Latifi got within a tenth of Albon’s best time, before the Thai driver beat his own personal best by 0.3s to go further clear at the top of the timings. The circuit then met a flurry of activity, with plenty of drivers threatening to go even quicker.Aitken split the DAMS pair, before George Russell took second from his teammate shortly after. De Vries then bumped the ART pair down to the second row, but was ultimately unsuccessful in his overtures for pole, allowing Albon hang on and secure consecutive pole positions in F2.Ghiotto grabbed third at the last moment and will start alongside Russell, as Aitken and Latifi will occupy the third row of the grid. Tadasuke Makino (Russian Time) took seventh ahead of Carlin’s Lando Norris, as MP locked out row five with Ralph Boschung and Roberto Merhi.With plenty of championship contenders all at the sharp end, tomorrow’s Feature Race should be hotly contested – with all having to blend strategy and speed to secure an all-important victory.2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 1 Qualifying – Barcelona, SpainDriverTeamTimeLaps1Alexander AlbonDAMS1:28.142112Nyck De VriesPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:28.369113Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing1:28.400114George RussellART Grand Prix1:28.524115Jack AitkenART Grand Prix1:28.579116Nicholas LatifiDAMS1:28.605117Tadasuke MakinoRUSSIAN TIME1:28.620118Lando NorrisCarlin1:28.923109Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport1:28.9701110Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport1:29.0811111Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System1:29.1301212Louis DelétrazCharouz Racing System1:29.1361113Maximilian GuntherBWT Arden1:29.1431214Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin1:29.256515Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing1:29.2841116Sean GelaelPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:29.3071117Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden1:29.3761218Arjun MainiTrident1:29.4071119Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME1:29.5851120Santino FerrucciTrident1:30.4406 -
Alexander Albon quickest in Formula 2 free practice; Arjun Maini 16th
Barcelona, 11 May 2018: DAMS’ Alexander Albon completed the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Free Practice session at Barcelona, Spain as the fastest driver, setting a 1:29.327 to stand three tenths clear of second-placed Sergio Sette Camara (Carlin) as Luca Ghiotto of Campos Vexatec Racing ended the session in third.A breezy session began with the Trident duo of Santino Ferrucci and Arjun Maini leapfrogging their opponents to leave the pits first, followed out by ART’s Jack Aitken as they all sought to take full advantage of the session’s 45 minute runtime. The American racer put the opening time on the board, which was given short shrift by Louis Delétraz; the Charouz Racing System driver held the early pace before Ferrucci spun on his next lap at Turn 4 to bring out a red flag after just five minutes of running.Maini reopened the action when the track went green, which was immediately greeted by drivers trading best sector times as they looked to make up for the session’s suspension. The Indian driver briefly went top, before Carlin’s Lando Norris snatched the advantage. Despite setting the fastest opening sectors, a poor final portion of the lap stymied Albon’s efforts to overturn Norris’ control of the timing boards, allowing the Charouz pair of Delétraz and Antonio Fuoco to occupy second and third.A second red flag was then brought out for Boschung, who produced an almost carbon copy of Ferrucci’s early spin at Turn 4 to pause the running once more. Sette Camara got the ball rolling again and beat Norris’ time on his subsequent flying lap, before Ghiotto went quickest by just a tenth over the Brazilian’s best.Albon then found his way to the top, despite encountering heavy traffic in the final sector, before the Carlins reassumed the top placings. The Thai driver hit back, finding further gains in the opening two thirds of the lap to go three tenths ahead of Sette Camara. The final ten minutes were greeted with few improvements and, after a planned Virtual Safety Car in the last stages, Albon kept control of the timing boards.Ghiotto slotted into third behind Sette Camara, while Nyck de Vries of PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing headed Norris and Fuoco for fourth. Roberto Merhi (MP Motorsport) grabbed seventh in the final stages of the session, ahead of eighth-placed George Russell (ART) and Roy Nissany (Campos), as Aitken completed the top half of the field.Qualifying will take place this afternoon and, with four different winners on the grid after just two rounds, should be a very closely-contested affair.2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 3 Free Practice – Barcelona, SpainDriverTeamTimeLaps1Alexander AlbonDAMS1:29.327142Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin1:29.621153Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing1:29.764164Nyck de VriesPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:29.878145Lando NorrisCarlin1:29.991176Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System1:30.161167Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport1:30.182168George RussellART Grand Prix1:30.292179Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing1:30.3371710Jack AitkenART Grand Prix1:30.3871711Louis DelétrazCharouz Racing System1:30.4381812Nicholas LatifiDAMS1:30.6501613Tadasuke MakinoRUSSIAN TIME1:30.6691214Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME1:30.6751615Maximilian GüntherBWT Arden1:30.8261616Arjun MainiTrident1:30.9141817Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden1:31.0351618Sean GelaelPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:31.1791419Santino FerrucciTrident1:50.513220Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport1:53.5384 -
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.
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Indian racer Arjun Maini of Trident tops first session to beat Carlin duo
Indian racer Arjun Maini of Trident tops 1st session at Bahrain on Friday. An FIA image. Sakhir (Bahrain), 6 April 2018: Arjun Maini drew first blood in the first 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship practice session at Sakhir, Bahrain, setting a 1:44.459 midway through the session to beat the Carlin duo of Lando Norris and Sergio Sette Camara to the quickest lap.
Warm and breezy conditions greeted the drivers on their first free practice session of the 2018 season, and most drivers needed to set installation laps in the opening five minutes of running to acclimatise. ART Grand Prix’s George Russell led an early flurry of activity out of the pits, while the first timed lap was courtesy of BWT Arden’s Maximilian Günther, which was given short shrift by teammate Nirei Fukuzumi.
Alexander Albon of DAMS was the first to wind the times below the two-minute mark before Fukuzumi briefly re-emerged on top of the standings to bring the laps below the 1m50 mark. Albon then took almost five seconds out of the Arden driver’s lap, leading the way after the first 20 minutes.
The Carlin duo then struck, as Sette Camara pipped the Thai driver before Norris went quicker than his teammate by just 0.05s. Both were then put in the shade by Maini, who had languished at the bottom of the timesheets during the first half of the session. Setting the quickest first sector, the Haas F1 protégé grasped the first position by half a tenth, which he would not relinquish for the remainder of the session.
The final five minutes were punctuated with a brief Virtual Safety Car test, allowing all teams to trial the new VSC functionality with the new car. Although the green flag returned for the final stages, nobody was able to improve on their lap times. Behind the top three, Albon stayed ahead of Russell for fourth, while Artem Markelov (RUSSIAN TIME) was the last of the drivers within the 1m44s.
Roberto Merhi (MP Motorsport) was seventh, ahead of Günther and Antonio Fuoco (Charouz Racing System), as Sean Gelael of PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing completed the top 10.
With the top 16 drivers all within a second, this evening’s qualifying promises to be incredibly close fought, especially with cooler conditions and option tyre running to contend with.
2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Round 1 Free Practice ClassificationDriverTeamTimeLaps1Arjun MainiTrident1:44.549122Lando NorrisCarlin1:44.600143Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin1:44.613114Alexander AlbonDAMS1:44.769155George RussellART Grand Prix1:44.812136Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME1:44.861107Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport1:45.005138Maximilian GüntherBWT Arden1:45.010169Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System1:45.0801510Sean GelaelPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:45.2141311Jack AitkenART Grand Prix1:45.2681412Nicholas LatifiDAMS1:45.2911613Nyck de VriesPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:45.3291214Tadasuke MakinoRUSSIAN TIME1:45.3311415Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing1:45.3441416Santino FerrucciTrident1:45.4191417Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport1:45.5641318Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden1:45.8491619Louis DelétrazCharouz Racing System1:45.9581420Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing1:46.40715
