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Tag: Kush Maini
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Kush Maini highest ranked rookie as he garners 8 valuable points: F2
Monaco, 28 May 2023: Indian racing star Kush Maini of Campos Racing who garnered eight valuable points in the Feature Race finishing sixth is currently standing fourth in the FIA F2 championship ans the Indian champion is the highest ranked Rookie. Meanwhile, compatriot Jehan Daruvala, who came 2nd in the Sprint Race earlier on Saturday took eight points and remain on 40 as he failed to get into points on Sunday in the Feature race and is behind Kush Maini, who has 49 points.
Kush Maini got lucky with the safety car period and finished sixth after a poor starting position. Jehan Daruvala came 13th.
Vesti wins Feature Race
Frederik Vesti claimed a commanding Feature Race victory in Monte Carlo and the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with it. The Prema Racing driver led every lap of Sunday’s event after a Safety Car and Red Flag to take his second victory of the 2023 season.
Théo Pourchaire crossed the line second after teammate Victor Martins was handed a mid-race drive-through penalty. Zane Maloney rounded out the podium in third position for Rodin Carlin, his second podium of the year.
AS IT HAPPENED
Vesti maintained the lead from lights out, but Pourchaire had to defend third from a fast-starting Jack Doohan into Turn 1. Isack Hadjar squeezed his way past Jehan Daruvala for P9 on the way up the hill to make up a place in the initial phase.
Starting on the option tyres, Oliver Bearman made great progress in the first few corners from 16th on the grid. A move at the Turn 6 hairpin earned him 13th position from Clément Novalak and he wasn’t done there. Into Turn 12, a dive to the inside of Amaury Cordeel gave him P12 on a busy opening lap for the PREMA Racing man.
Daruvala was the first from the top 10 to make their mandatory stop, swapping supersofts for softs and rejoining in 16th place. Juan Manuel Correa also pitted, releasing Bearman who had been cooped up behind the Van Amersfoort Racing #23.
Iwasa and Hadjar were in from P8 and P9 on Lap 13 for their stops, while Bearman pitted on Lap 15 and rejoined the circuit ahead of Iwasa. The DAMS was right on his gearbox though and into the Turn 5 hairpin, the Japanese driver dived to the inside to make a crucial pass.
Enzo Fittipaldi’s race came to an end on Lap 19, with the Rodin Carlin pulling to the side of the track at Turn 12, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car. The VSC was withdrawn on Lap 21 to get back to racing with Vesti leading Martins by 5.2s.
That advantage was swiftly wiped away after Doohan hit the barriers at Turn 4 on Lap 22, resulting in a Safety Car. That brought the leaders in for their mandatory stops. Vesti rejoined in the lead with Martins second and Pourchaire third. Maloney managed to narrowly avoid Doohan’s stricken car on the racing line and made his mandatory stop along with Verschoor in fourth and fifth places.
Dennis Hauger was a big winner, making his mandatory stop and serving a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage on the opening lap by cutting the track. The Norwegian rejoined in P6. Kush Maini, Roman Stanek, Jak Crawford and Iwasa completed the top 10 just as the Red Flag was thrown on Lap 24 in order to complete barrier repairs.
The race got back underway with a rolling restart entering Lap 27 as Vesti held the lead from the pair of battling ARTs behind. That battle was changed entirely after Martins was assigned a drive-through penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags behind the Safety Car. He was in to serve the sanction on Lap 31, coming back out in P8.
Following the Red Flag, the race went to time and Vesti completed Lap 33 to win the Monte Carlo Feature Race by 2.5s from Pourchaire.
Maloney finished a lonely third on the road ahead of Richard Verschoor in fourth, with Hauger an impressive fifth having started from 17th on the grid. Maini secured more points in P6 ahead of Stanek, who made up 15 places for Trident. Martins, Crawford and Iwasa in rounded out the top 10.
KEY QUOTE – Frederik Vesti, PREMA Racing
“P1 in the Feature Race in Monaco. What a day this is and what a weekend, pole position as well which is nice! We are leading the Championship as well, which is also nice. I want to thank Mercedes and PREMA for the support, the car is mega. Now, it’s time to keep pushing, we have a race weekend already next week in Barcelona. Let’s continue the form and continue pushing.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Vesti’s victory moves him to the top of the Drivers’ Championship, rising to 89 points. Pourchaire stays within touching distance, now on 84 points in second. Iwasa falls to third having led the standings ahead of the Feature Race. The DAMS driver now has 69 points. Kush Maini remains as the highest-placed rookie so far this year, climbing to 49 points, one ahead of Dennis Hauger who is now fifth.
PREMA Racing extends its lead in the Teams’ Standings, now on 130 points. ART Grand Prix moves up to second with 108 points while DAMS is now third on 103.
UP NEXT
FIA Formula 2 returns right away with Round 7 from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain from 2-4 June.
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Kush Maini misses podium: Baku F2 race; Daruvala 14th
Baku, 29 April 2023: Kush Maini, the Indian racing star, a rookie in the F2, finished just outside the podium taking fourth place in the FIA Formula 2 Sprint here on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the other Indian veteran in F2, Jehan Daruvala, who was running third at one point after starting from P5 ended up 14th in the Sprint race.
Oliver Bearman demonstrated that to finish first in Baku – first, you have to finish, as the British rookie claimed his first Formula 2 victory in a dramatic Sprint Race.
Off the back of his maiden pole position, he lined up 9th on the grid and carved his way through the field to snatch the win from Prema Racingteammate Frederik Vesti.
A late restart with only three laps to go brought drama, as race leader Dennis Hauger and second-placed Victor Martins crashed out. The PREMA pair were there to pick up the pieces as the race concluded behind the third and final Safety Car. Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Jak Crawford also kept himself out of trouble to take his second podium in third.
AS IT HAPPENED
As the five lights went out, Victor Martins attempted to split the front-row starters, Richard Verschoor and Zane Maloney. However, there was no room for the ART Grand Prix driver as he banged wheels with Maloney.
Reverse pole-sitter Verschoor didn’t hold the lead for long. Contact with the wall at Turn 1 left the Van Amersfoort Racing driver with damage and forced his early retirement. Maloney momentarily assumed the front of the field, but the contact with Martins had caused a right rear puncture. Hauger capitalised to seize the lead from sixth on the grid.
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Late heart-brake for Kush Maini, after stunning debut
Sakhir, 5 March 2023: Indian racing star Kush Maini made a stunning debut in the F2 Feature Race but after a strong performance, the Bengaluru driver was forced to concede a podium place into the first corner of the last lap in the FIA Formula 2 World Championship first round here on Sunday.
The other Indian Jehan Daruvala could not get a desired result as he suffered a five-second penalty and finished 17 after running in top-10 for sometime.
Ralph Boschung secured his second podium of the weekend after winning the Sprint Race for Campos Racing. Zane Maloney pulled off a stunning drive, rising from 18th on the grid to take the final podium spot in what was an overtake-filled Feature Race in Bahrain.
AS IT HAPPENED
Pole man Pourchaire got a clean launch to retain the lead while teammate Victor Martins slipped down to fourth by Turn 1. Kush Maini got a great start and climbed to second from sixth on the grid into the first corner.
Up at Turn 4, push came to shove as Richard Verschoor was tapped into a spin as the field bunched up for the right-hander. Roman Stanek, Victor Martins and Frederik Vesti were all involved, and the trio were left out of the running as a result. Verschoor got going again but was last as the Safety Car was deployed. Oliver Bearman profited massively, avoiding the chaos and reaching fourth having been P12 on the grid.
Racing resumed on Lap 4 and Pourchaire moved clear once again ahead of Maini, Ralph Boschung and Bearman. Campos Racing opted to split its strategy with Boschung on softs and he put a move on the hard-shod Maini at Turn 1 to take second from his teammate.
The first pitstops were made on Lap 11. Arthur Leclerc pitted from 10th and was followed in by Jack Doohan and Jehan Daruvala just behind him. All three switched from the hard compound to softs and rejoined 15th, 16th and 17th following their early stops.
Fifth-placed Bearman, Ayumu Iwasa and Fittipaldi responded on the following lap. The PREMA Racing driver came out alongside Leclerc, getting his elbows out to keep the Monégasque behind. Pourchaire and Maini were the next in, but Bearman and Leclerc were able to clear the Indian driver with their rubber up to temperature.
Boschung inherited the lead until Lap 14, when he was in for his mandatory pitstop. The Campos driver came out between Pourchaire and Bearman, fourth on the road. Leclerc fought back against Bearman on Lap 16, making a late dive down the inside at Turn 1 to take fifth from the Briton. Maini followed through later on the same lap with DRS at Turn 11.
At the halfway point, Pourchaire led the pack by twelve seconds from Boschung, Leclerc, Maini and Bearman. Leclerc was under pressure from Maini which told on Lap 19. The DAMS driver went deep under braking for Turn 10, giving Maini the momentum on the subsequent DRS straight to take third. Bearman and Iwasa piled on the pain, relegating Leclerc to 6th on Lap 20.
Rodin Carlin teammates Fittipaldi and Maloney went wheel-to-wheel on Lap 22. The Barbadian driver took 8th into Turn 6, setting off in pursuit of a recovering Jack Doohan ahead. It didn’t take him long to get by, surging around the outside of the Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver at Turn 4 on Lap 24.
Fittipaldi was through on the next lap courtesy of a lock-up by the Australian. Up ahead, Leclerc was defending hard from Maloney, and the Rodin Carlin driver forced a lock-up from Leclerc, moving through for sixth.
Maloney was full of confidence and put a move on Iwasa at Turn 11 on Lap 26, looking comfortable on his softs as the grip levels began to fall away for others. He took fourth from Bearman on Lap 27.
Having been last on the opening lap after his spin, Verschoor moved back up into the points on Lap 29, clearing Hadjar at Turn 2. Leclerc continued his recovery after the earlier lock-up, passing Bearman with three laps to go.
Iwasa relegated the PREMA driver to 7th at Turn 1 while Verschoor snuck his way through on Fittipaldi in the same corner. The Van Amersfoort Racing man was down the inside of Bearman at Turn 8 to continue his recovery drive. Iwasa was next, through at Turn 1 on the final lap. Up ahead, Maloney caught Maini and, with DRS down the main straight, claimed P3 after starting 18th.
Bearman fought tooth and nail to keep a five-car train behind him but ultimately ran out of rubber on the final lap. A lock-up at the final corner left him off track and out of the points.
Pourchaire went untroubled to win by 19 seconds from Boschung, who claimed back-to-back podiums in Sakhir. Maloney’s heroic drive was rewarded with third.
Verschoor moved past Leclerc on the final lap to secure a P5 finish along with taking the fastest lap. Hadjar passed Iwasa at Turn 11 on the penultimate lap to take seventh. Fittipaldi and Juan Manuel Correa completed the top 10.
KEY QUOTE – Théo Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix
“An amazing way to start the season by winning the first Feature Race of the year. It’s been an amazing weekend. After putting the car on pole by seven-and-a-half tenths, which was surprising but I was quick, we won the Feature Race. I have to give credit and thanks to my team, ART Grand Prix, and the Sauber Academy as well. Without them, I wouldn’t be driving. Let’s focus on the rest of the year, there’s still 13 rounds to go.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW
Pourchaire takes the lead of the Drivers’ Standings on 32 points to kick off his season. Boschung is close behind in second on 28 with Maloney third following his Feature Race exploits on 15.
Campos Racing lead the way in the Teams’ Standings after a great weekend for the team. Their 42-point total is closely followed up by ART Grand Prix, second on 38 after Pourchaire’s Feature Race win.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Formula 2 heads the Jeddah for Round 2 of the 2023 season from 17-19 March. The track has undergone several changes for the latest edition. Who will master the fastest street circuit in the world?
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Jehan Daruvala 6th, Kush Maini 7th; both Indian in points at Bahrain GP
Sakhir, 4 March 2023: Indian racing drivers Jehan Daruvala and Kush Maini performed well in the season opener F2 Sprint race in the first round of the FIA Formula 2 World Championship held on the F1 race-weekend here on Saturday.
Mumbai’s Jehan Daruvala of MP Motorsport finished 6th after starting from 11th, as he had a good start to P8 and later fought well with ART driver Theo Pourchaire but with waning tyres had to be content with the sixth. Meanwhile, the other Indian in the fray, Bengaluru’s Kush Maini, who began in P6, fell back and later recovered admirably to finish behind his compatriot in 6th place. Daruvala bagged 3 points to Maini’s 2. In Sprint races, the winner gets 10 points, followed by 8, 6, 5, 3, 2 and 1 points respectively for places 2 to 8. Only top 8 drivers get points. There will be 11 Sprint races and 11 Features races on Sundays for the season.
Ralph Boschung converted reverse grid pole into his first win in Formula 2 in an overtake-filled first race of 2023. The Campos Racing driver kept his lead out of Turn 1 and left the field behind him to fight to the end.
Experience counted for Dennis Hauger, and he claimed P2 late on, overtaking Victor Martins on the penultimate lap. The Frenchman opened his F2 account with a great drive from eighth on the grid to take the final podium place.
AS IT HAPPENED
Ralph Boschung kept his lead from pole while Roman Stanek bogged down in P2 and was fourth by the first corner. DAMS teammates Arthur Leclerc and Ayumu Iwasa battled side-by-side from Turns 3 to 6 for second, with Iwasa prevailing and taking the spot.
Martins compounded Stanek’s struggles, sweeping around the outside of the Trident car at Turn 11 to take fourth. A wide moment at the final corner to end the opening lap allowed Hauger through on the Czech driver for P5.
Théo Pourchaire was next through, sliding his ART Grand Prix car down the inside of Stanek at Turn 10 under braking, moving up to sixth having started 10th. It was synchronised overtakes for the ART pair into Turn 1 on Lap 3, Martins taking third from Leclerc and Pourchaire mirroring the move on Hauger for fifth. A dose of DRS on lap five got Pourchaire in range of Leclerc and a daring dive into Turn 1 gave the Frenchman fourth position.
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Kush Maini aiming for a clean sprint race on debut: F2
Bahrain, 3 March 2023: Indian hope Kush Maini put together an impressive Qualifying session on debut for Campos Racing, ending the session sixth-fastest in the Qualifying session of the Formula 2 World Championship opening round here on Friday.
The other Indian in F2, Jehan Daruvala is perhaps trying to have a last go in the F2 season but has already laid plans for Formula E. Today he qualified P 11. Being one of the favourites last season, Daruvala failed to lived up to his own standards due to various reasons that hindered his progress, some which were not in his hands.
The 22-year old Indian admitted he was a little bit more nervous than usual, owing to the fact he was confident that there was a good performance within both himself and the car.
Following post-season and pre-season testing as well as the Free Practice session on Friday, Maini said that knowing a strong result was on the cards made his Qualifying a little more critical. But after securing a strong starting position, the Campos driver says proving it to himself is another bonus at this early stage of his F2 career.
“It was a nerve-wracking session. I knew from testing and since I’ve driven this car that it suits my driving style, and I know that the Campos cars are really good. I knew that if we put everything together, we could be in the mix and that’s what made it more stressful.
“I’m super happy. I did some good laps. Both were good enough for P6 I think. We did a one-lap strategy on both sets, so we have good tyres for the races and I’m looking forward to it. Now that all the weight is off my shoulders, I feel a lot more confident. I always knew I could fight with the best in the world, so it felt good to be up there,” added the Bengaluru driver.
As usual, there was a level of track evolution that played out during the Qualifying session, though the degree in which the track improved caught Maini by surprise. Not because of a huge leap in available grip between runs, but the lack of improvement versus what had been predicted.
It meant that the field was tightly bunched fighting for a top 10 starting position. Maini highlighted pre-season testing as the factor that made a good grid slot tough to come by due to the knowledge levels teams and drivers had developed.
“Track improvement was not as much as I thought. All the times were any tight except P1 because we’ve been here for four days now, so it’s going to be tight and every tenth is going to be massive. I think the average improvement was like two-tenths from the first set to the second, and I thought with the fuel burning off and driving improvements, it would be at least half a second. So it was quite surprising, but it was the same for everyone,” continued the younger of the two Maini brothers.
Along with teammate Ralph Boschung, both Campos drivers made it inside the top 10. Boschung is set to start the Sprint Race from reverse grid pole, meaning there’s a good possibility of strong points finishes on the table for both drivers.
Maini highlighted the importance of getting off the mark early in the season and securing valuable points where possible.
“Campos has always been strong. They went through some difficult patches last year, but when I signed for the team, I knew I wasn’t just signing to be on the grid, I was signing to fight. I’m just happy we could finally show that potential. I think we had a bit more, but we’ll take it. Ralph is on pole tomorrow and we can get some good points this weekend, so I’m really happy for the boys.
“Tomorrow will be the first F2 race for me, so we obviously did the race runs in Practice so we have an idea of how to pursue it from the start. I’m just gonna keep it clean, keep it on the road, no crazy risks and hopefully bring some points.”
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Kush Maini to boost Campos Racing plans: F2 Testing roundup
Campos Racing are determined to be back with a vengeance this season and their hopes are boosted with the addition of Indian racing star and Formula 3 graduate Kush Maini to the squad. After their 2022 plans began with such promise and success during the opening rounds, the Spanish team’s dreams were derailed by Ralph Boschung’s unfortunate neck injury early on.
Yet now with the experienced Swiss driver remaining at the helm and along with Kush Maini, the signs of a strong 2023 campaign are beginning to emerge, an FIA Formula2 news report said.
Locking in their line-up prior to post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit last November has given both drivers the ideal situation – time to embed themselves within the team. While the disappointments of last year were a bitter pill to swallow, there seems to be a rejuvenated sense of confidence emanating from their garage.
Their performance during testing in Bahrain correlates this, both in terms of lap time and mileage. Alongside each driver topping a session on the final day of running, Boschung secured the sixth-fastest time overall across the three days, with Maini hot on his heels in ninth. Importantly, the pair were both within half a second of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor.
Additionally, Campos notched the fifth highest number of laps as a team, while Maini’s haul of 195 laps was only bested by the ART Grand Prix duo of Théo Pourchaire and Victor Martins and PREMA Racing’s Frederik Vesti and Oliver Bearman.
For Maini, his attentions have been firmly fixed on tyre management – particularly managing two different compounds in a race for the first time and adapting to the variables in strategies. The Indian driver says that finding an understanding and a balance with his long-run pace will be vital, especially when navigating the 32-lap Feature Race around the Bahrain International Circuit.
“I’m feeling great! I’m working well with the team, and we ran our plan without any issues and gathered a lot of data to go through before Round 1. We focused on race runs a lot, with both the soft and the hard tyres, to understand them better – especially for myself, as I’ve never worked with them before.
“Our main focus will be all around. We’ll be going through all the information we collected, but I think we will dive deeper into the long runs and figure out the best way to manage the tyres.”
More importantly for Maini as he prepares for his Formula 2 debut, the laps on the board have given him a solid baseline to start off with. Whilst immediately getting up to speed during the opening round is the dream scenario, realistically, maintaining a steady level of progression and development throughout the long 14-round season is the ideal target.
Over in the #25 Campos box, Boschung’s experience and continuity is a valuable asset to a team who are looking to bounce back and a beneficial reference point for Maini to learn from. A relatively smooth sailing throughout testing with few short interruptions gave the team the opportunity to fully execute their run plan.
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Kush Maini tests F2 car for Campos Racing: Post-season test
Abu Dhabi, 22 Nov 2022: Kush Maini, the rising Indian talent completed 20 laps successfully in the pre-season F2 Test for his new team Campos Racing at the Yas Mairna Circuit here on Wednesday.
Maini clocked a best lap time of 1min 37.982sec on the first day in office in the new F2 machine and posted 20 laps in the morning session and went on to improve in the afternoon session standing 7th in the time-sheets after a productive 34 laps. Top Indian racer Jehan Daruvala, too took part in the post-season test for MP Motorsport and logged 29 laps in the morning and 30 laps in the evening.
It was a bright and early start for the field at the Yas Marina Circuit. Having already signed on for the 2023 season with Campos Racing, Ralph Boschung set the initial benchmark of a 1:37.820 during a relatively quiet opening 30 minutes of the Morning session.
Later, Kush Maini despite some initial hiccups had some valuable seat time and managed to gain good experience. There were three Red Flag appearances during the final hour and a half of the opening session. Enzo Fittipaldi for Carlin and Campos’ Kush Maini stopped on track in separate incidents but were both able to continue their run programmes later. Testing will resume at 9AM local time on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Campos Racing announced that Maini was signed to race in the F2 series for 2023. The Indian who has made excellent progress in recent seasons took part in the F3 races and enjoyed a podium despite a roller-coaster year.
Maini will drive a Campos Racing-entered Dallara F2 car alongside previously announced Ralph Boschung.
Campos Racing are delighted to announce that Kush Maini will join their driver line-up for the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship season at the wheel of one of their Dallara F2 2018 cars. Kush will join previously announced Ralph Boschung securing a lineup with a great mix of experience, new blood and driving skills.
Maini was born in Bangalore (India) on 22 September 2000 and made his single-seater racing debut in 2016 by competing in the Italian F4 Championship. Maini rapidly showed his talent as he managed to step onto the podium on his season debut. The Indian talent was then Vice-Champion in the 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with 3 wins and 12 podium to his name. He entered the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship season with promising results as he also visited the podium.
Kush becomes the second Maini taking part in the FIA Formula 2 with Campos Racing as his elder brother Arjun joined the Spanish-based racing team for selected rounds back in 2019.
Both Boschung and Maini will carry out FIA Formula 2’s post-season collective testing in Abu Dhabi on 23-25 November in preparation for the 2023 season.
Adrián Campos (Campos Racing Team Principal): “On behalf of Campos Racing, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Kush (Maini). He is a very committed, professional racing driver with a great work capacity, so we expect he will be able to complete a strong rookie season next year. He carried out some strong performances in FIA Formula 3 this season and hopefully he will make further improvements in the ultra-competitive FIA F2 Championship.”
Kush Maini (Campos Racing Driver of FIA formula 2): “Super happy to be joining campos racing team! I’ve spent some time with the team at their workshop and really enjoyed the atmosphere and the professionalism, looking forward to the 3-day test at Abu Dhabi to officially start our relationship together! I would like to thank Mumbai Falcons, Omega Seiki Mobility and JK Racing for all their support”
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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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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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Mumbai Falcons extends support to Kush Maini’s F3 campaign
Silverstone, 1 July, 2022: The Mumbai Falcons announced their support to Indian racing star and formula driver Kush Maini as a title sponsor for the remainder of the six rounds 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship, that runs alongside Formula1. extending their long-standing partnership.
Mumbai Falcons extended their partnership with Maini, who was first drafted into the X1 Racing League in 2019, when Falcons was founded. The younger of the two Maini brothers, Kush’s good performance in the series prompted the Falcons to back him for the 2021 FIA Asian F3 Championship and their relationship has now expanded to the FIA F3 campaign in 2022.
Racing for the MP Motorsport team, Maini’s car will now carry the Mumbai Falcons livery which will also feature prominently on his suit and the helmet to signal a deeper partnership into the Future.
“I’m overjoyed to have extended my partnership with the Mumbai Falcons,” Maini said of the deal.
“My relationship with Mumbai Falcons goes back to 2019 and I am excited to continue it for the F3 season and it is a big step for me. The organisation has done an outstanding job of promoting motorsport in India, as well as overseas and I hope to play an important role in the sport’s development in the country through my results in F3 and beyond,” add Kush Maini.
“The FIA Formula 3 Championship is extremely competitive, with some of the world’s best drivers vying to impress the Formula 1 grid. But I intend to maximize the opportunities extended to me for the rest of the year.”
Mumbai Falcons owner Ameet Gadhoke also commented on the partnership, citing Maini’s raw speed, talent, and personality as the primary reasons for the extension. “We are delighted to see Indian talent budding in motorsport and see Kush as a contender presently to bring this sport into the mainstream in our nation. We wish him the best during his remaining season and anticipate he would move up the ranks quickly.”
The Mumbai Falcons, a subsidiary of the Gadhoke Group, were established in 2019 with the goal of promoting Indian motorsport talent. The group also intends to construct a world-class racing facility that will eventually provide aspiring drivers with the infrastructure they need to compete on a global scale.
The FIA Formula 3 Championship, which consists of 30 cars, is extremely competitive, with drivers from all over the world attempting to advance to Formula 1. The championship serves as a support race for nine different F1 Grand Prix weekends, and drivers such as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell have used the series as a stepping stone on their journey to F1.
The fourth round of the FIA F3 Championship will be held at the historic Silverstone race circuit on the weekend of July 1-3 and will be ‘Live’ for Indian audience on Star Sports Select 2, HD channels.
