FIA European Formula 3 Series : Top 10 finish for Arjun Maini

Monza (Italy), June 2 (IANS): Bengaluru teenager Arjun Maini has managed a top-10 finish in the fourth round of the FIA European Formula 3 series at the historic Monza circuit.

The 17-year-old Maini added another point to maintain his 13th position in the 35 drivers’ championship that is the highest level of junior Formula racing in the World.

The JK Tyre-backed Maini started 13th on the grid on Sunday for the first race and despite being boxed in on the inside line by the cars in front, he managed to claw back six positions to eventually finish 10th.

The second and third races, however, were cut short due to several accidents and were run for a large part behind the safety car. Race 2 in particular witnessed two big flips and several other accidents, which meant the race was red, flagged before the 75 percent mark.

Maini was fortunate to avoid any damage to his car after he forced to take evasive action when Tatiana Calderon hit the wall and was pushed back into his path. This in turn dropped Maini to dead last of the runners, but he once again made up eight positions to finish in 20th.

The final race of the weekend finished in a bit of anticlimax as further incidents saw the race red flagged after just three laps of racing.

Maini said: “I’m happy to have been one of the few drivers to bring the car home without any significant damage. That said, I’m a little disappointed that Race 3 was called off so early.

“In truth, the weekend hasn’t been the best for me and I was looking forward to working on my race craft, I hope we don’t have further races such as these in the future.

“These first few races have been an eye-opener for me and I now look forward to spending some time back home before the second part of the championship begins in Spa.

“As always, I’d like to thank my sponsors, JK Tyre and my Van Amersfoort Racing team for all the work they have done for me.”