Arjun Maini
Arjun Maini (born 10 December 1997)[1] is an Indian racing driver, currently competing in the GP3 series for Jenzer Motorsport.[2]
Early life
Arjun Maini comes from a family of racers. His brother Kush Maini is an established karting driver, and his father Gautam raced in the National Racing Championship in the late 1990s, at the Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine.[3][4] The teenager first fell in love with motorsport when his father gave him an electric car. Arjun received his first go-kart, an 80cc Comer Kart at the age of 5
The teenager idolises Sebastian Vettel and in his free time enjoys wrestling, cycling, fitness activities and video editing.[5]
Career
Arjun received his first go-kart, an 80cc Comer Kart, at the age of 5.
2007
At the young age of 8, Arjun won his first two championships, the MRF Mini Max Championship in both the Rotax class and the 4-stroke Cadet class in his first year of racing. After his first titles, Arjun raced on foreign soil for the first time in the Asia Max championship, which led to immediate success.[6]
2008
Arjun became the youngest Indian to win a kart race abroad by winning the Malaysian Royal Kelatan Kart Prix held in 2008.[3]
2009
Arjun was the youngest driver to take part in the J.K. Tyre Rotax Max Junior Max National championship at the age of 11. He was selected by the Red Rooster Racing Team in 2009.[6]
2010
Arjun took part in the Rotax Max Challenge India - Junior in 2010 and finished in 2nd place. He finished with the most number of fastest laps.[7]
2011
Arjun’s major breakthrough came in 2011 where he won the J.K.Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship title in the Junior Max category and followed this up by becoming the Sahara Force India team’s One from a Billion winner. He was also the winner of AKOC race in Macau as well as the Ask KF3 Race in Elite, Malaysia. He finished second overall in the AKS Malaysian Championship 2011.[6][7]
2012
Maini finished a creditable fifth in the ROK Cup International Final in Junior ROK category, at Lonato Italy against 72 of the best drivers from over 20 countries. Arjun was awarded the best rookie at Rowrah while racing the in MSA British Karting Championship. He also finished a brilliant second place in Junior category in the Indonesia Kart Prix 2012 along with a first place in the Junior max category in Rotax Invitational Karting Race held at Kuala Lumpur.[6]
2013
Arjun then stepped up into cars in 2013. He finished runner up in the J.K.Tyre Racing Series championship, winning two races at the Buddh International Circuit as well as winning the Malaysian Super 6 Series. He also competed in the WSK Euro and Master karting in the KF category.[6]
2014
He then went onto to compete in the BRDC Formula 4 championship; finishing second overall and missing out on the championship by 3 points to team mate George Russell. He finished the championship with 8 wins and 9 podium finishes. He was also the highest ranked Indian driver in the Driver Database [5]
2015
Arjun showed remarkable pace in the Toyota Racing series in New Zealand en-route to a 4th overall in the championship with two wins, five podiums and 3 poles. He also finished 4th overall in Race 2 of the Pau Grand Prix. However a learning year in the FIA European Formula 3 series meant he could only mange 18th overall and 9th in the rookie class. Arjun did manage to end the season on a high finishing 10th at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.[8]
2016
Arjun races for Jenzer Motorsport in the GP3 series, he is currently in 10th position in the championship despite missing the first 4 races. He also secured a podium at Hungaroring, Hungary finishing 2nd.[9]
Racing record
Complete FIA European Formula 3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Threebond with T-Sport | Threebond | LEC 1 Ret |
LEC 2 13 |
LEC 3 16 |
21st | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NBE | HUN 1 14 |
HUN 2 15 |
HUN 3 15 |
PAU 1 18 |
PAU 2 10 |
PAU 3 9 |
RBR 1 Ret |
RBR 2 Ret |
RBR 3 18 |
NOR 1 |
NOR 2 |
NOR 3 |
ZAN 1 |
ZAN 2 |
ZAN 3 |
SPA 1 |
SPA 2 |
SPA 3 |
NÜR 1 |
NÜR 2 |
NÜR 3 |
IMO 1 |
IMO 2 |
IMO 3 |
HOC 1 |
HOC 2 |
HOC 3 |
Complete GP3 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Jenzer Motorsport | ESP FEA |
ESP SPR |
AUT FEA |
AUT SPR |
GBR FEA 8 |
GBR SPR 19 |
HUN FEA 8 |
HUN SPR 2 |
GER FEA 7 |
GER SPR 5 |
BEL FEA Ret |
BEL SPR 16 |
ITA FEA 14 |
ITA SPR 6 |
MAL FEA 4 |
MAL SPR 7 |
ABU FEA 14 |
ABU SPR 14 |
10th | 50 |
References
- ↑ http://www.mso.net, MSO.net -. "Arjun Maini | Young Drivers | British Racing Drivers' Club". www.brdc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- ↑ "Arjun Maini - GP3 Series". www.gp3series.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- 1 2 "Maini siblings on fast track". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- ↑ "Arjun and Kush Maini: India's answer to Schumacher brothers? - Firstpost". Firstpost. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- 1 2 "Arjun Maini - JK Tyre Motorsport". www.jktyremotorsport.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Arjun Maini".
- 1 2 "Rotax Max Challenge India - Junior 2010 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
- ↑ Achal, Ashwin (2015-06-07). "On track to Formula One". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- ↑ "Driver Database".
External links
- Arjun Maini career summary at DriverDB.com