The Indian rookie, supported by JK Tyre, gets three podiums in Vallelunga
India 12th September, 2016, Vallelunga: After a two-month break, 15-year-old Indian racer Kush Maini returned to the Italian F4 season and secured three podiums; a debut championship podium that he shared with Mick Schumacher in the final race at Vallelunga and two rookie podiums, a third place and a second place in Race 2 and Race 3 respectively.
Kush started Race 3 in third position based on the first 10 cars being reversed on the Grid. At the start, there was an accident involving 3 cars on the main straight which brought the safety car out. Kush maintained his third position and with two laps to go made a brilliant move on Sebastian Fernandez to move into second. The more experienced Mick Schumacher was making ground and on the last lap made a move on the inside of Maini, who finished 3rd and got his maiden podium of the main Championship.
Kush showed very good pace ever since he qualified. Kush started Race 1 in 8th place but due to a spin, fell back but recovered to finish 26th position overall. Starting in 4th place, Race 2 fared better as he secured a top 10 overall finish in 8th place with a best lap of 1:35.253 and finished 3rd amongst the rookies to earn his first podium of the weekend.
There were signs that the JK Tyre supported driver had dusted off the cobwebs after a long break between race weekends with a best 11th place finish in free practice. Sharing the podium with Mick Schumacher, Kush was happy about the result, "Three podiums in one race weekend was great and I could have hoped for after the break and more. I'm also happy to get my debut championship podium after Race 1 didn't go my way in terms of results. We've got to keep pushing for even better results next weekend as I am feeling more comfortable with the car and the team."
The Italian F4 season returns to Imola for the second time on the weekend of 23-25 September, 2016.