The JK Tyre supported driver secured two top 10 rookie finishes at Mugello
18th July, 2016, Mugello: After a difficult weekend in Round 4 of the Italian F4 Championship, JK Tyre supported driver Kush Maini now sits in 2nd place in the Rookie Driver's Championship with 131 points with two top 10 finishes in Mugello.
Qualifying was so tight that even though Kush was only 0.5 secs off Pole position he had to be content starting 11th in a field of 31 cars for Race 2 while starting 15th for Race 1. Mugello is one of the most difficult tracks to learn but Kush's best laps of 1:48.257 and 1:47.741 showed that there was room for improvement in the races. Race 1 saw the youngster slip down the grid to the last spot after his car stalled but managed to make up good time and finish 18th, after passing 13 cars and placing 7th amongst the rookies. Race 2 saw Kush retire early in the race due to a broken front wing in spite of which he was holding onto 13th position for a Long time and was unable to capitalise on his good starting position. This meant that Kush started Race 3 in 28th place on the grid and worked his way up the grid through good overtaking strategy to finish 16th overall and 6th amongst the rookies. His weekend rounded off with 11 points being scored in the rookie championship through two top 10 finishes.
With a long break ahead of him, Kush knew this weekend didn't live up to his expectations. "Crashing out in Race 2 was unfortunate because we knew we had the pace to break into the top 8. But I'm glad to have earned some points which allows me to continue my charge at the top of the Rookie Driver's Championship. I was also able to show good pace, overtaking more than 20 cars in the 2 races which gave me a lot of confidence going forward."
The next round of the Italian F4 Championship will be on the 11th of September at Vallelunga