Kush Maini, backed by JK Racing and driving for M2 Competition, won the rookie category in Race 1 of the Formula Renault Eurocup Series at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Saturday.
Having started 11th on the grid he had to avoid going into the back of Leonard Lorandi’s car. Moving up positions as the race progressed, Maini made his way up to sixth place when the safety car was called out.
Petr Ptcek and Caio Collet (R-ace GP), finished seventh and eighth, while Alexander Smolyar (R-ace GP) and Xavier Lloveras claimed the final points on offer.
Maini, who finally finished in fifth position overall, was extremely happy with the result.
“I started eleventh, so I knew that I would have to fight to move up the order. I was pretty confident, because I simply didn’t carry over my pace from practice to qualifying. I was able to preserve my tyres in the race while also passing my rivals.
This allowed me to be extremely fast on the last lap and I pressured Patrik Pasma into a mistake when he missed his final braking point and I was able to win the rookie category. It is a reinforcing result, because it justifies our potential,” Maini said.
The series will break for summer and will return with the race in Nurburgring, Germany at the end of August.
