India's 17-year-old Arjun Maini scored his first ever points in Formula 3 racing when he scored a fourth and fifth place finish at the third round of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship at the Pau street circuit in France.
After being seemingly stuck in the mid-field in the first two rounds at Silverstone and Hockenheim - and reportedly having issues with the much increased grip and downforce of an F3-level car as compared to the BRDC F4 machine he drove last year - Arjun Maini made a very noticeable step forward at Pau by first taking the 10th, 6th and 8th place slots on the starting grid for the three races that made up the round this past weekend.
After finishing 12th in the first race, Maini's fourth and fifth place finish gave him a total of 22 points from the weekend.
In both races Maini was able to sustain an extremely assertive effort from F3 veteran Felix Rosenqvist in order to hold on to his position till the chequered flag.
Even in the races prior to the Pau round, trackside observers had noticed Maini's ability to not only make up some positions in a race but also a willingness to defend track position.
Against a driver like Rosenqvist, who is six years senior to Maini and has started in over 80 F3 races, his race-craft held him in good stead.
Arjun Maini will next be in action in the FIA European F3 Championship at its fourth round at Monza on the 29-31 May weekend.
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