Arjun Maini scores first points of 2016 European Formula 3 season

Arjun Maini secured valuable championship points in the third round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in Pau, France. The Indian driver finished in the top ten in the second and third races of the weekend with new team ThreeBond with T-Sport Racing.

Maini didn’t have a very good start to the season in the first two rounds. After the weekend in Pau, Maini has secured points finishes at the same venue at which he had his best showing in last year's championship - a fourth and fifth place finish - when he was with Van Amersfoort Racing.

Switching to T-Sport this year, which are the only team to be using the ThreeBond engine, has seen Maini unable to improve upon last year's performance. Limited access to testing facilities has meant that Maini's true pace only comes to the fore at street circuits like Pau, where the rest of the field is at far less of an advantage in terms of track knowledge.

The 18-year-old Bengaluru native set decent lap times during both free practice sessions, finishing 12^th and 16^th respectively. Qualifying was the plot twist during the weekend and the wet track brought issues and challenges for all drivers. Despite the tricky conditions, Maini qualified 11^th on the grid for Race 1. In Q2, the Indian set purple sectors timings in Sector 1 and 2, but a small collision with the wall put him out of the session and drop down the order. In Q3, Maini managed 18^th on the grid.

With some drivers suffering penalties before the start of Race 1, Maini started from seventh place as opposed to his original position. But the Indian stalled his car at the start and finished 18^th in the first race. In the second race, Maini finished tenth after starting from 16^th place and made some crucial overtaking during the race to claim some championship points for the first time this season.

Come Race 3, Maini started 18^th on the grid. A good start led him to pass three cars, in addition to avoiding the collision between Nick Cassidy and Sergio Settecamara which caused a pile up and the safety car to be summoned. Maini finished the final race of the weekend in ninth place to bag some more points for himself.

The next round of the series will be held at the Red Bull Ring in Austria this weekend.