Imola F4: Maini leads rookie standings after double podium

The Indian started the weekend finishing 17th and 16th in the two practice session before qualifying 13th and 17th for the first two races.

Marcos Siebert and Mick Schumacher were the two polesitters for Race 1 and Race 2 respectively.

In the first race on Saturday, the BVM Racing driver got a perfect getaway taking four places to ninth by Lap 2 battling with Mauricio Baiz.

The race long tussle saw them exchange places when finally Maini got the last laugh to hold ninth as he finished as second rookie behind teammate Lorenzo Colombo and Simone Cunati in third.

Up head, Siebert took win from Job van Uitert while Yifei Ye completed the main podium.

Third place in Race 2

For the second race on Sunday morning, the Bangalore-based driver started 16th and held the position until Lap 3.

Incidents in the race allowed Maini to gain three places to finish 13th while third as rookie behind Colombo and Juan Manual Correa.

Mick Schumacher won the race as Siebert finished second despite a retirement scare on final lap while van Uitert was third.

Hard luck in final race

It was a difficult final race of the weekend for Maini as the Indian finished 14th and the fifth best rookie after hefty battles in the race.

Correa not only took the rookie win but also the overall victory from Diego Ciantini and Yan Leon Shlom while Colombo and Artem Petrov completed the rookie podium.

With two podiums from the weekend, Maini leads the rookie standings with 134 points.