Vallelunga Italian F4: Maini scores a double top 10 finish

Maini struggled for pace during the two qualifying sessions, which left him 13th and 15th for Races 1 and 2.

In the opening race, he stormed to ninth place on the first lap before progressing further up to seventh.

He then lost a position to Bhaitech’s Leonardo Lorandi, but reclaimed seventh after Sophia Florsch retired from the race.

At the front, Ian Rodriguez’s clinched victory after taking over the lead on the opening lap, with Marcus Armstrong and polesitter Artem Petrov occupying the other two spots on the podium.

In Race 2, Maini likewise made a quick getaway to jump from 15th to 11th on the opening lap. Thereafter, he was again indulged in a battle with Lorandi, but this time he emerged triumphant to move himself into 10th on lap 10.

Later on, Loius Gachot’s retirement gifted Maini the ninth spot and an extra championship point.

Meanwhile, Armstrong went one better in Race 2 to take the victory, with Petrov and Felipe Drugovich finishing second and third respectively.

Maini’s weekend, however, ended on a sour note with a difficult outing in Race 3.

While the 16-year-old was again able to make a lightning start from 15th to catapult into 12th place, he slowly started losing places as the laps wore on.

Eventually, he finished the race down in 15th place, over five seconds away from a points finish.

At the front of the field, Drugovich made it three different winners while Petrov continued his podium streak in second. DR Formula’s Aldo Festante completed the podium.