Maini claims second F2 pole in championship’s Miami debut

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Kush Maini claimed his second career Formula 2 pole position as the Indian driver topped qualifying in Miami ahead of Rafael Camara.

Elsewhere, despite tallying just a few laps in practice, Campos Racing and Nikola Tsolov claimed reversed-grid pole for the sprint race with a 10th place finish.

As drivers set their opening laps it was in fact Tsolov who set the benchmark, a 1m41.987s putting the Bulgarian top before home hero Colton Herta took to the front with a 1m41.038s.

The Hitech driver’s position at the front of the field didn’t last long though as Camara claimed top spot with a 1m40.441s, leading the two Rodin cars – Alex Dunne sitting in second – and leaving the top three separated by just 0.183s.

Maini jumped up to fourth, 0.274s adrift, before Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez moved himself ahead of the ART Grand Prix driver by 0.041s.

After a brief period spent in the pitlane, drivers returned to the track. Dino Beganovic looked set to top the timesheets having gone purple in the first sector but the Ferrari academy driver could only manage third with Tsolov going fastest.

The Campos driver’s time at the front of the field didn’t last long though as Nico Varrone shot to the top of the timesheets with a mighty 1m40.204s.

Gabriele Mini was the next to improve, a 1m40.111 putting him fractionally ahead before Maini shot to the front with a 1m39.888s.

Maini remained untouchable as other drivers continued to find pace. Martinius Stenshorne moved his Rodin entry up to second, 0.050s adrift with his team-mate Dunne tucking in behind a further 0.119s behind.

With two minutes remaining Camara found pace to relegate the Rodin pair down the order, the Brazilian an agonising 0.033s behind Maini.

Further behind, MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe found pace to leap up the order from 20th to eighth, the German driver 0.105s behind his team-mate Mini who sat in fifth.

With final laps being prepared Maini opted to return to the pits as other drivers looked for more time, but that opportunity wouldn’t come for the rest of the field as, with a minute left, smoke billowed out of the rear of Stenshorne’s car.

The Norwegian driver pulled over to the side of the track at turn 15 meaning the red flags flew signalling the end of the session and allowing Maini to comfortably claim pole position.

The ART driver led home Camara and Stenshorne while further back Tsolov claimed an impressive reversed-grid pole after a dismal practice session which resulted in minimal running for his Campos team.

The 19 year-old will start ahead of Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen and Invicta’s Joshua Duerksen for Saturday’s sprint race.

Qualifying results