Arjun makes strong debut in European series opener

Arjun Maini made his highly anticipated debut in the European LeMans Series alongside Bruno Senna, nephew of the late great Ayrton Senna, and gentleman driver John Ferano, here on Tuesday.

The opening race at the Paul Ricard racetrack in France continued for four hours with over 40 cars present on the grid.

The RLR Msport team made their debut in the hotly contested LMP2 class and despite a damper preventing them from qualifying higher than 11th during the qualifying session, the team displayed great determination to end the weekend with a strong 8th overall with Arjun setting the second-fastest laptime of the race, 0.3 down the fastest laptime overall.

In fact, 21-year old Arjun's pace throughout the weekend was remarkable as he achieved an overall second during the weekend's free practice session. The grid featured some very strong drivers and the J.K. Tyre-backed driver coped well with the steep learning curve.

Arjun said: "This was definitely an interesting weekend for me. It's the first time I've raced in this format (endurance racing) and I adapted quickly. The team did a great job with the car and Bruno was very helpful in terms of adjusting my driving style from Formula cars to Prototypes.

"John drove a good stint as well and he is improving rapidly. 8th is definitely a strong foundation to build upon and if we can improve consistently, I have no doubt that we will be fighting towards the front of the grid," he said.

--IANS

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