Arjun Maini scored his first championship points in the fourth round of DTM in Nurburgring. The Mercedes-AMG Team Getspeed driver collected two points in the first race after finishing tenth and six points in the second race after finishing seventh. Post the weekend, Maini now has a total of eight points on the championship table and has become the first Indian driver to score points in DTM. This was a good result for Maini and the team after their disappointment in Zolder. He currently stands P15 in the drivers championship table and there are four more rounds left in DTM 2021. Now, let us look at how the weekend unfolded for the 23 year old.
For the first race at the Nurburgring, Maini qualified P12 on the grid. But the Indian driver got a great start from holeshot and came inside the top 10 on the opening lap of the race. Maini’s racecraft was a highlight as the Indian driver managed to keep the position and keep himself out of danger for most of the race. However, tyre issues came back to bite him in the latter stages of the race and Maini had to nurse the car to the checkered line finishing P10. This race marked the first points scored by Maini in DTM.
The second round at the Nurburgring was not off to a great start for the young Indian driver. During Qualifying 2, Maini found himself driving his Mercedes Getspeed GT3 car on a wet track for the first time in DTM. Maini qualified P14 on the grid after a decent effort. The second race was filled with drama and action to begin with. Safety car was deployed on the opening lap as cars started to pile up on the track after multiple contacts. Maini was also involved in one of the crashes, but managed to keep his car pointing in the right direction. Maini dove into the pits on lap 6, which was quite early, but this in-turn helped him greatly as the race progressed. In lap 16, Maini had to stop his car completely on the track to avoid a crash as Mike Rokenfeller (Team ABT Sportsline) spun on the track after a contact and came directly in the way of the Indian driver. Moreover, by the 25th lap, nine drivers were out of the race. But even after multiple safety cars and DNFs, Maini kept his cool in the race and finished P7. This performance in the second race added six points to his kitty bringing his total to eight points on the board.
The weekend at the Nurburgring was much needed for Maini after a disappointing outing at Zolder. With points now under his belt, the Indian driver can only improve moving forward. There are four more rounds left in the DTM championship with the next race being held at the Red Bull Ring. For the fans of Maini and DTM, the wait would not be long for round five of DTM, as the races start next week from September 4 to September 5. Stay tuned to get live updates on DTM or other motorsport events, check out Motorsport India’s Twitter handle.