Motorsports: Arjun Maini finishes fourth in F4 race

Snetterton, June 23 (IANS) India's Arjun Maini clinched his maiden F4 win here in the BRDC F4 Championship.

Driving for Lanan Racing Sunday, Maini started from pole but lost the early advantage owing to a safety car caused by the stranded car of another competitor.

The 16-year- old from Bangalore recovered to carve out a lead of over three seconds from Diego Mechaca of Mexico to take victory. Championship leader George Russell was third.

Maini had finished eighth in Race 1 and fourth in the final race of the weekend and is currently fourth in the standings among 22 drivers after nine rounds.

"I am really happy. Reverse grid or not, a race win is a race win and I've had good pace all weekend," Maini said. "I messed up a little yesterday, but I've got back on track today and I'm so happy to finally get the first win."

"Crossing the line to see the team celebrating was amazing, the best feeling in my career so far. It has only made me hungry for more wins now. I like this feeling!" Maini said.

"The safety car at the beginning of the race was frustrating as I'd built up a good lead, but I realised quickly it was something to learn from as there will probably be more safety cars this season. I focused on that and made a really good restart which was a big factor in me winning the race."