Arjun Maini, along with teammates Sebastien Baud and Hubert Haupt, took victory in the Bronze Cup class of the GT World Challenge Europe race at France’s Circuit Paul Ricard. The HRT Mercedes-AMG crew has had a strong start in this year’s championship, having scored a podium finish at the previous round at Monza as well.
- Maini finishes 14th overall, wins race in Bronze Cup
- Take championship's lead in his class
Maini bags Bronze Cup win
Driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3, the #79 crew of Maini, Baud and Haupt qualified 19th overall and second in the Bronze Cup. Haupt drove the opening stint for the team, and he gained a few positions before handing the car over to Baud.
Maini then took over for the final stint. A late race retirement for Garage 59 promoted Maini to 14th place overall – enough to take victory in the Bronze Cup. "It was a tough race, but everything worked out for us this time. Everyone did a mega job and it's a deserved result for the whole team, which has been trying to win the class since last year. This is the third podium this year with the team and we are definitely looking to have good seasons with the Team HRT across the championships,” said Maini, who recently also picked up a strong result at the Nurburgring 24h race.
All three drivers currently also lead the championship in the Bronze Cup, with 48 points apiece.
GT World Challenge Europe classes
All cars in GT World Challenge Europe conform to GT3 regulations. The championship is divided into five different classes based on driver categorisation.
Maini is competing in the Bronze Cup, which has the largest number of entrees. Drivers here can be a combination of Platinum, Silver and Bronze rated racers. While drivers have to meet a number of criteria to qualify for each rating, the simplest way to explain it would be that the pros are usually rated Gold or Platinum, while relative amateurs are rated Silver or Bronze.
Also see:
Nurburgring 24h: Arjun Maini second in Pro-Am; Frikadelli Ferrari take historic win