Formula 2 News: Maini beats Câmara and Stenshorne to pole in close Miami contest

ART Grand Prix driver Kush Maini came out on top of a tightly fought Miami Qualifying, taking the Aramco Pole Position Award ahead of Rafael Câmara and Martinius Stenshorne.

Maini completed a 1:39.888 with his final lap of the day to beat Câmara to the top spot by just 0.033s, with Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne in P3.

It was Câmara that set the pace early with a 1:40.411, the Invicta Racing driver over a tenth ahead the Rodin’s Alexander Dunne and Stenshorne in P2 and P3 respectively.

Several drivers were able to push on and improve on their second laps with the supersoft tyres, including Rafael Villagómez, who went from eighth to fourth ahead of Maini in fifth.

While the majority of the field pushed on for a third attempt, many chose to return to the pitlane for a new set of tyres ahead of their final laps of the day.

The drivers returned to the track with just over 11 minutes to go, and once the flying laps begun, the fastest time changed several times.

But it was ultimately Maini that was quickest on a 1:39.888, with the top three, including Câmara and Stenshorne covered by just 0.050s.

ART opted to bring Maini back into the pitlane as the rest of the field continued looking to improve their times.

But those runs were curtailed by a yellow flag at Turn 16, with Stenshorne having pulled over to with an issue, leaving Maini on pole ahead of Câmara.

Dunne wound up in P4 for Rodin behind Stenshorne, with Gabriele Minì in fifth for MP Motorsport, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Nico Varrone in sixth.

Joshua Duerksen was seventh for Invicta, ahead of Oliver Goethe, with TRIDENT’s Laurens van Hoepen in P9, while Nikola Tsolov sealed reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race in P10 for Campos Racing.

Saturday’s Sprint Race is set to take place at 10:00 local time, with all 22 drivers looking to become Formula 2’s first winner at the Miami International Autodrome.

Miami Formula 2 Qualifying Results