Arjun Maini has become Van Amersfoort Racing’s third and final driver for the 2015 FIA European Formula 3 Championship, joining Charles Leclerc and Alessio Lorandi.
The seventeen-year-old Indian’s signing means Van Amersfoort Racing will field a trio of rookies this season as they look to follow a strong 2014 season where Max Verstappen took ten victories on his way to third place in the championship and into Formula 1 with Scuderia Toro Rosso.
Maini was the winner of Force India’s ‘One of a Billion’ contest, and has since made a name for himself on track, finishing second in the 2014 BRDC F4 championship, winning four races for Lanan Racing.
He was also in contention for the Toyota Racing Series title during the past winter, but post-race penalties and collisions meant the Indian fell to fourth in the final standings racing with M2 Competition, despite winning twice. He finished behind fellow 2015 Euro F3 competitors Lance Stroll, Brandon Maisano (both Prema Powerteam) and Santino Ferrucci (Mücke Motorsport).
“I’m quite excited to join such an experienced team – they have a lot of attention from the media after what they achieved last year,” said Maini.
“I am hoping to build on a solid foundation and learn as much as I can in my rookie season in the series.”
Team Principal Fritz van Amersfoort revealed they took Maini without giving him a test, having seen the Indian driver test with Fortec Motorsports, Carlin and EuroInternational last year.
“We are thrilled to have Arjun in our team for 2015,” said van Amersfoort. “We saw in winter testing already his natural speed and he continued that in the TRS – we are proud that another young talent is joining our ranks.”