Indian teenager Arjun Maini will return to the FIA European Formula 3 Championship for his sophomore season having been announced as the first driver for the ThreeBond with T-Sport team.
Maini, who raced for Van Amersfoort Racing in 2015, competed with T-Sport in the season-ending Macau Grand Prix this season, and finished the main race in tenth.
“I’m quite excited to be working with T-Sport again,” said Maini. “The team is filled with individuals who are extremely motivated like myself and after the race in Macau, the decision was much easier for me to make.
“The ThreeBond engine in particular was exceptional in Macau and I’m quite excited to see how it does next year. Tomei have done a fantastic job with it and I’m sure it will help me to be competitive in 2016.”
The team will continue to run with the new Tomei-built ThreeBond engine in 2016, having given it an impressive run-out in Macau, achieving the top speed through one of the speed traps.
Maini is managed by ex-Formula 1 Grand Prix driver Karun Chandhok, who believes T-Sport could do well for his fellow Indian’s career.
“If you’re with Carlin or Prema Powerteam you have to win the championship – that’s expected of you,” revealed Chandhok to Autosport.
“But being with an ‘underdog’ team, if he can come away with a couple of wins and in the top six in the championship that will be good, and I think both of those are realistic goals that he should be aiming for.
“He’s got the speed and he did a good job in Formula 4. This season was a bit of a disappointment, but anyone who can run in the top five in Pau and finish in the top 10 as a rookie in Macau has to be a good pedaller.”