PUNE: It isn’t often that you come across someone who finds their life/career-defining passion at the tender age of seven. But well, its all in the blood for young racing sensation Kush Maini, who had his first taste of speed when he began karting at seven years old. Coming from a family of racers, Kush grew up watching his father Gautam race in the National Championships and his brother Arjun - who is also a top racer in the country today - after that, and followed in their footsteps.
Turning back time to speak about how it all started for him, Kush expressed in an exclusive interview with Sakal Times, “My dad was a racing driver, he raced in the National Championships, and my brother followed in his footsteps and started karting. When I was seven years old, I decided to do a race with my brother who was three years older, and we did like three or four races together. So I basically got into racing because of my family, my brother. I had a few races with Arjun and I fell in love with the sport.”
“I was always a really competitive young guy and I wanted to see if I could beat Arjun. You know how it is,” added the 19-year old Kush with a chuckle, who shares a healthy sibling rivalry with Arjun.
Little did the brothers know back then that they would race each other again, this time in a more professional setting, having recently faced off in the ongoing city franchise-based X1 Racing League. “The last time I properly raced Arjun was when I was seven, and so coming into X1 was a big thing as I was racing my brother because of whom I’m here racing, and now twelve years later I was racing him again, it was really exciting for me,” said Kush.
KARTING TO FORMULA RACING
At the age of 10, Kush began to make waves in the karting circuit, becoming the youngest ever driver to compete and win in the Micro Max Category in the JK Tyre National Karting Championship. He followed that up by winning all the six rounds in the same category the next year to clinch his first National title. He went on to impress in the junior category, before making an impact internationally, finished second overall in the Euro Series, while he was third in the Masters category in 2013. 2014 saw him finish fourth in the World Karting Championship, becoming the youngest Indian to achieve the feat.
Competing in the Formula 4 Championship, he again made quick impact, finishing fifth in the Rookie standings in just his first year. Speaking about his shift into Formula cars and the transition phase, Kush said, “First season in F4 was tough because I broke my collar bone the year before and it took time to heal, and it healed just a week before my first ever race in a Formula car. That was a bit tough.”
“Karting is different from Formula cars. The only real similarity is the race craft and feeling the pressure before big races,” he added.
Showing his abilities as a quick learner, Kush got into his zone, and started making headlines in Formula racing. 2017 saw him finish fourth in the Italian F4 series, before bagging an impressive third place finish in the British F3 championship, a season that saw him finish on the podium 8 times, including a win and three pole positions.
IMPROVING EVERY DAY
“Finishing third (in British F3 championship) was great, It was the best position an Indian driver finished at in a championship abroad that year. That was good and this year going in the Eurocup which is one of the bigger championships in junior Formula,” said Kush.
