Hyderabad racer Karthik Mateti stamps his authority winning two titles: Profile

The Hyderabad teenager wins the TVS one-make championship with an all-win record early on until he was nudged out in the final race

Chennai: Karthik Mateti of Hyderabad dominated the TVS One-make Championship in the year 2018 with utmost authority demolishing every opposition to win all the nine races before he was nudged out in the last race but the infringement went unnoticed by the stewards and the culprit went on to win the race. However, that did not in any way affect the prospects of Karthik, who became champion with many rounds to spare in the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship.

Karthik clinches Stock 165cc championship: Karthik Mateti of Sparks Racing, a 19-year old Commerce student from Hyderabad, also emerged champion in the Stock 165cc category by scoring his third win in five races to finish the season with 111 points, and 12 wins and is well clear of team-mate Aditya Rao Immaneni (70). Incidentally, the 13-year old schoolboy from Chennai Kavin Samar Quintal (Team RACR), became the youngest rider this season to win championship points as he finished ninth.

Karthik won Novice Race 1 in 13:44.310 and went on to clinch the second race too clocking 11:24.619 in a tight finish with Anand Rajendran of Chennai on Sunday, Dec 16. Anand who was over 4 seconds behind on Saturday, made amends and gave a tough fight but Karthik withstood the challenge and won. Chennai riders Suhail Ahmed and Venkatesan took the third place on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

“I thank my Team Sparks Racing for providing me the best bike and supporting me throughout the season and to my Tuner Ravi who always strives to bring out champions from raw Talent,” said Karthik, who focuses on fitness in the offseason.

In the last race of the season on Dec 16, Karthik took part just to complete the formalities as he was in deep pain with an injured finger on the right hand which he suffered in Delhi. In the TVS One-Make Championship Novice class, Karthik Mateti won Race 1, despite an injured right finger, beating Anand R to second place while AS Alexander completed the podium in third in the final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship as the season concluded at Irungattukottai on Dec 16.

Anand R won the Race 2 while AS Alexander came second. Anish Samson settled for tthe hird position. Karthik Mateti who sealed the Championship much earlier, with two rounds to spare, was nudged out early on, and the final race is the only race he failed to win this season.

In Round 2, Group D Karthik started on pole but fell back to 13th position and then like man possessed he went on to pass one by one until he caught up with the leading bunch and switched up gears a notch further taking the lead and won by over 3 seconds and in the bargain clocked the fastest lap record of 2.07 sec.

In Round 4, he crashed in the Qualifying race due to a rider in front of him and started 23rd on the grid and went on to finish 3rd in the race, just a sec behind the leader and won the next race the following day after starting from P3.

Honours in Asia Cup Road Race: Earlier in Delhi, he took part in the Asia Cup Road Race (ACRR): The international Asia Cup of Road Race that was run in tandem with the Suzuki Gixxer Cup saw India A’s Karthik Mateti making his mark, winning the race ahead of his Asian counterparts.

Sri Lanka’s Hansika Abeysinghe claimed the second place while Australia’s Max Stauffer took the third. In the final race, Malsawmdawngliana also turned out victorious in the race two, ahead of top Asian bikers. Australia’s Max Stauffer and Sri Lanka’s Hansika Abeysinghe took the second and third positions.

The weekend began on a dull note, as Karthik could not practice due to a bike issue and failed to perform up to his potential in the qualifying where he suffered a flat tyre but still gave his best and qualified 13th overall and 3rd in ACRR. However, this did not reduce his confidence one bit as he came up with a position in the race.

Karthik started Race 1 from 13th on the grid and was leading the ACRR and 2nd overall in the first lap itself. But a brake issue saw him crash out at C15 and he lost almost 25 positions but recovered and quickly started to gain positions and finished 1st overall in the 8-lap long race. “That was a tough race as I had to manage the rest of the race with only a quarter of my front brake and twisted handle-bar,” recalled Karthik and thanked everyone for the faith they had in him.

In Race 2, he had the unfortunate incident of a rider in front of him suffer a crash in the Warm-up lap. He could not do anything and it was unavoidable for Karthik, as he hit the bike and crashed too. He hit his bike and had many injuries including a broken finger. He managed to pull himself up with painkillers and with just a minute before the pit lane starts, his bike was made ready. He started from Pole but was not able to ride well as he couldn’t brake with the injuries and was losing positions. He was still in the top 10 but was given a Black flag as the bike did not undergo the re-scrutiny after the crash in warm-up. It was a sad ending but the win in the weekend made him come out shining and with lessons learned.

Karthik thanked BS Sjuth Kumar, the FIM Asia vice-president and FMSCI 2w Racing Commission chairman for the encouragement and the opportunity to race in the ACRR. He also thanked the efforts of his team @Sparks.racing. Karthik said: “I thank @jktyre_motorsport for the platform and I thank my team. I am very proud to represent India and I gave my best to put India on top,” was his parting shot.

India got overall 3rd in Championship after the 1st and 2nd rounds in Taiwan.