Ishaan Madesh begins campaign in style; Adithiya, Varun share honours: Karting Nationals

By David Bodapati

Bengaluru, 13 August 2023: Ishaan Madesh began his 2023 campaign in style bagging a double in the first round even as his team, defending champions Peregrine Racing dominated the proceedings in the Senior Max and Junior Max classes while MSport took the honours in the Micro Max classes at the Meco fmsci National Rotax Max Karting Championship 2023 which got off to a rousing start with a record 27 karts in the Senior section. The Junior and Micro Max classes attracted 15 and 16 competitors respectively.

Twenty-year Mumbai’s Raaj Bakhru of Rayo Racing became the fastest driver of the first round clocking a 54.217sec in the Free Practice. He set the record time at Meco Kartopia on “MRF Tyres” from 2020. Earlier Arjun Maini and Yash Aradhya had the honour in their names. Nikhilesh Raju set the quickest time of the week-end in the Junior class. He clocked a 54.747 lap in the qualies but it was young Rivaan Dev Preetham of MSport, who made everyone sit-up and take notice as he commenced the weekend with a stunning lap in the official Free Practice 2. He dipped under one-minute barrier, which is a record of sorts in the Micro Max category as he clocked 59.884 seconds on Saturday, the fastest Micro kart during the weekend.

Peregrine racing drivers Adithiya Arvind and Varun Hari Praveen, both from Chennai, shared a win each in the senior class as the first round of the Karting Nationals concluded at the 1.2Km Meco Kartopia track here on Sunday. Adithiya, the 15-year 11th grade student SBOA Junior College could only take a 5th place in the Pre-Final but went on to beat a strong field of 27 to clinch the top place on the podium in the Finals beating Mumbai’s Adithya Patnaik of Rayo Racing to second. In the Pre-Finals, it was Varun Hari Praveen, also of Peregrine Racing who took the victory beating teammate Akshat Mishra and reigning Junior champion Abhay M of Birel Art, who graduated to Seniors this year, came third. Defending champion Rohaan Madesh, who will be moving to the MRF2000 Formula cars did not take part, but was at hand to coach the Peregrine youngsters.

Ishaan Madesh shines in Junior Max class

Ishaan Madesh, a multiple National champion, who missed last year’s title by a whisker, began in whirlwind fashion bagging both the point-scoring races, the Finals and Pre-Finals as he launched his 2023 campaign on a winning note.  He clocked 11min, 08.545 to win the Pre-Finals beating his staunch rival on track and friend off it, Nikhilesh Raju by a huge margin of over 5 seconds. And he went on to clinch the Finals, pushing aside the challenge of Hunner Singh of Birel Art, who got a double podium. The 15-year Hunner, a Grade 10 student of Pathways International School in Delhi, was consistent throughout the week-end and showed glimpses of his talent. Young Aarav Dewan, only 13 years, also from Gurugram put Leapfrog Racing in third as he completed the podium in the Finals.

Darsh Nawalgaria and Rivaan Dev Preetham fight in Micro Max class

A 13-year Bengaluru karter, Darsh Nawalgaria, took the championship lead in the Micro Max category after a fierce fight with another 10-year talent Rivaan Dev Preetham, who had to be content with a second place in the table after one round. Rivaan began well with a victory in the Pre-finals and mopping up both the heats and taking the pole in the qualies. But Darsh won the Finals with a clean race with a lead of over a second. Yatharth Gaur of Faridabad came second in the finals followed by Rivaan. In the Pre-finals, Bengaluru’s Rishik Rohit Reddy  of Birel Art came third.

The second round of the Rotax Max Karting Nationals is scheduled to be held at the same venue, Meco Kartopia from September 1 to 3.

Provisional Results:

Senior Max: Finals: (16 laps)

1. #72 Adithiya Arvind (Peregrine Racing, Chennai) (15min, 08.232);

2. #76 Adithya Patnaik (Rayo Racing, Mumbai) (15:11.682);

3. #62 Arjun Chheda (Crest Motorsports, Pune) (15:14.862).

Fastest Lap: #69 Akshat Mishra (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) 55.359sec.

Senior Max: Pre-Finals: (14 laps)

1. #66 Varun Hari Praveen (Peregrine Racing, Chennai) (12:57.636);

2. #69 Akshat Mishra (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) (12:59.187);

3. #88 Abhay M (Birel Art India, Bengaluru) (12:59.356).

Fastest Lap: #76 Adithya Patnaik (Rayo Racing, Mumbai) (54:946sec).

Qualifying session on Saturday:

1. #76 Adithya Patnaik (Mumbai) (00:54.706);

2. #69 Akshat Mishra (Bengaluru) (00:54.720);

3. #77 Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (00:54.749).

Junior Max: Final: (14 laps)

1.  #55  Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) (13min, 02.610seconds);

2. #52 Hunner Singh (Birel Art India, Gurugram) (13:04.347);

3. #45 Aarav Dewan (Leapfrog Racing, Gurugram) (13;05.018).

Fastest lap: #36 Nikhilesh Raju (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) 55.170sec.

Junior Max: Pre-Final: (12 laps)

1.  #55  Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) (11:08.545);

2. #36 Nikhilesh Raju (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) (11:14.246);

3. #52 Hunner Singh (Birel Art India, Gurugram) (11:16.765);

Fastest lap: #36 Nikhilesh Raju (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) 55.014sec.

Qualifying session on Saturday:

1. #36 Nikhilesh Raju (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) (54.747);

2.#55  Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing, Bengaluru) (54.837);

3. #44 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (54.998).

Micro Max: Finals: (12 Laps)

1. #6 Darsh Nawalgaria (MSport, Bengaluru) (12:15.006);

2.  #21 Yatharth Gaur (Leapfrog Racing, Faridabad) ( 12:16.103);

3.  #12 Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSport, Chennai) (12:16.519).

Fastest Lap: #12 Rivaan Dev Preetham 1:00.248.

Micro Max: Pre-Finals: (10 Laps)

1.#12 Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSport, Chennai) (10:09.634);

2. #6 Darsh Nawalgaria (MSport, Bengaluru) (10:11.471);

3. #5 Rishik Rohit Reddy (Birel Art India, Bengaluru) (10:13.502).

Fastest Lap: #6 Darsh Nawalgaria 1:00.061.

Qualifying session on Saturday:

1. #12 Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai) (1:00.158);

2. #06 Darsh Nawalgaria (Bengaluru) (1:00.227);

3. #08 Hamza Balasinorwala (Mumbai) (1:00.44).