Jinendra Sangave wins MiniGP historic races; Shreyas wins hearts
Talented 12-year old Nithila Das, springs a surprise, with solid run
Bengaluru, 23 July 2022: Kolhapur’s Jinendra Kiran Sangave displayed calmness and plenty of skill to create history as he won a double in the first Road-to-MotoGP international event for young riders under-14 years in India, the FIM MiniGP World Series India 2022 at the Meco Kartopia circuit, here on Saturday.
Jinendra, 13, held off Shreyas Hareesh, who is popularly known as “The Bengaluru Kid” in both the 15-lap races with Chennai’s 13-year old Rakshith S Dave, trailing the front-running duo in third place. The trio dominated the field through the weekend with some fearless riding and filled the podium spots in both races.
“I am thrilled and very happy to have won the first round. This is new bike and new championship and I am learning to improve my riding skills and adapt to the bike. This bike helps me to dream,” said a visibly pleased Jinendra, who switched over to Hindi, unable to control the emotional delight. It was a treat to watch both the rivals on track meet after the race. “I am not disappointed. I tried my best. It is not my day. Actually I would have crashed,” said the 11-year old Shreyas, who spoke like a mature rider, but he never misses a chance to have fun with his co-riders. The amazing maturity he showed on the bike, with great control and balance, to avoid a high side is proof enough that he would go places, if groomed properly. His great save in Race 2, two corners after the blind left, speak volumes about his riding skills. This is a perfect launch for the Bengaluru kid, who gave himself a birthday gift, three days ahead of July 26. But he would be having three more years in this championship which is wonderful prospect to go after his MotoGP dream.
The surprise packet of the day, was 12-year Nithila Das, from Bengaluru. A champion cycling talent, her foray into motorsports went unnoticed at the National Road races at the Madras International Circuit in the TVS one-make championship as the only girl. But on Saturday, the Trivandrum-born 6th standard student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Bengaluru, is the lone girl among four who competed, to complete both the races in sixth and fifth positions, respectively. Rest of the three girls, were allowed to do only three laps each as they failed to come within the time of the fastest rider’s 115 per cent, a rule that is place for safety reasons.
Jinendra and Shreyas, who had qualified for pole position, put on a thrilling contest marked by slight contacts at high speeds, but both displayed tremendous skill to stay astride their respective Italian Ohvale mini bikes. Jinendra’s calmness eventually helped him to get past Shreyas.
The Bengaluru schoolboy, who, despite posting fastest laps in both the races, paid the price for small errors, while surviving a huge moment in the second outing when he averted a potential high-side.
The pace in the second race was particularly stunning. As in the first race, Shreyas led at the start but yielded ground to an aggressive and a bit more experienced Jinendra who never held back in attacking the corner or exploiting the slightest of openings Shreyas presented.
The weekend programme was compressed for an early finish in view of the inclement weather with spells of showers and consequent safety issues on a wet track. Thus, both races were completed on Saturday.
The FIM MiniGP World Series India is part of the global programme, comprising a total of 15 countries, and initiated by the FIM, the World governing body for two-wheeler racing, in conjunction with Dorna Sports, promoters of the FIM MotoGP.
The FIM launched the MiniGP Series in 2021, as part of the Road To MotoGP programme, aiming to create an equal platform for young riders around the World to begin their motorcycle racing careers.
The results:
Race-1 (15 laps): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Kolhapur) (16mins, 39.078secs); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (16:39.261); 3. Rakshith S Dave (Chennai) (16:52.251).
Race-2 (15 laps): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (16:00.218); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (16:01.277); 3. Rakshith S Dave (16:24.502).
Qualifying (top 4): 1. Shreyas Hareesh (01:03.369); 2. Jinendra Sangave (01:03.641); 3. Rakshith Dave (01:04.103); 4. Nandanan Mahendran (Chennai) (01:04.603).
Caption: Podium – Winner Jinendra Sangave (centre), second-placed Shreyas Hareesh (left) and third-placed Rakshith Dave at Meco Kartopia on 24 July 2022.
