Mumbai’s 11-year-old Hamza takes 2nd in Asia’s X30 at Sepang
Sepang (Malaysia), June 27, 2023: Eleven-year-old Indian kart racer Hamza Balasinorwala impressed with his racing skills as he fought his way to a second place in the 4th Round of the IAME Asia Series, Asia’s most prestigious X30 Championship, in Sepang, on Sunday.
An international podium is a rare thing for an Indian and after quite a while an Indian youngster has a podium in an Asian Championship,” said Rayo Banajee, a celebrated racer who has groomed many an youngster both in karting and road racing. He now runs the Volkswagen team in the Indian National Racing Championship.
The Grade 6 student of Podar International School, Mumbai improved with every practice session but was hit by bad luck in the crucial qualifying round to take the twelfth position on the Cadet class grid.
As if that was not enough, Hamza suffered another setback in Heat 1, pulling out of the race – eventually won by Esteban Freihuber from the Philippines — in the first lap itself.
Undeterred, the Rayo Racing prodigy made a strong comeback in Heat 2, overtaking several experienced racers from around Asia to finish an impressive fourth. Singapore’s Aaron Mehta won this race, ahead of Thai racer Kamolphu Anuchatkul and Freihuber.
Hamza’s resilience continued in the pre-finals, where he expertly manoeuvred through the field from a 10th-place starting position, to finish an admirable fifth place. Mehta notched up his second consecutive win while Anuchatkul and Freihuber once again took the other two places on the podium.
As the finishing order of the pre-final decides the start order for the final, the Indian began from fifth on the grid. Getting off to a good start, Hamza soon found his way past Singapore’s Maximilian Schilling only to be passed by another Singaporean — Michael Lederer.
Hamza exhibited exceptional skill, maintaining a consistent and impressive pace throughout and went along with Lederer up the field. The duo got past Freihuber, Mehta and Anuchatkul.
Lederer eventually took the win 2 seconds ahead of Hamza. The Indian racer’s fantastic effort saw him seal the second position, ahead of Freihuber of Philippines.
