Nikhilesh Raju bags Round 2 honours in Cadet class

Bengaluru, 26 August 2021: Nikhilesh Raju, a 6th class student from Bengaluru, won three of the four races to emerge champion of Round 2 at the Meco fmsci National Karting Championship X30 class at the 1.21 Meco Kartopia here on Thursday.

The 11-year Vibgyor High School karter impressed with his driving skills and won three races and finished fourth in Race 2 to bag 35 points out of a possible 40 in Round 2 on Thursday. Arafath Sheikh of Pune took Race 2 and came second all the three other races. Though he set the fastest laps in three of the four races, he could only get 31 points and is second in the Championship table. Another school girl from Bengaluru, Zaarah Misra took the third place thrice and is third in the points table.

The four third round races will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

Round 2 (At 1.2km Meco Kartopia, Bengaluru)

Cadet Class

Race 1 (10 laps): 1. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:56.783); 2. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (11:02.144); 3. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:11.585); 4. #8 Shrili Manish Mistry (Gujarat) (11:18.667); 5. #3 Hrydan Patel (Gujarat) (11:30.206); Fastest lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:04.340; DNF after 5 laps #6 Ateev Khandelval (Gujarat). Grid 5 karters.

Race 2 (10 laps): 1. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (11:06.221); 2. #8 Shrili Manish Mistry (Gujarat) (11:18.288); 3. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:24.746); 4. #3 Hrydan Patel (Gujarat) (9 laps 11:21.108); 5. . #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10-laps 11:06.334) 4 position penalty for Art. #18 ‘edge into’; Fastest Lap: 1:04.415 by Nikhilesh Raju. Grid 6 karters.

Race 3 (10 Laps): 1. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:44.573); 2. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (10:46.400); 3. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:16.815; 3-sec penalty for false start); 4. #6 Ateev Khandelval (Gujarat) (11:17.512; 10-sec penalty for avoidable collision); 5. #3 Hrydan Patel (Gujarat) (9 laps – 11:47.522); 6. #8 Shrili Manish Mistry (Gujarat) (11:19.602; 2-positon penalty added for avoidable collision); Fastest lap: Fastest lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.498; Grid: 6.

Race 4 (10 laps): 1. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:43.483); 2. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (10:44.433); 3. #6 Ateev Khandelval (Gujarat) (11:02.264); 4. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:03.516); 5. #8 Shrili Manish Mistry (Gujarat) (11:19.936); 6. #3 Hrydan Patel (Gujarat) (9 laps – 11:06.125); Fastest lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.560; Grid: 6 karters.