Peregrine Racing’s Madesh brothers sweep honours; Nikhilesh shines in Micro Max

David Bodapati July 17, 2022

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File photo of Rohaan Madesh by David Bodapati

Bengaluru, 17 July 2022: Madesh brothers, Rohaan and Ishaan, led the Peregrine Racing charge in the Meco fmsci Rotax Max National Karting Championship 2022 in an aggressive manner bagging full honours while Nikhilesh Raju bagged enough points with a win the finals to lead the Micro Max class in Round 1 which concluded at the Meco Kartopia circuit here on Saturday.

The eldest of the Madesh brothers, from Peregrine Racing, also became the fastest driver of Round 1 clocking a blistering 55.357 in the fourth lap of the Official Practice 2. He virtually dominated the week-end winning everything on offer in the Senior Max class as he qualified first and won both the Finals and Pre-finals.

On his part, his younger brother and former champion, Ishaan, likewise, brooked no challenge in the Junior Max category. He too made a sweep of all the races, save one heat which saw a Red Flag and a re-start. He also clocked the fastest time in his class logging a 56.088 seconds for the third lap in Official Practice 2. He won both the Finals and the Pre-Finals to take a substantial lead in the Junior class championship. He also set the best laps in both the races and was the only driver in his class to dip under 57-sec, reeling out blistering lap after lap in both the finals and the pre-finals. Fourteen of his laps were under 57-sec mark.

In the Pre-finals, Ishaan, had a brilliant start and made his dash to the front look so easy, in the words of commentator, Vivek Abraham, and never disappointed the expectations of the small crowd with his pole to flag exploits. He displayed enough skill and race craft and soon increased the lead substantially to leave the drivers behind to fight for the second place where the battle was between Sai Shiva Makesh and Anshul Sai. Ishaan won a comfortable race to begin his campaign on a positive note full points from Round 1 in the 12-lap race which had a grid 12 karts of 22HP 2stroke engine.

Nikhilesh Raju, the bespectacled defending champion began on the right note dominating the Micro Max class. Shrugging off initial hiccups in the Practice sessions, he qualified at the top and won the finals and came second in the Pre-finals races in the 8 to 12 years category.

Starting P2 in the finals, Nikhilesh Raju had a bad start and went down to P5 but quickly recovered making up two positions. Later, after a good fight between the top two, he found the opportunity on Lap 8 as he made a move at the fourth corner but it proved to be futile. However, in the next corner he found a better exit as he went wide and took the other line and dashed to the front taking both the leading karts at a go. In the Pre-finals, Nikhilesh started P4 and had the pace but good defence by poleman Anuj kept him behind for eight laps with Eshan leading the pack. In the eighth lap Nikhilesh moved to 2nd with a brilliant move and retained the second place till the end. He earned enough points with a win in finals and a second in pre-finals to take the championship lead in the Micro Max class after the first round.

The year began on a promising note as the Nationals for the first time in the recent past saw grids of over 20. With new teams entering the fray, the Senior grid saw 21 karts while the Junior grid boasted of 16 drivers including three girls, who kept the women in motorsport challenge alive with Shriya Lohia running close to the frontline boys. The Micro Max too saw better numbers this year with 13 karts on the start gird.

Provisional official classification – Round 1 2022:

Junior Max: Finals (14 laps):

1. #55 Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing);

2. #27 Anshul Sai Shivakumar (Birel Art India);

3. #46 Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (MSport);

Junior Max: Pre-Finals (12 laps):

1. #55 Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing);

2. #27 Anshul Sai Shivakumar (Birel Art India);

3. #46 Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (MSport);

Junior Max Qualifying:

1. #55 Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing);

2. #45 Abhay M (Birel Art India);