Ricky Donison emerges National Champion; Shahan and Akash too win championship

David Bodapati October 12, 2015

474 5 minutes read

Young Ruhaan Alva gives a tough fight to Aditya Swaminathan before overtaking him in the pre-finals on Sunday. A JK Tyre image

Bangalore, 11 Oct

Ruhaan Alva (#10) gives a tough fight to the champion Shahan in the final race on Sunday. A JK Tyre image

2015: Ricky Donison emerged as the National champion in the Senior Max in the 2015 JK Tyre National Karting championship at the Meco Kartopia, near here, on Sunday to earn a well-deserved ride in the National Racing championship next year. Akash Gowda too will get a ride in the Racing Nationals next year as he conquered the Junior champinship despite finishing second and third in the pre and final races today.

Both Donison and Gowda are now eligible to participate in the World Karting Finals at Portugal later this year. Not just these two, the top three overall champions in the Junior Max and Senior Max category will be seen driving the JKFB02 cars in the JK Tyre Racing Championship 2016.

Shahan Ali Mohsin lifted the coveted Micro Max national championship thwarting aside the challenge of another upcoming karter Ruhaan Alva with a minor lead of 22 points. Shahan played safe today and did not stretch himself to avoid mistakes and finished second in both the pre-finals and finals which was enough for him to take the national title in the sub-junior category named as Micro Max.

Nikhil Bohra from Bangalore (Team Meco Racing), Mohhamed Nallwalla from Mumbai (Team Rayo Racing) and Bangalore boy Ricky Donison (Team BPC Racing) won the fifth and final Round of the 12th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Karting Championship which concluded at the Meco Kartopia here on Sunday.

Ricky Donison bagged two more trophies for securing the maximum number of wins and also for the maximum number of pole positions. Mohd Zain Ali bagged the Best Newcomer of the year award, Shahan Ali Mohsin was awarded the Best Driver of the Year award, Nirmal Umashanker got the Akbar Ebrahim trophy for the Most Improved Driver of the Year and Mira Erda bagged the Most Promising Female Driver of the year award.

At the end of Day 1 Shahan, Manav and Ricky were leading in the Micro, Junior and Senior Max categories respectively. Day 2 started off with the pre-finals & final races of each category.

A whole lot of excitement unfolded in the pre-final race of the Micro Max category. The leader Shahan started off from pole position and kept his lead for the first ten laps. However in the second last lap, Nikhil Bohra who was closely following Shahan made his move and took the lead in the last corner and eventually took the chequered flag. Shahan had to settle in for the second place. Aditya Swaminathan who started third, used his excellent maneuvering skills and made his way to the second position in the very second lap of the race. However in a matter of time the focused Shahan whose eyes were on Nikhil overtook him. There was an intense battle between Aditya, Chirag and Ruhaan who kept charging at each other throughout the 12 laps race. The fight for the third place was a sight to watch as an interesting battle was brewing between them. On multiple occasions, Chirag made his way past Ruhaan however Aditya kept up to his pace and manage a third place finish.

The final race of the Micro Max had an exciting closure. Nikhil and Shahan kept battling for the podium finish however Nikhil kept his lead and at the end of 15 laps, he finished first. Shahan tried his best to overtake but he knew that his championship title was safe even if he finished second and therefore took no chances and kept his second place secured. Ruhaan Alva extended his lead from Chirag who was constantly chasing him for the third place and ensured his third place on the podium. With this second place finish, Shahan sealed his championship title in the Micro Max category.

In the pre-final race of Junior Max, Nirmal Umashanker who started from the pole position maintained a comfortable lead from the start to finish. Following him closely was Bangalore lad Akash Gowda who ensured that he does not let go off his second place throughout the race. However, the current leader in the championship table Mohammed Nallwalla who was disqualified yesterday because of technical infringement started off in the seventh place and moved up to the third place. However in an effort to make a move on Akash Gowda, he fell behind by three positions. But he didn’t give up and after an intense battle with Yash Aradhya for third place, he overtook Yash on a tight corner in the last lap and took the third place.

In the last and final race of the Junior Max, Mohammed Nallwala was back in his form and sealed his leadership position by taking away the chequered flag ahead of everyone. Nirmal Umashanker, Akash Gowda, Manav Sharma and Yash Aradhya fought bumper to bumper for the second and third place finish. It was a clean race with no DNFs (did not finish) and at the end, Nirmal finished second and following him closely was Akash Gowda. With this third place finish, Akash Gowda sealed his championship title in the Junior Max category. As he lifted the trophy, he received a huge applause from his friends from his school who had come all the way to cheer for him.

The pre-finals of the Senior Max was closely fought. After a tough 18 laps race, Ricky Donison whose eyes were on the podium ensured he kept his lead from start to finish. The very experienced Vishnu Prasad was out of the track in corner 1 and after repeated attempts, his engine restarted and he was back in the race. With years of experience behind him, he not just managed to finish in the eighth place but also set the fastest lap of the race. Dhruv Mohite and Krishnaraj Mahadik had a close face off for second and third place till the end. When the chequered flag came out, Dhruv & Krishnaraj followed Ricky in the second and third place respectively. Ameya Bafna had a long battle for the third place but he eventually finished sixth as towards the end he lost speed.

The final race was filled with action as the young lads fought it out. Ricky was leading the race since the beginning. The real fight was between Vishnu, Nayan, Krishnaraj and Ameya who were battling it out on the track. Ricky maintaining his dominance finished the race first. Vishnu Prasad was back in his form and managed to retain his place at the second position throughout the race and clocked the second best time. Ameya who was in the third place as the race began eventually fell behind as Nayan took over and crossing the finish line third.

The winners of Round 5 were awarded in the podium ceremony held after the races. The overall champions of the 12^th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Karting Championship were awarded in a glittering ceremony later in the evening. The 2015 season of JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Karting Championship witnessed a lot of action and excitement and will be back next year for the 13^th season of the championship.

While the action in the 2015 season of the championship concluded on a hot and sunny day here at the karting track named Meco Kartopia, the Prize Distribution ceremony was equally glittering at a city hotel in the late evening. The last and final day of the season was witnessed by a few hundreds of motorsport fans, mostly parents and near and dear of the karters, who came to cheer their favorite karters. To keep the audiences entertained, there was a special bike stunt show which left the onlookers asking for more. The excitement in the atmosphere was high as the drivers geared up to give it their best shot in the last set of races for this season.

Provisional Results

PRE-FINALS:

Micro Max (12 laps)

Nikhil Bohra – 11:57.711

Shahan Ali Mosin – 11:58.438

Aditya Swaminathan – 12:07.581

Junior Max (15 laps)

Nirmal Umashankar – 13:39.033

Akash Gowda – 13:42.624

Mohmmed Nallwalla – 13:44.390

Senior Max (18 laps)

Ricky Donison – 16:28.801