Rishon, Ishaan book ticket to Portimao for Super Finals; Arjun Maini mingles with youngsters

Arjun Maini says: Lot of talent to be nurtured

David Bodapati January 11, 2021

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Indian Internationall and F2 driver who shifted to endurance races at Le Mans, having fun on way to beoming a National Karting champion again as part of debutants NK Racing, Narain Karthikeyan's team. at Meco Kartopia on Sunday. Photo by David

Bangalore, January 11: Bangalore’s young racers dominated the MECO-FMSCI National Karting Championship 2020 (Rotax Max), sweeping all three titles on offer with Arjun Maini, Rishon Rajeev and Ishaan Madesh clinching the honours over an action-packed weekend that concluded at Meco Kartopia in Bagalur, near here on Sunday.

Organised by Spitfire Motorsports, the Rotax Max Nationals saw the three winners emerge in the Senior, Junior and Micro Max categories respectively and they were automatically qualified to take part in Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portimao from January 23 to 30 later this month, at the Kartodromo Internacional do Algarve. Portimao circuit will stage another impressive karting trophy, with 300 drivers coming from more than 50 countries. Unlike the X30 with different point system and the reverse grid for a race, the rules for the Rotax Max are same for all the 50 countries and the points for Pre-finals and Finals are different. It gives a chance for a karter to come back and win a championship even if he had missed a round, if he has the talent and skill, and chance to bounce back.

The Rotax Max Indian Championship drew to a close with three rounds held back-to-back at the same venue to ensure safety and convenience of all drivers and teams in the middle of a `subsiding’ pandemic, as Indians too await the Vaccination. The weekend also saw India’s first Formula 1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan driving in a few races as a guest driver.

Micro Max National Champion Ishaan Madesh, tries to imitate the Red Bull and checks if “Red Bull gives you Wings” slogan will provide him wings into the New Junior Class next year. He successfully completed his years in the lowest age group, Micro Max, dominating with multiple titles, and already tested the competition in the Junior Class on Sunday, preparing for next season. Hope 2021, will be as good for the happy-go-lucky racer! Aditya, Arafath, Nikhilesh…, get ready to fight for the honours in Micro Max in 2021!

Formula 2 racer Arjun Maini (NK Racing Academy) was head and shoulders above the Rotax Max field, garnering the maximum points in each of the three rounds to comfortably take the crown. Kush Maini said: “I am so excited to see so much talent and, so much interest. Even though the girds are small here, the competition is good and the talent is there. We have to nurture them and provide the right opportunities.”

“Youngsters should focus on racing and not worry about a bad kart or other obstacles. Despite all these problems and obstacles of not having a good kart, not having sponsor, one should focus, work hard and try to overcome all of them without cribbing and try to race clean and win. Only such dedication and sincere hard work can take you to the top,” said Arjun Maini, who came from the grassroot level by dint of hard work, and commitment. He was so positive and mingled with all the juniors and smilingly obliged all the fans and junior karters and teammates. So much so, the few friends and teammates celebrated by drenching Kush, Arjun, David, Nandan with bottles of cold water, and later by even throwing eggs on each other. Good banther!

from left: Kush, of British F3 fame and younger of the Maini brothers, Arjun Maini, Haas F1 Test driever for two years and an F2 star, who raced on F1 weekends, and Narain Karthikeyan the master of them all, the first Indian to lay the path for Indians to try their dream of F1, a pioneer and INDIAinF1 sends early Birthday wishes for him ahead of Jan 14 as we thank him for bringing the stars and enlivening the Karting Nationals.
Photo by Anand Philar

“After all the high pressure of the season, coming down to my hometown getting into a kart and having fun is nice. I always love to get into a kart and drive,” said Arjun when asked how he feels to come back from racing at an F1 weekend to this humble Kartopia and getting into a kart. `Having fun and enjoying what you do, is the key,” chipped in Kush, who himself raced with authority at the British F3, till the half-way mark before losing points in rain due to issues with wet set-up (for rain) and finished the championship in 2nd place fighting till the fag end in the fickle English weather.

Arjun, Gautham, the man behind the stars, and Kush Maini at Meco Kartopia on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar.

Team NK Racing, who won the Team Trophy in the Senior Class and their lead driver one of the top-3 current Indian International racing champions (Arjun Maini, right) who became the National champion again in Karting (Seniors) for fun. Photo by David Bodapati

Divy Nandan gets a cold surprise as NK Racing team celebrates their maiden triumph winning both the team trophy and the individual trophy (Arjun Maini) in their debut in Rotax Max National Karting Championship at Meco Kartopoia on Sunday. Divy, from Gurugram, made his debut in the National Championship, thanks to NK Racing. David ‘s photo

Coming back to Rotax Max, Kush (NK Racing Academy), incidentally clinched the top position in each of the three rounds he had competed in. He didn’t take part in Round 2 due the death of his grandfather, and then in Round 5 due to some technical issues, which saw Arjun Maini restore the order, claiming the title.

Agra’s Shahan Ali Moshin (MSPORT) took the second position with an aggregate of 400 points in the category while Bangalore’s Mihir Suman (Birel Art coached by Preetham Muniappa) finished just 4 points behind to take the third place in the championship table.

Micro Max driver ditya, gets a Special Award

Another Bangalore lad, Rishon Rajeev (Birel Art, also Preetham’s ward), kept his grilling run going, winning the Junior Max title with 436 points. Rishon began slowly, though, finishing third in Round 3’s two races and Round 4’s first. But thereafter he was in a league of his own, taking the top spot in the remaining three races. He won Best Driver of the Year Award for his consistent performances.

Ruhaan Alva (MSPORT), who totally dominated the X30 Nationals to become a Junior National Champion earlier, could only get with 410 points as he had issues with the kart from the very first round and could not sort it out nor recover from the loss of initial points, and settled for second best. That in no way, takes the fight out put out Ruhaan and Rohaan, the senior of Madesh brothers. Rishon, did put in consistent performance and deserved his wins. And Rohaan, driving for Peregrine Racing International bagged 399 points from the five rounds to take third position in the Championship.

Rohaan’s younger brother Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing International), however, brought home a championship trophy by clinching the Micro Max title fairly comfortably. He was an epitome of talent and when he is on track blazing for all those wins, it’s like “Poetry in Motion”. He collected 445 points which was way better than Aditya Suresh Kamat (Birelart Racing; 413) and Arafath Sheikh (MSPORT; 413).

Aditya was declared the Best Newcomer of the Championship. Ishaan Madesh won two special awards, for the most number of poles and the most number of wins through the season. No surprises there!

The participation of Narain Karthikeyan ( F1 ), Arjun Maini ( F2 ) and Kush Maini ( British F3 ) added a lot of value to the championship and reinstated the value of the commitment of Meco Motorsports to provide a fantastic platform for young Indian drivers to progress from, thanks to Narain Karthikeyan for bringing his team NK Racing to Meco Kartopia.

Women in Motorsports: Our girl in Karting, this season is Shriya Lohia. Read her experience in her own words:

Shriya Lohia, spends some time, may be posting on Social Media, after the races and before the PD on Sunday.

And that's an end to the Rotax Max National Championship 2020!“A completely new experience for me. I started off Round 1 in the Micro Max Class just to find out that I’ve outgrown it. Becoming 8 kg overweight! I decided to drop out of the Round 2, as I was stuck between Micro and Junior classes. I tested out the Junior kart for two days and just for some exposure; I took an entry into Round 3 in the Junior kart. The kart felt so much faster and nicer. Due to a few problems in the set-up (kart) and me being completely new to the category, I couldn’t perform well. I made my way upto 7th in the Finals which is acceptable due the fact that I was the only one with such less experience. I really need to work on my strength if I want to be successful in this category. In Heat 1 of Round 3, I was able to get a good start all the way up to 5th, only to lose it to an incident. Besides that, it was really fun and I can’t stop fan-girling over the fact that Kush Maini came up to me and told me it was a decent first race in junior! Means, more than the world to me. Overall, it was a really fun weekend with the guys and also got have some fun in the wet! I promise to work hard and perform better next time. Congratulations, to all the winners! A huge thanks to all the mechanics, coaches and team members. And Thank You for a good weekend.” Cho chweet, Shriya. At INDIAinF1, we promise we will follow you, too! Source: From Shirya’s INSTAGRAM!

Championship winners:

Senior Max: 1. Arjun Maini (NK Racing Academy; 431); 2. Shahan Ali Moshin (MSPORT; 400); 3. Mihir Suman Avalakki (Birel Art; 396)

Junior Max: Rishon Rajeev (Birelart; 436); 2. Ruhaan Alva (MSPORT; 410) 3. Rohaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing; 399)

Micro Max: 1. Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing; 445); 2. Aditya Suresh Kamat (Birelart Racing; 413); 3. Arafath Sheikh (MSPORT; 413).

Provisional unaudited Results:

FINAL

Seniors (18 laps): 1. #63 Arjun Maini (NK Racing) (17 min, 02.222 seconds – 55.475); 2. . #61 Mihir Suman Avalakki (Birel Art) (17:08.977 -55.815); 3. #62 Yash Aradhya (MSport) (17:11.272 – 55.714); 4. #68. Raaj Bakhru (Rayo Racing) (17:15.611 – 56.043); 5. #76 Nigel Abraham Thomas (Peregrine Racing International) (17:15.947- 55.945); 6. #72 Shahan Ali Mohsin (MSport) (17:16.713; 55.963);. 7. #96 Sohil Shah (NK Racing) (16:20.598); 8. #69 David Ryan (17:22.197 -56.282); 9.#99 G Rahul Redyy (MSport) (17:24.834 -56.296); 10. #55 Divy Nandan (NK Racing) (17:39.564-57.282); Grid: 12 drivers; Result subject to Post-Event Scrutiny! DNF: #77 Suriya Varathan (MSport) 7:51.757 – 55.902; #64 Narain Karthikeyan (NK Racing – Guest Driver) Best lap: Arjun Maini; Avg Speed: 76.070; Best Speed: 77.873; Margin of victory: 6.775;

Junior (15 laps): 1. #26 Rishon Rajeev (Birel Art) (14:39.205 – 56.239 Lap 10); 2. #36 Ruhaan Alva (MSport) (14:39.664 – 56.015); 3. #45 Abhay M (Birel Art) (14:41.751 – 55.986); 4. #48 Shaurya Kapani (Rayo Racing) (14: 44.521 – 56.209); 5. #40 Jaden Rahman Pariat (MSport) (14:45.773 – 56.016); 6. #41 Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing International) (14:51.732 -55.805); 7. #Rohaan Madesh (14:53.121 – 56.545); 8. #49 Akshat Misra (14;54.051 – 56.356); 9. Anshul Sai Shiva Kumar (Birel Art) 14:55.333 -56.573); 10. #44 Tarun Muthaiah (14:55.585 -56.378); Grid: 10 drivers.

Micro Max (12 Laps): 1. #11 Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing International) (13.11.258 -1:01.000); 2. #5 Arafath Sheikh (MSport) (13:19.734 – 1:01.740); 3. #10 Aditya Suresh Kamat (Birel Art) (13:23.353 -1:01.575); 4. #2 D Nikhilesh Raju (Birel Art) (13:24.195 – 1:01.495); 5. #9 Vedha Vishnu (MSport) (13:41.934 -.01:02.711). 6. #25 Anuj Arun Velraj (MSport) (13:59.170 – 1:02.252); Result subject to Post-Event Scrutiny! Grid 6 drivers; Best Lap: Ishaan Madesh; Avg Speed: 65.516; Best Speed: 70.820; Margin of Victory: 8.476.

PRE-FINAL

Seniors (15 laps): 1. #63 Arjun Maini (NK Racing) (14:10.767 – Best lap 55.577); 2. #61 Mihir Suman Avalakki (Birel Art) (14:16.639 – 55.922); 3. #62 Yash Aradhya (MSport) (14:19.894 – 55.919) 4. #72 Shahan Ali Mohsin (MSport) (14:22.328; 56.325); 5. #77 K Suriya Varathan (MSport) (14:22.681 – 56.267); 4. 5. #68 Raaj Bakhru (Rayo Racing) (14:23.041- 56.221); 7. #96 Sohil Shah (MSport) (14:25.808 -56.426); 8. #76 Nigel Abraham Thoma (Peregrine Racing International) (14:26.574 – 56.253); 9. #69 David Ryan (NK Racing) (14:27.295 -56.381); 10. #99 G Rahul Reddy (MSport) (14:30.113 – 56.596); 11. #55 Divy Nandan (NK Racing) (14:41.411 -57.414) Grid: 12 drivers; DNF: #64 Narain Karthikeyan (NK Racing – Guest Driver). Result subject to Post-Event Scrutiny! Best Lap: Arjun Maini Average Speed 76.167; Best speed: 77.730. Margin of victory: 5.872.

Junior (12 laps): 1. #26 Rishon Rajeev (Birel Art) (11:37.327 – 56.138); 2. #36 Ruhaan Alva (MSport) (11: 40.383 – 56.193); 3. #48 Shaurya Kapani (Rayo Racing) (11:42.694 – 56.318); 4. #45 Abhay M (Birel Art) (11: 42.822 – 56.212); 5 #44 Tarun Muthaiah (Peregrine Racing International) (11:43.412 -56.468); 6. #40 Jaden Rahman Pariat (MSport) (14:48.081 – 56.312); 7.#49 Akshat Mishra (MSport) (11: 42.694 – 56.098); 8. Anshul Sai Shiva Kumar (Birel Art) 11:54.030 – 57.166); 9. #41 Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing International) (11:36.844 -57/217); 10. #27 Rohaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing International) (11:37.828 – 56.589); Result subject to Post-Event Scrutiny! Best Lap: Rishon Rajeev Ag speed 74.341; Best speed 76.953. Margin of victory: 3.056

Micro Max (10 Laps): 1. #11 Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing) (10.26.285 -1:01.159); 2. #10 Aditya Suresh Kamat (Birel Art) (10:33.060 – 1:01.660); 3. Arafath Sheikh (MSport) (10:42.491 – 1: 01.905); 4. #25 Anuj Arun Velraj (MSport) (10:43.166 – 1:02.518); 5. #9 Vedha Vishnu (MSport) (10:51.088 -01:02.822). 5. #2 D Nikhileash Raju (Birel Art) (10:53.235 – 1:01.676 Lap 10); 4. Grid 6 drivers. Result subject to Post-Event Scrutiny! Best lap: Ishaan; Avg Speed: 68.978; Best Speed: 70.636; Margin of victory: 6.775;

eom/David/Result added 11Jan2021 at 0750pm – with inputs from fmsci release

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