Ruhaan Alva clinches Senior title with a round to spare: X30
Arafath steals two wins but Nikhilesh, on track for Cadet title
Bengaluru, 17 Sept. 2021: Ruhaan Alva clinched the Senior National Championship in his debut with 5 races to spare as he continued his domination in the Meco FMSCI Indian National Karting Championship X30 Class at Meco Kartopia on Friday. Ruhaan also won the Junior National title before graduating to Seniors.
In the Cadet Class, the baby of the grid at 9 years, Arafath Sheikh, the 4th class student of Bishop School, Pune won two races but Nikhilesh Raju kept himself in the lead, also winning two races and bagging two second-place podiums. With equal points in the this penultimate round, Nikhilesh extended his lead to 25-points going into the final round and needs to win at least two races or just play cool as a second place in all the four races is good enough to seal him the Cadet Championship. “But I want to win the races and I will go for it,” said the 11-year Bengaluru student of Vibgyor School.
The 15-year Ruhaan faced no challenge from the depleted field and got so bored that he ‘deliberately’ fell back in the last race, at the start, and had some fun overtaking and winning the inconsequential final race of Round 4, the penultimate round. For the lanky teenager who came into the day with 113 points, bagged all the first three races to post an unbeatable 143 on board at that stage. With five races and 50 points to fight for, another Bengaluru karter Nigel Abraham Thomas had only 90 points in second place.
Due to COVID19, among other reasons, the Grids have taken a toss this year but Ruhaan continued with dedication with an eye to graduate into Formula cars and tested waters at the Meco Formula Junior races (FJRS) in Coimbatore this year. With the MMSC fmsci Racing Nationals beckoning, the youngster who gained experience in Europe at an young age of 11, will shift focus to single seaters and gain the much-needed seat time before going for the F4 Championship in 2022.
Saturday will be the D Day for the Juniors, with four races of the final round on cards, and the Junior championship wide open with both local lad Rohaan Madesh and Jaden R Pariat from Guwahati gunning for the gold.
Round 4 X30 Provisional Results (At 1.2km Meco Kartopia, Bengaluru)
Cadet Class: (All 10 laps – Grid 6)
Race 3: 1. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:41.642); 2. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (10:41.720); 3. #2 Vedha Vishnu (Gujarat) (10:59.814); 4. #7 Rohaan Reddy (Gujarat) 11:03.567; 5. #1 Zarah Mishra (11:08.074); 6. #3 Anuj A (Madurai) (11:09.592); Fastest lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:02.922;
Race 4: 1. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (10:35.079); 2. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:47.254); 3. #2 Vedha Vishnu (Gujarat) (10:50.282) 4. #3 Anuj A (Madurai) (11:00.300); 5. #7 Rohaan Reddy (Gujarat) (11:00.747); 6. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:06.341); Fastest Lap: 1:02.921 by Arafath.
Senior Class: (All 15 laps – Grid 5)
Race 1: 1. #27 Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (14:22.589); 2. #28 Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru) (14:29.291); 3. #25 Nirmal Umashankar (Chennai) (14: 30.304); 4. #32 Tarun M (Mumbai) (14:33.311); 5. Vidyali Reddy (Bengaluru) (15:04.763). Best lap: Ruhaan 56.605sec.
Race 2: 1. #27 Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (14:35.117); 2. #28 Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru) (15:02.725); DNF: Vidyali Reddy (Bengaluru) (9:11.327 -9 laps); #25 Nirmal Umashankar (Chennai) (1:47.323 -1 lap); #32 Tarun M (Mumbai) (1.269 DNF before completing one lap); Best lap: Ruhaan 56.974.
Race 3: 1. #27 Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (14:19.883); 2. #25 Nirmal Umashankar (Chennai) (14: 24.039); 3. #32 Tarun M (Mumbai) (14:29.388); 4. #28 Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru) (14:34.113); 5. Vidyali Reddy (Bengaluru) (14:41.539). Best lap: Ruhaan 56.555sec.
Race 4: 1. #27 Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (14:18.474); 2. #25 Nirmal Umashankar (Chennai) (14: 19.938); 3. #32 Tarun M (Mumbai) (14:25.993); 4. #28 Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru) (14:33.528); 5. Vidyali Reddy (Bengaluru) (14:34.710). Best lap: Ruhaan 56.667sec.
