Ruhaan Alva hogs limelight winning everything at stake

Bengaluru, 18 October 2020: Ruhaan Alva, the defending champion from Bengaluru, began the season with a bang winning all the 8 races in the Junior Class of the X30 Karting Nationals. He capped a spectacular run on the weekend with a stunning record, capturing everything that came his way. With two rounds at stake, he not only took the pole position in both the rounds but also won all the eight races with best fastest lap times to boot, in all of them. No track in India has seen such domination in recent years, where a single driver has won everything at stake to complete a clean sweep.

Ishaan Madesh in the Cadet section and Suriya Varathan in Senior Class also had a good weekend, but neither could display the domination and control that Ruhaan Alva showcased. Alva proved his mastery even after starting at the back, in the reverse grid Race 2, on both days and powered to the top of the podium to leave no doubt of his new-found form despite a Corona-induced haitus from racing.

With COVID 19 delaying the start of the season, Meco FMSCI National Karting Championship X30 Class began the event under strict safety precautions and two rounds were hosted to complete the crowded season. So an unusual card of four races was on the menu for Saturday as part of Round 1 and four more races in Round 2 were also completed for all the three classes — the Cadets, Juniors and Seniors.

Ruhaan bagged a whopping 80 points and opened up a 24-point lead after two of the five rounds. His compatriot in Junior Class, Rohaan Madesh is in second place with 56 points after finishing second to Ruhaan in all the eight races. He crossed the flag ahead of Ruhaan in the third race in Round 2, but was penalised one `position’ for an infringement and was rightfully relegated to second again. Jaden Rahman Pariat of Guwahati is third on the points table with 44 points.

Young Aashi Hanspal of Mumbai, who recently returned from France being adjudged as a promising talent in the FIA Girls on Track event, took a surprise third place in Race 2 on Sunday in the second round.  The `only girl’ in Junior class, and the baby of the grid at 13 years, she utilised the Reverse-grid position well, to take her first podium of the season as the drivers behind her were busy fighting themselves.

In the Cadet Class, playful Ishaan Madesh of Bengaluru dominated the proceedings on Saturday winning all the four races and clocking best laps in two races. He, however, let go the grip with a DNF (did not finish) in the first race on Sunday and lost Race 2 too. But he bounced back winning the last two races of Round 2 to take the championship lead in Cadet Class with 63 points. Pune’s Sai Shiva Makesh, who began with two, second places and a third on the podium on Saturday in Round 1, upped his game and won two races on Sunday to take the second spot in the standings with 54 points. Anshul Sai of Bengaluru is in third place with 43 points. Anshul who began well on Saturday had two DNF on Sunday that hampered his campaign.

In the Senior Section, Coimbatore karter Suriya Varathan had a profitable outing on Saturday winning three races on Saturday and also adding the Best Laps in all four but lost focus after winning the first two races of Round 2 on Sunday. The last two races were won by Arjun Nair of Bengaluru. Bengaluru’s defending champion Nirmal Umashankar was patchy and could only win one race on Saturday.

The next two rounds will also be held at Meco Kartopia here on October 31 and Nov 1.

Results: Round 1: Junior Class (12 laps) Race 1: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:36.227); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:39.747); 3. Jaden Rahman Pariat (11:48.361);  Best lap: Ruhaan 57.580. Race 2: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:40.570); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:43.087); 3. Shaurya Kapani (11:49.363). Best Lap: 57.383 Ruhaan. Race 3: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:39.191); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:41.374); 3. Akshat Misra (11:48.949). Best Lap: 56.972 Ruhaan. Race 4: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:45.406); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:50.615); 3. Jaden Rahman Pariat (11:54.798);  Best lap: Ruhaan 57.002.

Cadet Class (10 laps) Race 1: 1. Ishaan Madesh (11:36.706); 2. Anshul Sai (11:58.830); 3. Arafath Sheikh (11:51.725); Best lap: 1:04.429 Ishaan. Race 2 RS: 1. Ishaan Madesh (11: 11.775); 2. Anshul Sai (11:12.837); 3. Sai Shiva Makesh (11:14.324). Best lap: 1:04.048 Ishaan. Race 3: 1. Ishaan Madesh (11:19.345); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh (11:19.950); 3. Anshul Sai (11:29.673). Best Lap: 1:03.876 Sai Shiva. Race 4: 1. Ishaan Madesh (11:05.993); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh (11:09.081); 3. Anshul Sai (11:16.708). Best Lap: 1:03.758 Sai Shiva.

Senior Class (15 laps) Race 1: 1. Suriya Varathan (15:01.599); 2. Arjun Nair (15:05.600); 3. Nirmal Umashankar (15:06.159); Best lap: 57.378 Suriya. Race 2: 1. Nirmal Umashankar (14:37.769); 2. Suriya Varathan (14:37.966); 2. Arjun Nair (14:47.191). Best Lap: 57.133 Suriya. Race 3: 1. Suriya Varathan (14:41.394); 2. Arjun Nair (14:44.667); 3. Nirmal Umashankar (14:46.459); Best lap: 56.831 Suriya. Race 4: 1. Suriya Varathan (15:28.993); 2. Nirmal Umashankar (15:32.566); 3. Bala Prasath (15:39.072). Best lap: 56.870 Suriya.

Round 2: Juniors (12 laps) Race 1: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:39.890); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:43.109); 3. Akshat Misra (11:50.005). Best Lap: 57.272 Ruhaan. Race 2: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:58.604); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:59.664); 3. Aashi Hanspal (12:06.751). Best Lap: 57.328 Ruhaan. Race 3: 1. Ruhaan Alva (12:02.304); 2. Rohaan Madesh (12:01.535); 3. Akshat Misra (12:03.573). Best Lap: 57.241 Ruhaan. (Rohaan Madesh who crossed the flag first suffered a one-place penalty and demoted to 2nd). Race 4: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:44.482); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:48.781); 3. Akshat Misra (11:51.003). Best Lap: 57.116 Ruhaan.

Cadet Class (10 laps) Race 1: 1.Sai Shiva Makesh (10:57.625); 2. Anshul Sai (11:01.838); 3. Arafath Sheikh (11:14.044); Best lap: 1:03.744 Anshul Sai. (Ishaan DNF); Race 2: 1. Anshul Sai (11:54.878); 2. Nikhilesh Raju (11:59.906); 3. Arafath Sheikh (11:59.935); Best lap: 1:03.274 Ishaan Madesh. Race 3: 1.Ishaan Madesh (12:01.738); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh (12:17.876); 3. Arafath Sheikh (12:20.502); Best lap: 1:02.994 Ishaan. Race 4: 1.Ishaan Madesh (10:48.817); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh (11:00.117); 3. Arafath Sheikh (11:02.871); Best lap: 1:02.530 Ishaan.

Senior Class (15 laps) Race 1: 1. Suriya Varathan (15:01.248); 2. Bala Prasath (15:04.538); 3. Arjun Nair (15:08.948); Best Lap: 57.023 Suriya. Race 2: 1. Suriya Varathan (14:38.708); 2. Nirmal Umashankar (14:39.918); 3. Bala Prasath (14:43.481). Best lap: 57.248 Bala Prasath. Race 3: 1. Arjun Nair (15:16.340);  2. Nirmal Umashankar (15:17.224); 3. Suriya Varathan (15:18.131); Best Lap: 56.902 Nirmal. Race 4: 1. Arjun Nair (14:44.123);  2. Suriya Varathan (14:44.563); 3. Bala Prasath (14:46.868). Best Lap: 56.903 Arjun Nair. Penalty: 10-sec added for Nirmal for Jump start.

(Ed Note: The event concluded on 18th Oct but the report is published only on 24th Oct, 2020)