Ruhaan, Rohaan and Nikhilesh claim Round 1 honours

X30 Indian National Karting Championship

David Bodapati August 2, 2021

2 893 3 minutes read

Ruhaan Alva takes the Round 1 honours in senior class X30 Nationals.

Bengaluru, 1 August 2021: In the battle between youth and experience,talented Bengaluru teenager Ruhaan Alva took the honours in the first round brushing aside the challenge of two-time National champion Ameya Bafna to lead the table in the MSport IAME X30 Senior Class of the MECO fmsci National Karting Championship 2021 at the 12.km Meco Kartopia track at Bangalru, near here on Saturday and Sunday.

X30 Karting Nationals Round 1 Senior Class winners after 4 races. From left: MR Rishon 3rd, Ruhaan Alva 1st and Ameya Bafna 2nd;

Making a comeback after a hiatus of five years, the 26-year Mumbai racer, Ameya Bafna, who won the National Karting Championship in Senior Class in 2012 and 2014, began with a bang posting a facile victory in Race 1 ahead of Bengaluru pilot Magehalli Rishon Rajeev in second. Ruhaan Alva, after dominating the Junior Class in 2020 upgraded himself to the Senior Class looking for better competition but struggled with the balance of the kart in Race 1 and could finish only third. But the talented 15-year-old, starting P4 on the reverse grid ahead of Rishon and Ameya Bafna, made amends and won Race 2. Behind Ruhaan, Rishon finished second again bagging valuable points and Ameya had to settle for third on the podium.

Ameya came back winning Race 3 but suffered issues with the silencer and could finish only 8^th in Race 4. Ruhaan, who kept himself with a striking chance taking second place in Race 3, won the last race with ease taking a six-second lead over Rishon and set a blistering lap of 56.360 on the way. He also clocked the fastest lap of the week-end, a 56.28 in warm-up. Ruhaan leads the points table with 33 points after Round 1 followed by Ameya Bafna and MR Rishon, both on 27 points.

In the Junior Class, another talented Bengaluru racer Rohaan Madesh won three races to take the Championship lead with 32 points while his younger brother, Ishaan Madesh, the 2020 Cadet champion, won Race 3. Abhay M, also from Bengaluru, who was consistent bagging three second places and a third place, was second in the standings with 27 points ahead of Ishaan on 20 points.

X30 Round 1 Junior Class – 1st – Rohaan Madesh (centre); 2nd – Abhay M; 3rd (right)- Ishaan Madesh (left)

In the Cadet Class, Aditya Suresh Kamat and Arafath Sheikh won a race each on Saturday while Nikhilesh Raju clinched both the races on Sunday and with the two second places he bagged on Saturday, the 11-year, Grade 6 student of Vibgyor High School, Bengaluru took the Championship lead with 34 points. Aditya has logged 30 points while Arafath claimed 26 points after Round 1.

This is the first of the five rounds in the National X30 championship. Each round has four races offering a maximum of 40 points. X30 Round 2 and 3 will be held together from August 13 to 15 while the final two rounds, Round 4 and 5 are scheduled for August 27 to 29. All rounds will be held at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru, unless Carona restrictions disrupt the schedules.

MSport IAME X30 India 2021 National Karting Championship (at Meco Kartopia, Bengaluru)

X30 Round 1 Cadet Class: 1st – Nikhilesh Raju (centre); 2nd – Aditya Suresh Kamat (right); 3rd – Arafath Sheikh (left)

Round 1 Final provisional classification:

Seniors (15 laps)

Saturday: Race 1: 1. kart#32 Ameya Bafna (Mumbai) (14:41.597); 2. #25 MR Rishon (Bengaluru) (14:46.375); 3. #27 Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (14:49.808); Best lap: Ameya Bafna 56.880; Race 2: 1: Ruhaan Alva (14:30.977); 2. MR Rishon (14:33.300); 3. Ameya Bafna (14:33.468); Best lap: Ruhaan Alva 56.703.

Sunday: Race 3: 1. Ameya Bafna (14:23.399); 2. Ruhaan Alva (14:26.885); 3. MR Rishon (14:31.115); Best lap: Ruhaan Alva 56.419; Race 4: 1. Ruhaan Alva (14:30.839); 2. MR Rishon (14:37.309); 3. #28 Nigel Abraham Thomas (14:42.481). Best lap: Ruhaan Alva 56.360.

Juniors (12 laps)

Saturday: Race 1: 1. #15 Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (12:08.116); 2. #11 Abhay M (Bengaluru) (12:08.299); 3. #18 Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (12:14.940); Best lap: Abhay M 56.983; Race 2: 1. Rohaan Madesh (12:23.232); 2. #17 Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (12:24.523); 3. Abhay M (12:25.070). Best lap: Abhay M 56.871;

Sunday: Race 3: 1. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:38.782); 2. Abhay M (Bengaluru) (11:41.156); 3. Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (11:41.385); Best lap: Ishaan Madesh 56.452; Race 4: 1. Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:41.008); 2. Abhay M (Bengaluru) (11:43.499); 3. Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (11:46.559); Best lap: Ishaan Madesh 56.415;

Cadet (10 laps)

Saturday: Race 1: 1. #2 Aditya Suresh Kamat (Bengaluru) (11:05.088); 2. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (11:07.440); 3. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (11:07.686); Best lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.881; Race 2: 1. Arafath Sheikh (11:08.223); 2. Nikhilesh Raju (11:12.114); 3. Aditya Suresh Kamat (11:14.461). Best lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.657;

Sunday: Race 3: 1 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (11:29.864); 2. Aditya Suresh Kamat (Bengaluru) (11:32.642); 3. #3 Vedha Vishnu (Chennai) (12:00.659); Best lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.846; Race 4: 1 Nikhilesh Raju (10:56.494); 2. Aditya Suresh Kamat (11:03.359); 3. Vedha Vishnu (11:05.795); Best lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.592;

Standings after Round 1:

Cadet Class (Total grid = 5)