Round 1 of the 10th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship 2013 held at the Kart Centre at Lahari Resorts in Hyderabad came to a thrilling end today. A total of 45 racers participated in the opening round at the 650 meter long Kart Centre, fighting many tough battles and displaying a high level of competition in three categories – Micro Max (7 to 12 years), Junior Max (13 to 16 years) and Senior Max (15 and above).
Nayan Chatterjee of Rayo Racing won in Senior Max category, whereas Kush Maini of Dark Don Racing victorious in Junior Max category. Defending champion Pradyumn V Danigund of Meco Racing with Mohite clinched his first podium in Micro Max category.
In the thrilling Final race of the Senior Max category, Nayan Chatterjee of Rayo Racing came up from behind to win the exciting race, beating experienced Vishnu Prasad of Meco Racing with Mohite and defending champion and his team mate Ameya Bafna.
Chittesh Monody of Meco Racing with Mohite started the race at pole position and was leading in the first few laps. Chittesh was receiving tough competition from his fierce opponent Ameya, who started at eighth position, and after four-lap neck-to-neck, dangerously collided with him, forcing him to retire from the race.
Around the same time, Nayan Chatterjee, who started at third position and was constantly chasing the top two karters, worked on the opportunity and overtook both racers. Then on, Nayan led the race and wrapped up 2.985 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Ameya. Vishu Prasad, started at second, finished at third position after losing a hard battle with Nayan.
Talking about the race, Nayan said, “This was a memorable round for me as I started the day from nowhere. I kept improving my driving and kart in each race, which helped me to keep myself in the top five positions. I worked on the opportunity I saw between the top two racers and held my position till the end of the race. It’s a very good win to start the championship”.
In the Junior Max category, race leaders Kush Maini of Dark Don Racing dominated the race and outplayed other racers. Nayan Chatterjee of Rayo Racing finished second but was disqualified due to technical issues reported by Race Officials. Third-place finisher Akash Gowda of Meco Racing and fourth-place finisher Mrinal Chatterjee of Rayo Racing were awarded second and third podiums respectively.
Talking about his race weekend, Kush Saint said, “It was amazing weekend. First day rain, second day cloudy and today is a sunny day. We all racers got great opportunity to race in all conditions. I learnt a lot in these different situations and stuck to my basics. I got stiff competitions from other karters and gap was sometimes very close. But, everything went well from our side.”
In Micro Max category, defending champion and gifted driver Pradyumn V Danigund of Meco Racing with Mohite dominated the Final, Heat 1, and Qualifying races of Round 1 of the championship. He started at second position and fought a strong battle with second-place finisher Yash Aradhya of Meco Racing throughout the race. Third-place finisher and Bangalore boy Paul Francis of Meco Racing gave tough competition to two racers and managed to overtake them for a few laps.
Speaking at the post- race conference, Pradyumn said, “This is a nice beginning for me in this season. I received tough competition from Yash and Paul, but managed to win. I will try to continue this performance in the next round”.
In the Pre-Final race, Chittesh Monody won the Senior Max category and was followed by tough competitor Vishnu Prasad and Nayan Chatterjee. Chittesh led the race with a 1.985 second difference and beat other two best racers. In Junior Max category, Kush Maini of Dark Don Racing dominated the 20-lap pre-final from the word go. He was way ahead of other racers and demonstrated his brilliant racing skills through the race. He was followed be Araya Gandhi of Rayo Racing, who was 4.044 seconds behind him, and Ananth Shanmugam of Meco Racing, who led the pack of other racers. Krishnaraj Mahadik, who won Heat 1, finished at sixth position and Tejas Ram of Meco Racing finished at fourth position. In Micro Max category, Yash upset the defending champion Pradyumn and showcased a spectacular performance in the pre-final race. Paul Francis finished at third position.
In Heat 1, Ameya Bafna and his team Rayo Racing dominated the Senior Max category. Ameya, who started the race at 3rd position, soon overtook Nayan Chatterjee and Chittesh Mondody after a few laps. Later on, the whole race was led by Ameya followed by strongest opponent Chittesh (30.045) and his team mate Nayan. Chittesh gave a tough fight to Ameya but received constant threat from Nayan, who didn’t allow him to take more risks. Though Vishnu Prasad gave a brilliant fight to the top three racers he could not maintain momentum and finished fourth. In the Junior Max category, Krishnaraj Mahadik of Meco Racing with Mohite won the race and completed 15 laps in 29.916 mins. He was followed by Kush Maini, who was 0.727 minutes behind, and Akash Gowda, 1.330 minutes behind. Ananth Shanmugam of Meco Racing, who started at pole position finished at fourth. In the Micro Max category, Pradyumn V Danigund dominated the race with spectacular racing skills. He was followed by Arjun S Nair of Meco Racing, who was 4.402 seconds behind him, and Shahan Mohsin of Meco Racing, 4.743 seconds behind, finished at third position.
In the Qualifying race which took place the same morning, Nayan Chatterjee won the race in the Senior Max category, Chittesh Mondody and Ameya Bafna finished second and third position respectively. In the Junior Max category, Krishnaraj Mahadik won the race, and was followed by Kush Mani and Ananth Shanmugam. In Micro Max, Yash Aradhya finished on top, whereas Paul Francis and Pradyumn V Danigund finished second and third respectively.
As it rained two days ago in Hyderabad, all the racers got a chance to practice with wet tyres. The team mechanics were busy the whole day, tune-up karts according to wet and dry conditions.