Motorsport Roundup: Dakar 2021 Underway, Lewis Hamilton Knighted, MECO-FMSCI National Karting Championship Rotax Max Kicks Off And More

Dakar 2021

This week finally saw the opening two stages of the prestigious Dakar 2021 rally take place. In the overall standings, Nasser Al-Attiyah (cars), Joan Barreda (bikes), and Dmitry Sotnikov, (trucks) lead proceedings. The Hero MotoSports squad of  Joaquim Rodrigues, Sebastian Buhler and CS Santosh stand 17th, 24th and 36th. Harith Noah, who is running as a privateer with the Sherco Racing Factory team is currently 31st overall. Ashish Raorane, who is competing in the Malle Moto class currently ranks 85th overall.

The latest stage saw Nasser Al-Attiyah (cars), Joan Barreda (bikes) and Dmitry Sotnikov, (trucks) top proceedings. Hero MotoSports improved on yesterday with Joaquim Rodrigues, Sebastian Buhler and CS Santoah improving to 12th, 14th and 36th position respectively. Harith Noah, continued to be the top Indian rider finishing 32nd, with Ashish Raorane 85th in the Malle Moto category. 

The opening stage had seen Carlos Sainz (cars), Toby Price (bikes) and Dmitry Sotnikov, (trucks) take the opening salvo. As for the Indian presence, Joaquim Rodrigues, Sebastian Buhler and CS Santosh finished 22nd, 29th and 43rd for Hero MotoSports. Harith Noah finished 31st and Ashish Raorane’s maiden Dakar Rally started off with an 84th place finish in the Malle Moto category. The third stage will cover 629km as a loop within Wadi Ad-Dawasir.

Formula One

There was plenty of off-track news starting with 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton receiving a knighthood in the United Kingdom Queen’s 2021 New Year Honours list. Aston Martin has also announced that it will be revealing its livery as well as its 2021 challenger in February.

But not everything was rosy as reports suggest that the season opening Australian Grand Prix that’s scheduled for March 21 looks set to be postponed due to concerns of a new strain of the COVID-19 virus. If the season opener does get postponed, Bahrain looks set to kick off the season on March 28.

Indian motorsport

The Indian karting scene sprung back into action with the season opening double header of the MECO-FMSCI National Karting Championship 2020 Rotax Max at the Meco Kartopia circuit in Bangalore. The Micromax category saw Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing) take top honors, with Aditya Suresh Kamat ( Birel Art) and Arafath Sheikh (MSPORT)taking second and third place. The Juniormax class saw Rishon Rajeev ( Birel Art) win over the two Peregrine drivers of Rohaan Madesh and Ishaan Madesh. Heading over to the Seniormax category it was the perfect debut for Narain Karthikeyan’s NK Racing Academy karting team as the Maini brothers of Kush Maini and Arjun Maini made it a 1-2 finish. Suriya Varthan (MSPORT) rounded off the podium.  

The second round saw Ishaan Madesh and Aditya Suresh Kamat repeat the previous round’s finish, with Anuj Arun Velraj (MSPORT) taking third spot in the Micromax category. It was the same story in the Juniormax class as Rishon Rajeev and Rohaan Madesh took 1st and 2nd, with Jaden Rahman Pariat taking the final spot on the podium. Arjun Maini took top honors in the Seniormax class, with Suriya Varthan second and Mihir Avalakki (Birel Art) in third. Racing action will resume on January 7 with the final three rounds of the season.

MotoGP

The dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to rear its ugly head as Gresini Aprilia MotoGP team owner Fausto Gresini was admitted to hospital following a positive COVID-19 test after Christmas. Reports suggest that Gresini is a serious, but stable condition.