FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship: Day 1 Report

It was a day full of action at Mohite Racing Academy in Kolhapur where the final round of the FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship are underway. Day 1 of the race weekend had Senior Max driver Ricky Donison and Micro Max star Shahan Ali taking pole positions for both Heat 1 and Heat 2. Being the fifth and final round of the championship, the results of this race weekend will determine the winner of this season.

Beginning with the Junior Max category, the first heat was won by Chirag Ghorpade from Bangalore. For the second heat, he opted to pull out from the race in the fifth lap in order to save his wet tyres for the tomorrow’s final race event. Heat 2 was won by Mira Erda of Erda Racing who also happens to be the only female karter in the championship. Her lead was closely followed by Aditya Swaminathan and Bhragav Pradyumna, both representing MECO Racing.

Moving to the Senior Max category, the champion of the day was Ricky Donison who represents BPC Racing from Bangalore. He managed to take the lead from Vishnu Prasad (MECO Racing) during qualifying. Ricky built a strong lead from the second lap itself allowing him a clean race throughout by clocking the best lap timing of 51.320 seconds in Heat 1.

During Heat 2, Ricky managed to be the quickest off the starting line and held the number one spot till he crossed the chequered flag. His tally currently stands at 324 points, just four points shy of the leader Vishnu Prasad.

The city’s local hero Dhruv Mohite managed to claim P2 and P3 in Heat 1 and Heat 2 respectively. He currently has 314 championship points and will be aiming to win the championship on Day 2 of the final round on Sunday.

Last but not the least, in the Micro Max category, Shahan Ali of MECO Racing was the shining star of the day as he managed to claim a podium finish for both Heat 1 and Heat 2 races. Ali had to deal with lots of pressure during Heat 1 as Aadityanash K (RAYO Racing) was continuously on his tail trying to find a gap to streak past him. The lad managed to remain calm and recorded the fastest lap of 57.505 seconds in spite of slippery conditions on the track. During Heat 2, Shahan Ali comfortably managed to win the race, followed by Arjun Nair in second and Aadityanash in third.

Here's a quick snapshot of the results of the fifth round of FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship (Day 1):

JUNIOR MAX

Heat 1: Chirag Ghorpade 1; Manav Sharma 2; Nirmal Umashankar 3

Heat 2: Mira Erda 1; Aditya Swaminathan 2; Bhargav Pradyumna 3

SENIOR MAX

Heat 1: Ricky Donison 1; Dhruv Mohite 2; Vishnu Prasad 3

Heat 2: Ricky Donison 1; Nayan Chatterjee 2; Dhruv Mohite 3

MICRO MAX

Heat 1: Shahan Ali 1; Aadityansh 2; Arjun Nair 3

Heat 2: Shahan Ali 1; Arjun Nair 2; Aadityansh 3