KOLHAPUR: A large group of local people cheering, karts clocking speeds of almost 100kmph, and a well-laid track. The description seems apt for a motorsport competition taking place in Bengaluru, Chennai and Coimbatore. But, Mohite’s Racing Circuit, located just outside Kolhapur, proved to be the best when it comes to hosting a grand spectacle like the final round of the 13th JK Tyre FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship on Sunday.
Ricky Donison (BPC Racing), starting from pole, retained the Senior Max (age above 16) title by winning the final race of the season in style, finishing a good six seconds ahead of the second-placed Nayan Chatterjee (Meco Racing). The latter’s brother Mrinal (Meco Racing) finished third.
Local boy Dhruv Mohite (Mohite’s Racing) failed to convert the form he had shown in the pre-finals earlier in the day — where he finished second — and ended up fifth after crashing into championship leader Vishnu Prasad (Meco Racing).
After the race, Donison revealed that he will race in the USF 2000 series in the US next year. “I have already signed up for a team, and I’m looking forward to it,” exclaimed the champion, who was trailing Prasad by a solitary point going into the final race. On Saturday, he had revealed to Express that racing in the Indycar series is his dream.
Shahan Ali Mohsin (Meco Racing), the defending champion in the Micro Max (age 7-12) category, was in no mood to let go of his title, and won the pre-final race with ease.
Although he was trumped by the resurgent Ruhaan Alva (Birel Racing) in the final, he gathered 86 points in the last two races of the season to seal the deal. Shahan looked invincible, but Alva proved the notion wrong and propelled himself to an easy win in the final. “In the end, winning the championship matters, which I did. I am happy with the result,” the Agra lad said after being asked about his performance.
Results (Final race): Micro Max: 1. Ruhaan Alva 14:27.957s, 2. Shahan Ali Mohsin 14:31.601s, 3. Arjun Nair 14:41.441s; Junior Max: 1. Manav Sharma 15:49.649s, 2. Chirag Ghorpade 15:49.865s, 3. Jonathan Kuriakose 15:51.975s; Senior Max: 1. Ricky Donison 17:20.936s, 2. Nayan Chatterjee 17:26.727s, 3. Mrinal Chatterjee 17:50.086s.
Final Standings: Micro Max: 1. Shahan Mohsin Ali (434 pts), 2. Ruhaan Alva (409 pts), 3. Arjun Nair (408 pts); Junior Max: 1. Manav Sharma (423 pts), 2. Yash Aradhya (403 pts), 3. Chirag Ghorpade (399 pts); Senior Max: 1. Ricky Donison (413 pts), 2. Vishnu Prasad (408 pts), 3. Nayan Chatterjee (397 pts).