INDIA in F1

Tag: Meco

  • Rivaan Dev Preetham retains Micro Max National title; Arafath wins maiden Jr. National title: Karting

    Rivaan Dev Preetham retains Micro Max National title; Arafath wins maiden Jr. National title: Karting

    Chennai, 29 Sept. 2024: Reigning National champion Rivaan Dev Preetham of MSport stamped his authority and showed maturity beyond his 11 years to let go the win in the Final to clinch a more important second National Championship title in the Micro Max category a winning the fifth and final round of the MECO-FMSCI National Karting Championship Rotax Max Classes 2024, jointly organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, at the Madras International Karting Arena (MIKA), here on Sunday.

    In the Senior Max class, Ruhaan Alva (MSport) emerged National champion while Pune’s 12-year-old Arafath Sheikh of Crest Motorsports annexed his maiden crown in the Junior Max category gathering just enough points even as Chennai’s Eshanth Vengatesan, also of MSport, won both the Pre-Finals and Finals. The Bishop School Pune student, Sheikh, was consistent through out the year and watched his win fade away in the final laps, but kept his cool, as he enjoyed a huge lead in the championship table.

    The three National champions qualified to represent India in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Sarno, Italy, from October 19 to 26.

    On a day of exciting action, Rivaan, cheered on by his supporters, had to work hard for his victory in the Pre-Finals, but finished second behind Chennai’s Rehan Khan (MSPORT) in the Finals in a battle that went down to the wire. Rehan overtook Rivaan a couple of corners before the finish for a deserving win.

    Competition in the Junior Max was razor sharp. Eshanth Vengatesan dominated the heats, Pre-Finals and Finals winning by the proverbial country mile starting from pole position. His efforts, though, were not enough to fetch him the championship. Arfath Sheikh had to contend with traffic and some stiff opposition behind the leader, but ultimately, he garnered enough points to clinch the championship.

    Ruhaan Alva, the front-runner in the championship stakes in the Senior Max category, was unlucky not to win the Pre-Finals as he was twice shunted and finished seventh but gained enough points to stay on top of the leaderboard. Chennai’s Varun Hari Praveen led a 1-2 finish for Peregrine Racing with Bengaluru’s Ishaan Madesh.

    In the Finals, Ruhan made a few spots to tuck himself behind leader, fellow-Bengalurean Rohaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing) and after a few failed attempts to overtake, he seemed content with a P2 finish with which he sealed the championship, his second after the maiden win in 2021.  

    The results (Provisional):

    Senior Max (Finals – 15 laps): 1. Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (13:03.772); 2. Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru, MSport) (13:03.909); 3. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (13:04.295).

    Pre-Finals (14 laps): 1. Varun Hari Praveen (Chennai, Peregrine Racing) (12:22.022); 2. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (12:22.127): 3. Akshat Misra (Bengaluru, Crest Motorsports) (12:22.674).

    National champion: Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru, MSport).

    Junior Max (Finals – 14 laps): 1. Eshanth Vengatesan (Chennai, MSport) (11:17.334); 2. Aahil Mecklai (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (11:24.232); 3. Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (11:25.318).

    Pre-Finals (12 laps): 1. Eshanth Vengatesan (Chennai, MSport) (10:22.565); 2. Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (10:27.010); 3. Aarav Dewan (Gurugram, Leapfrog Racing) (10:27.265).

    National champion: Arafath Sheikh (Pune, Crest Motorsports).

    Micro Max (Finals – 12 laps): 1. Rehan Khan R (Chennai, MSport) (11:08.858); 2. Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai, MSport) (11:09.788); 3. Danish Dalmiya (Pune, Rayo Racing) (11:10.120).

    Pre-Finals (10 laps): 1. Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai, MSPORT) ((09:17.686); 2. Rehan Khan R (Chennai, MSPORT) (09:17.774); 3. Hamza Balasinorwala (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (09:17.981).

    National champion: Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai, MSport).

  • Rohaan Madesh wins Junior X30 National title in style

    Rohaan Madesh wins Junior X30 National title in style

    Bengaluru, 18 Sept. 2021: Fourteen-year old Bengaluru racer Rohaan Madesh for once showed plenty of early signs of stability and maturity, as he conquered his maiden Junior National Championship in style, with a race to spare, in the fifth and final round of the X30 Class of the Meco fmsci Indian National Karting Championship title at the Meco Kartopia here on Saturday.

    Jaden R Pariat of Guwahati, fought the battle till the end but conceded the title, with both Madesh brothers winning two races apiece. But the honour of clocking a series of fast times went to 12-year old Ishaan, the younger of the Madesh brothers, who hogged the limelight, with the ‘Fastest Driver of the Day’ tag.

    Not the one to display his moods or emotions, Rohaan broke into a rare smile, for once, and soon disappeared into his own self. Jaden, who almost upset the apple cart of the Bengaluru school student, was disappointed, but was not out. He held his composure, digested the result, sat in silence for a while, but soon recovered and walked to the other end of the straight and found Rohaan, near the car parking and congratulated him. Jaden, a student of  Pathways International School in Gurgaon, showed that the camaraderie prevails and “vowed silently” to come back and win the Championship next year.

    Jaden R Partiat, after a tough battle at Meco Kartopia becomes vice-champion in Junior Class of the X30 Karting Nationals on Saturday.

    Clinching the National title in the Junior X30 Class Championship after his second win in Race 3 today, Rohaan Madesh took an unbeatable lead and won with a race to sapre. A confident Jaden R Pariat, scored 134 points in the end and fell short by a whisker as Rohaan posted 146 points while the “little hero” Ishaan Madesh, who belted fast lap after lap in the morning, shod on cool MRF tyres, did make-up for the disappointment of Thursday, but had to be content with a third place in the championship in his Junior debut year with 130 points.

    On a tense Saturday that made everyone at Meco Kartopia to be on their toes, the day began with two practice sessions and the qualifiers for Cadet and Junior Class. With the Championship interestingly poised in both the classes, Juniors had a menu of all four races while the Cadet’s played two races today and need to take to the track on Sunday to finish two more. Pune’s Nikhilesh has nothing to lose and need only to finish both the races to clinch the Championship, but he says, “I am going for it. I want to win every race and I am game for it,” he told this writer. Only a silly mistake or a DNF can provide an unlikely chance to young challenger Arafath Sheikh, only 9, but has enough experience, as he started karting at the age of 5 in UAE. Fearless Arafath had, in fact, topped the time sheets and posted the fastest time in the Cadet class going under the 63-sec mark, at this level.

    Likewise, in the Junior section, it is Ishaan Madesh, the little bundle of joy, who is the hero of the day was on a song. He bagged more points than the big boys today. The knowledgeable karter, pelted out lap after quick lap for three laps in the free practice session and qualifying and some lap times were better than what the Seniors did yesterday. The two-feet 3″ karter, 3 years back, whom this writer watched, having fun on a skate board, had brute speed and is set to go places, if nurtured properly and if he keeps himself away from distractions while graduating to the senior level. Even in Race 3, he logged another point.111sec but the magic mark of going under the 56-sec just did not happen today. The track record by Yash Aradhya, 54.117sec, set in 2018 did take a beating a year later, but it will take some time for the records to be broken as the karts, tyres and tack temperatures need to be ideal.

    Saturday’s Junior Class Provisional Results: (1.2km Meco Kartopia)

    Race 1 (12 laps): 1. #15 Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:18.748); 2. #18 Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (11:25.312); 3. #17 Sai Shiva Makesh (Pune) (11:26.817); 4. #12 Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:26.979); 5. #11 Abhay M (Bengaluru) (11:27.768).

    Fastest lap: Ishaan Madesh 56.215. Grid: 10.

    Race 2 (9 laps): 1. #15 Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (08:36.413); 2. #15 Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (08:36.522; 3. #18 Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (08:37.820); 4. #16 Sai Shiva Makesh (Pune) (12:06.690); 5. #12 Akshat Misra (Bengaluru) (12:07.252); 6. #11 Abhay M (Bengaluru) (12:06.220); 7. Tarun M (Bengaluru) (11:39.0516);

    Fastest lap: Ishaan Madesh 56.192. Grid: 10.

    Race 3 (12 laps): 1. #15 Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:23.385); 2. #15 Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:29.617; 3. Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (11:30.922); 4. #16 Sai Shiva Makesh (Pune) (11:32.327); 5. #12 Akshat Misra (Bengaluru) (11:32.129); 6. Tarun M (Bengaluru) (11:37.001);

    Fastest lap: Ishaan Madesh 56.111. Grid: 10.

    Race 4 (12 laps): 1. #17 Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) ( 11:19.882); 2. #15 Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:22.130); 3. #18 Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (11:26.967; 4. #16 Sai Shiva Makesh (Pune) (11:27.283); 5. #12 Akshat Misra (Bengaluru) (11:28.262); 6. #14 Tarun M (Bengaluru) (11:37.131);

    Fastest Lap:   Ishaan Madesh 55.972. Grid: Ten karters.

  • Nikhilesh Raju bags Round 2 honours in Cadet class

    Nikhilesh Raju bags Round 2 honours in Cadet class

    Bengaluru, 26 August 2021: Nikhilesh Raju, a 6th class student from Bengaluru, won three of the four races to emerge champion of Round 2 at the Meco fmsci National Karting Championship X30 class at the 1.21 Meco Kartopia here on Thursday.

    The 11-year Vibgyor High School karter impressed with his driving skills and won three races and finished fourth in Race 2 to bag 35 points out of a possible 40 in Round 2 on Thursday. Arafath Sheikh of Pune took Race 2 and came second all the three other races. Though he set the fastest laps in three of the four races, he could only get 31 points and is second in the Championship table. Another school girl from Bengaluru, Zaarah Misra took the third place thrice and is third in the points table.

    The four third round races will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

    Round 2 (At 1.2km Meco Kartopia, Bengaluru)

    Cadet Class

    Race 1 (10 laps): 1. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:56.783); 2. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (11:02.144); 3. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:11.585); 4. #8 Shrili Manish Mistry (Gujarat) (11:18.667); 5. #3 Hrydan Patel (Gujarat) (11:30.206); Fastest lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:04.340; DNF after 5 laps #6 Ateev Khandelval (Gujarat). Grid 5 karters.

    Race 2 (10 laps): 1. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (11:06.221); 2. #8 Shrili Manish Mistry (Gujarat) (11:18.288); 3. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:24.746); 4. #3 Hrydan Patel (Gujarat) (9 laps 11:21.108); 5. . #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10-laps 11:06.334) 4 position penalty for Art. #18 ‘edge into’; Fastest Lap: 1:04.415 by Nikhilesh Raju. Grid 6 karters.

    Race 3 (10 Laps): 1. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:44.573); 2. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (10:46.400); 3. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:16.815; 3-sec penalty for false start); 4. #6 Ateev Khandelval (Gujarat) (11:17.512; 10-sec penalty for avoidable collision); 5. #3 Hrydan Patel (Gujarat) (9 laps – 11:47.522); 6. #8 Shrili Manish Mistry (Gujarat) (11:19.602; 2-positon penalty added for avoidable collision); Fastest lap: Fastest lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.498; Grid: 6.

    Race 4 (10 laps): 1. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:43.483); 2. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (10:44.433); 3. #6 Ateev Khandelval (Gujarat) (11:02.264); 4. #1 Zaarah Misra (Bengaluru) (11:03.516); 5. #8 Shrili Manish Mistry (Gujarat) (11:19.936); 6. #3 Hrydan Patel (Gujarat) (9 laps – 11:06.125); Fastest lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.560; Grid: 6 karters.