Ameya, Kush, Paul on top in JK National Karting heats

Paul Francis, Kush Maini and Ameya Bafna scorched the track in their respective categories in the qualifying rounds of the 11th JK Tyre FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship at the Lahiri Resorts here Saturday.

On a day of mixed weather, when the drivers had to switch between dry and wet tryes, India's future in motorsports put up an exciting display of karting.

In the Micro Max category (7-12 years), 12-year-old Bangalore boy Francis, driving for Meco Racing, won both the heats convincingly and will start on pole in Sunday's pre-final race. In second position will be Chirag Ghorpade of debutant BPC Racing, Bangalore, who finished third and fourth respectively in the two heats while Meco Racing's Yash Aradhya will start from third. Aradhya finished sixth place and third in the two heats.

In the Junior Max category (13-16 years), it will be Dark Don Racing's Kush Maini who will begin on top of the grid after finishing second in the first heat and winning the second. In second place will be Meco Racing's Akash Gowda, who won the first heat and finished fifth in the second. BPC Racing's Ricky Donison will be third with a fourth and second place finish respectively.

Ameya of Rayo Racing drove a brilliant race in the second heat of the Senior Max category (15 years and above), overhauling grid leaders Ashwin Bharath Sandeep of Dark Don Racing and Krishnaraaj Mahadik of Mohite's Racing to take the chequered flag. His win, coupled with a third place finish in the first heat, will see him take pole position on the starting grid for the pre-final round.

In second position will be Mohite's Racing's Kirshnaraaj Mahadik, who finished second in the first heat and third in the second, while in third position will be Dark Don Racing's Ashwin Bharath Sandeep, who won the first heat and finished sixth in the second.

A brief but heavy shower before the start of the first heat changed the status of the heat into a wet race and while all the karts in the Senior Max category went in for a change of tyres, Sandeep's team decided to stay with the dry tyres and the gamble paid off. Sandeep's best lap timing was more than two seconds faster than second placed Mahadik and he finished the 15-lap race 8.380 seconds ahead of Mahadik.

However, Sandeep could not repeat his feat in the second heat as Bafna was off like a rocket and overhauled him in the first lap itself. After five laps, Nayan Chaterjee overhauled Sandeep and before the race concluded he was pushed to sixth position as Mahadik, Dhruv Mohite and then Arya Gandhi came better on the sharper corners.

Following are the final positions:

Senior Max Category: 1 Ameya Bafna (Rayo Racing); 2 Krishnaraaj Mahadik (Mohite's Racing); 3 Ashwin Bharath Sandeep (Dark Don Racing); 4 Nayan Chatterjee (Rayo Racing); 5 Dhruv Mohite (Mohite's Racing).

Junior Max Category: 1 Kush Maini (Dark Don Racing); 2 Akash Gowda (MECO Racing); 3 Ricky Donison (BPC Racing); 4 Aaroh Ravindra (Rayo Racing); 5 Pradyuman Vipul Danigond (Mohite's Racing).

Micro Max Category: 1 Paul Francis (MECO Racing); 2 Chirag Ghorpade (BPC Racing); 3 Yash Aradhya (MECO Racing); 4 Shahan Ali Mohsin (MECO Racing); 5 Nikhil Bohra (MECO Racing).