Bengaluru, Sep 15 (IANS) Mumbai’s Krish Gupta led a double podium for Rayo Racing as he topped the Finals in the Senior category in the fourth round of the MECO-FMSCI National Karting Championship Rotax Max Classes with SIDVIN Energy Engineering as the Presenting Sponsor and MRF Tyres as the partner sponsor, which concluded at the Meco Kartopia circuit here on Sunday.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the performance of Chennai schoolboy Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSPORT) who yet again wrote his own script while dominating the Mini Max category where he swept to P1 in all the sessions that included two Heats, the Pre-Final and the Finals to consolidate his top position on the leaderboard. He leads Faridabad’s Yatharth Gaur (Leapfrog Racing) by 32 points after four rounds. To top it all, Rivaan set a track lap record of 57.991 seconds around the 1.2 Kms circuit in the Pre-Finals session.

Krish Gupta upstaged the Senior Max field that included favourite and championship leader Bengaluru’s Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing) who finished fourth. Krish, who started the race from fifth on the grid, made places for a win and thus, picked up crucial points. In P2 was Arjun Vijay Chheda (Crest Motorsports) from Pune. Aahil Mecklai, also from Mumbai and Rayo Racing, completed the podium in a thrilling race.

Until the Final, it was Ishaan Madesh who had dominated by topping both the Heats and the Pre-Finals, but the Bengalurean, having started the Finals from pole position, got involved in an incident that saw him lose track position and finish fourth. The result notwithstanding, Ishaan continues to head the points table, albeit only two points ahead of Arjun Vijay Chheda.

Another Pune youngster, Arafath Sheikh (Crest Motorsports) won both the Finals and the Pre-Final to underline his supremacy in the Junior class as did Shiv Tummala (Peregrine Racing) from Bengaluru in the Micro Max category.

The Round-4 performance helped Arafath to move within 30 points of leader Eshanth Vengatesan (MSPORT) from Chennai who finished fourth in Pre-Finals and fifth in the Finals. In second position on the points table is Kozhikode’s Shonal Kunimal (Birel Art India).

The Championship leaders, Rivaan Dev Preetham (Mini Max), Eshanth Vengatesan (Junior Max) and Ishaan Madesh (Senior Max) have been nominated for the RMC Grand Finals to be held at the Shakir circuit in Bahrain from November 29 to December 6.

Results:

Senior Max (Finals – 18 laps): 1. Krish Gupta (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (16mins, 57.541secs); 2. Ajun Vijay Chheda (Pune, Crest Motorsports) (16:58.849); 3. Aahil Mecklai (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (17:00.784). Pre-Final (16 laps): 1. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (13:17.191); 2. Arjun Vijay Chheda (Pune, Crest Motorsports) (13:19.777); 3. Aahil Mecklai (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (13:20.993)

Junior Max (Finals – 16 laps): 1. Arafat Sheikh (Pune, Crest Motorsports) (15:18.506); 2. Kiaan Shah (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (15:20.876); 3. Kairav Roberson (Chennai, MSPORT) (15:29.883). Pre-Final (14 laps): 1. Arafat Sheikh (Pune, Crest Motorsports) (13:17.485); 2. Kiaan Shah (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (13:23.874); 3. Rishik Rohit Reddy (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (13:24.370).

Mini Max (Finals – 14 laps): 1. Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai, SPORT) (14:43.682); 2. Rehan Khan Rasheed (Chennai, Momentum Motorsports) (14:43.917); 3. Hamza Balasinorwala (Mumbai, Crest Motorsports) (14:45.207). Pre-Final (12 laps): 1. Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai, SPORT) (11:47.950); 2. Rehan Khan Rasheed (Chennai, Momentum Motorsports) (11:49.623); 3. Hamza Balasinorwala (Mumbai, Crest Motorsports) (11:52.052).

Micro Max (Finals): 1. Shiv Tummala (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (12:21.437); 2. Shiv Neel (Coimbatore, MSPORT) (12:22.231); 3. Rudra Pratap Singh (Gurugram, Leapfrog Racing) (12:24.640). Pre-Final: 1. Shiv Tummala (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (12:13.427); 2. Shiv Neel (Coimbatore, MSPORT) (12:16.613); 3. Arshi Gupta (Faridabad, Leapfrog Racing) (12:16.703).

–IANS

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