JK Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship

Vishnu Prasad, Ameya Bafna, Chittesh Mandody and Nayan Chatterjee. Between them these four drivers have accounted for wins and championships in not just the JK Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship but also in racing categories under the JK Tyre motorsport umbrella.

They were all present in the Senior Max category at the opening round of the championship held at Lahiri Resorts outside Hyderabad.

However, after all the dust from the heats and the pre-finals had set, it was just Bafna and Mandody out of that group of four who were classified in the top five in the final on Sunday.

While Bafna’s win in the Senior Max class was the desired result for his team boss – Rayomand Banajee of Rayo Racing – who expressed the typical dissatisfaction that any racer does at an ‘incomplete’ victory after Nayan Chatterjee failed to make it to the top three.

Chatterjee took pole in qualifying for the Senior Max class but confusion at the start of the first heat lead to him ignoring the call to go around for another formation lap rather than shooting off into the distance. It was a mistake that led to him being relegated to ninth in the final classification but recover to second place in heat two behind Bafna.

A 1-2 on Sunday was what Banajee had hoped for but a win for Bafna was fairly satisfactory compensation.

The defending Senior Max champion Vishnu Prasad had less of a happy outing though. Seventh was the best he could manage in qualifying and fifth and 13th places was where he finished in the two heats. He failed to make it into the top five in the final as well while the driver who he prized the title away from last year took the top spot.

Kush Maini, younger brother of Arjun, has been considered as a pre-season favourite for the Junior Max title but going by the events of the weekend he will have a tough time keeping Akash Gowda at bay. Gowda snatched victory in the first heat in wet conditions after making the right call on tyres and took the win in the final after Maini was penalised and dropped to third place.

Unlike the top two categories, the Micro Max category was made a little more predictable with Yash Aradhya dominating throughout and taking the win in the final to make it a sweep of the top five positions for MECO Racing. Less than half a second separated Aradhya from Paul Francis and Shahan Ali Moshin at the finish line in the final. The Micro Max category field is not yet as large as it should be but hopefully the talent spotters at MECO Racing and Rayo Racing can change that.