Ameya Bafna wins the first round of National Karting Championship

Round 1 of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Karting Championship got off to a flying start at the Lahari Karting Circuit outside Hyderabad. 43 of India’s best kart racers battled for glory in India’s highest level of karting.

Published On Jul 01, 2014 10:08 IST

Published OnJul 01, 2014 10:08 IST

Last Updated OnJul 01, 2014 10:08 IST

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The senior category saw the toughest competition with 9 former Champions on the grid! Such was the intensity, that the top 15 drivers had their fastest lap times within a second. It was Nayan Chatterjee of Rayo Racing who bagged pole position after qualifying with a time of 29.77. The positions of the heats decide the starting order of the pre finals. Another Rayo Racing driver – Ameya Bafna emerged as the best driver after the heats. He started on pole for the pre final after a 3rd place and victory in the 2 heats.

The start of the pre final saw 17 karts hurtling into the first corner. Inspite of starting from Pole, Ameya lost his lead into the first corner, while Chittesh Mandody of Kolhapur from Mohite Racing went on to win the pre final followed by Ameya. Dhruv Mohite also of Kolhapur came in 3rd.

Ameya had a brilliant start in the final. He managed to grab the lead at the start & immediately pulled out a lead of half a second over the next 3 laps. This half second advantage of Ameya would prove to be crucial as Ameya managed to hold the gap till the end of the race & won, ahead of the Kolhapur racing duo of Chittesh Mandody & Krishna Mahadik.

In the junior category, the final was won by Bangalore driver Akash Gowda of Meco racing. Rayo Racing’s Aaroh Ravindra had a strong weekend to finish 2nd. In 3rd was Khush Maini from Bangalore of Dark Don Racing.

The micro max category was won by Yash Aradhya, followed by Paul Francis & Shahan Mohsin of Meco Racing.

It was a tough weekend. I wasn’t the fastest, but we had a good setup for the final. The start was crucial & I was consistent. It’s my first win in over a year so it means a lot” said a satisfied Ameya after the race. Ameya, the 2012 National Champion, now leads the National Championship by 2 points from Chittesh.

Championship Standings (Senior) –

1. Ameya Bafna (Rayo Racing), Mumbai – 41 points

2. Chittesh Mandody (Mohite Racing), Kolhapur – 39 points

3. Krishnaraj Mahadik (Mohite Racing), Kolhapur – 34 points.

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Rahul

<p>Being born and brought up in a family that has been a part of the Automotive industry for over seven decades, Rachit has cars in his blood. Four wheelers are his childhood love, and he has grown up playing with bolts and spanners. To add more value to this passion, he studied automobile engineering and even karted at National level competitions.</p> <p>Soon after that, he got into motoring journalism- <em>where began the process of testing and evaluating cars.</em> He has driven a wide range of cars beginning from Tata Nano to the Aston Martins, most of the cars that are currently sold in the Indian car market.  Apart from this, he has also done many long road trips, and shall continue to do so. Rachit was one of the first journalists to take a Nano across the Golden Quadrilateral.  </p> <div> <div id=":113" style="clear:both;"><img style="height: 8px; width: 20px;" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" /></div> </div>Read more