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Karting off the honours
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Nail biting races characterised the opening round of the MRF-MAI National Karting Championship at Chettipalayam, writes Rayan Rozario
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Photo K. Ananthan
ACTION ON THE TRACKS At Kari Motor Speedway
The opening round of the MRF-MAI Indian National Karting Championship that concluded at the Kari Motor Speedway (KMS) in Chettipalayam, near Coimbatore, had all the thrills but not the crowd. There were only a few media men and motor sport enthusiasts to cheer the youngsters who had travelled many miles to showcase their skills.
Best of the lot
The KMS has played host to several karting and road racing championships over the last couple of years. It was at this track that the Bumgarner family (Edward and Michelle) from Philippines proved their superiority in the JK Tyre Asia Zone National Kart Open Championship. But, it was the case of the toppers taking it all. The races held last weekend turned out to be the best to have happened at this circuit. It had the handful of spectators guessing to the end.
Battle of the brothers
The top class saw the participants involved in two races and both ended up in nail biting finishes. Akshay Patel of Chennai finished the day on a bright note winning the title but not before sweating it out with his brother Aditya Patel and favourite Ameya Walavalkar of Mumbai. It was a real thrill watching the brothers fighting for space to outpace pole leader and favourite Ameya. Sadly, midway through, Aditya's engine gave up and his brother took over. Even as Akshay was busy burning up the track, his father Kamlesh Patel was shooting all the action. "Precious moments," he said. He was disappointed, though, that his eldest son could not complete the race. "I expected a one-two finish," said Kamlesh, himself a versatile racer in his heydays. Aditya impressed in the opening race and collected 25 points. Nikhil Kashyap of Bangalore and Kaushik Khona won the INKC-Kadet and Karting Champions Trophy classes after a tough fight. The second round is scheduled in Hyderabad (October 13-15) followed by the third in Goa (November 10-12), Nagpur (November 24-26) and Mumbai (December 8-10). The idea behind conducting the event is to bring in the manufacturers and teams and help professional karting grow. The show organisers, MRF, were pleased with the performance and promised to bring in more such action and spectators in the years to come.
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