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.

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.