Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals: Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai), Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) and Rivaan Dev Preetam (Chennai) emerged champions in their respective categories as the fifth and final round of the National Karting Championship 2023 which concluded at the Meco Kartopia circuit here on Saturday.Aditya Patnaik (Rayo Racing) topped the Senior Max category with a tally of 408 points, just ahead of Bengaluru’s Akshat Mishra (396) of Peregrine Racing despite finishing fourth in both Pre-Final and Final races. Pune’s Arjun Chheda (Crest Motorsports) was third in the championship with 387 points.
Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing), who had dominated the weekend’s outings, finished the season with 439 points in the Junior Max category while fellow Bengalurean and teammate Nikhilesh Raju ended up second, 26 points adrift, but only three ahead of Gurugram’s Hunner Singh (Birel Art India).
Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSPORT) took the title in the Micro Max category garnering a total of 413 points, just two clear of team-mate, Bengaluru’s Darsh Nawalgaria while Zephaan Ardeshir (Mumbai, Peregrine Racing) ended up third on 407.
The three National champions will represent India in the 23rd Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals 2023 scheduled to be held in Bahrain from December 2 to 9.
Earlier, Peregrine Racing made a clean sweep of all three Final races as Akshat Mishra, Nikhilesh Raju and Zephaan Ardeshir won in the Senior, Junior and Micro Max categories, respectively, on a day that witnessed close racing up and down the grids.
In the 14-lap Senior Max race, Akshat Mishra nursed his P1 position to the finish while Mumbai’s Rayo Racing pair of Raaj Bakhru and Raiden Samervel came in second and third, respectively. Aditya Patnaik was fourth. The top four had finished in the same order in the Pre-Final race held earlier.
Nikhilesh Raju did well to win a very close Final race ahead of Ishaan Madesh in the Junior Max Final race after being placed third in the Pre-Final. Gurugram’s Hunner Singh (Birel Art India) completed the podium.
In the final race, Zephaan Ardeshir took the honours, while Chennai’s Rehan Khan (Momentum Motorsports) was second and Mumbai’s Hamza Balasinorwala (Rayo Racing) third.
However, Hamza was docked a three-second penalty for a false start and dropped to fifth. Consequently, Rivaan Dev Preetham moved up a spot to third.
Zephaan did well to shrug off a five-second penalty in the Pre-Final and fought his way to victory. Championship leader going into Round 5, Darsh Nawalgaria was a distant seventh after receiving a five-second penalty for an infringement (front bumper).
The results:
Senior Max – Final (16 laps): 1. Akshat Mishra (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (13mins, 17.603secs); 2. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (13:19.242); 3. Raiden Samervel (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (13:22.230).
Pre-final (14 laps): 1. Akshat Mishra (13:17.603); 2. Raaj Bakhru (13:19.242); 3. Raiden Samervel (13:22.230).
Junior Max – Final (14 laps): 1. Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (13:15.296); 2. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (13:15.309); 3. Hunner Singh (Gurugram, Birel Art India) (13:16.129).
Pre-final (12 laps): 1. Ishaan Madesh (11:21.335); 2. Arafath Sheikh (Pune, Crest Motorsport) (11:21.869); 3. Nikhilesh Raju (11:22.345).
Micro Max – Final (12 laps): 1. Zephaan Ardeshir (Mumbai, Peregrine Racing) (12:21.979); 2. Rehan Khan R (Chennai, Momentum Motorsports) (12:22.447); 3. Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai, MSPORT) (12:24.874).
Pre-final (10 laps): 1. Rehan Khan R (10:05.956); 2. Hamza Balasinorwala (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (10:09.267); 3. Zephaan Ardeshir (10:10.667).
