Suriya Varthan (centre), Arjun Nair (left) and Bala Prasath at the podium.
Coimbatore’s Suriya Varathan, Bengaluru’s Arjun Nair and Chennai’s Nirmal Umashankar are poised for a royal battle in the final twos rounds of the Meco-FMSCI National Karting Championship (X30 Classes) over this weekend in Bengaluru.
Suriya Varathan has a compelling lead in the Senior class, having amassed 70 points in the first two rounds held last Saturday-Sunday. He had won three out of the four races in Round 1 and two out of the four in Round 2 to be in the best position to claim this year’s championship.
The championship is the first national-level sporting event organised in the country since the COVID-induced lockdowns in March. All sanitising and social distancing norms are being followed to ensure the well-being of the young racers.
Arjun Nair managed two second-places in Round 1 and two first-places in Round 2 to have 55 points in his kitty. He and Nirmal Umashankar (51 points) will need a massive change in fortunes to topple Suriya from the perch in the last two rounds.
The Junior Class too seems sorted, with Bengaluru’s Ruhaan Alva sweeping all the eight races in the two rounds for an overwhelming 80 points. Citymate Rohaan Madesh followed him past the chequered flag in each of the races to have 56 points in his kitty. He will need to do one better than Ruhaan in all the remaining races to earn the chance of annexing the crown.
In the Cadet Class too, another Bengaluru lad, Ishaan Madesh, enjoys a handy 9-point lead over Pune’s Sai Shiva Makesh. Ishaan won all 4 races in Round 1 but had a disastrous start in Round, getting a DNF in Race 1 and a sixth-place finish in Race 2 before regaining his winning touch.
