Bengaluru, October 23: Rayo Racing completed a grand 1-2-3 in the Meco FMSCI National Rotax Karting Championship over the weekend here in Bengaluru, with Aditya Patnaik, Raiden Samervel and Krish Gupta making it a clean sweep for the team in the Senior Category. Incidentally, all three racers are from Mumbai. Hamza Balasinorwala also came second in the Micro category to cap off a great fourth round for Rayo Racing.
In the Senior final, Bengaluru’s Akshat Mishra (Peregrine Racing) pulled away at the start to build on his pole position. Aditya Patnaik started fourth and soon made a good move into third. Up ahead, Bengaluru’s Abhay M (Birel Art), running second, attempted to pass Akshat, giving Aditya an opportunity to take advantage of the melee and slip into the lead.
A few laps later, however, Akshat clawed back and made an attempt for the lead, down the inside of Aditya at Corner 4. A mega battle ensued with the lead changing five times in six corners! Meanwhile the other Rayo Racing members worked their way up the order. Raiden started eighth while Krish started sixth but fell back to eighth after making his way to fourth.
Aditya Patnaik eventually won the Senior Final, completing 16 laps with a total time of 16:12.122, ahead of his teammates Raiden Samervel and Krish Gupta, a stunnin 1-2-3 for Rayo Racing. Abhay M received a penalty which dropped him to fourth. Raaj Bakhru drove well to finish fifth after starting down in ninth.
The Micro Final began with Bengaluru’s Darsh Nawargaria winning from Pole for MSport. Pune’s Danish Dalmiya of Rayo Racing started third on the grid and after a fantastic start moved to second. However, contact with the leader saw him crash into the barriers from second.
Rivaan Dev Preetham inherited the second place. Meanwhile, Mumbai’s Hamza Balasinorwala from Rayo Racing started seventh on the grid. He steadily made his way up to third, before closing the gap into Rivaan who was running second. Hamza finally passed Rivaan to move up into second, where he finished the race, ahead of Rivaan.
The Junior category saw pole sitter Ishaan Madhesh of Bengaluru (Peregrine Racing) win comfortably from Pole ahead of his teammate Nikhlesh Raju also from Bengaluru. Pune’s Arafath Shaikh rounded off the podium with a well deserved third place.
Rayo Racing’s 1-2-3 in the National Championship is their first 1-2-3 in the Senior category. Aditya’s performance sees him extended his championship lead ahead of Abhay M.
Race Results –
Senior –
1. Aditya Patnaik (Rayo Racing. Mumbai); 2. Raiden Samervel (Rayo Racing. Mumbai); 3. Krish Gupta (Rayo Racing. Mumbai)
Junior –
1. Ishaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing. Bengaluru); 2. Nikhilesh Raju (Peregrine Racing. Bengaluru); 3. Arafath Sheikh (Crest Motorsport, Pune)
Micro –
1. Darsh Nawargaria (MSport. Bengaluru); 2. Hamza Balasinorwala (Rayo Racing. Mumbai); 3. Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSport. Chennai)
