Arjun warms up nicely for final

The 13-year-old, however, managed to fix that with an electrifying drive which helped him claim top honours in the second pre-final and sit pretty on pole for the final of the fifth and final round of the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Max karting championship at the Meco Ministry of Sport track.

Maini drove remarkably well in the opening sections of the first pre-final (12 minutes, 35.916 seconds), but Rayo Racing’s Jehan Daruvala, who partially benefitted from Maini’s overzealous second half of racing, stole the thunder with a clinical demonstration of aggressive driving in the 18-lap race. The Mumbai-born driver pushed his kart to the limit and flashed past the chequered flag in 12:35.463.

In the second pre-final, Daruvala got off to a blinding start and looked set to go all the way. But as luck had it, he lost focus and crashed into the tyre barricade on corner five. Meanwhile, Maini zipped ahead to take the lead.

Just when Krishnaraj D Mahadik was warming up to the idea of finishing second, Daruvala, who had by now slipped to sixth, set super quick times and climbed his way up with a brilliant run to sit on Mahadik’s heel for more than five laps.

On the final lap, Maini cruised past the finish line in 12:35.639, but the battle for the second spot was hotting up and the pressure eventually got to Mahadik. The Kohlapur driver went wide on the final left-hander, 50 odd metres from the finish line, while Daruvala took the inside line to finish second.  

Results (all pre-finals): Senior Max (20 laps): Race I: Ameya Bafna (Rayo Racing, 14:00.419) 1; Chittesh S Mandody (Mohite’s Racing, 14:09.966) 2; Raj Bharath (Meco Racing, 14:12.073) 3. Race II: Vishnu Prasad (Meco Racing, 14:08.814) 1; C Mandody (14:12.079) 2; R Bharath (14:12.079) 3.

Junior Max (18 laps): Race I: Jehan Daruvala (Rayo, 12:35.463) 1; Arjun  Maini (Maini Racing, 12:35.916) 2; Tarun Reddy (Meco, 12:52.765) 3. Race II: A Maini (12:35.639) 1; J Daruvala (12:45.303) 2; Krishnaraj D Mahadik (Mohite’s, 12:45.531) 3. 

Micro Max (12 laps): Race I: Kush Maini (Maini Racing, 9:25.644) 1; Abhirath Shetty (Meco, 9:29.400) 2; Mira Kirit Erda (Mohite’s, 9:29.775). Race II: Abhirath (9:29.867) 1; K Maini (9:30.120) 2; Mira (9:30.352) 3.