JOIN USBengaluru has seen an emergence of bright talent in the field of karting in the recent past.
With promising youngsters like former national champion Yash Aradhya, Rubeel M Saleem and Akash Gowda rising in the fast lane, it was heartening to see Meco Racing, an academy run by the former racing driver Akbar Ebrahim, opening a karting track of international standard in the city.
Measuring a length of 1.2 kms, the new track — in the outskirts of the city — has been certified by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (FMSCI) and is awaiting the green light from its Asian body.
“This track will give the sport a lot of bost and we hope that more and more youngsters use this track to polish their skills in future,” said Bharath Raj, the FMSCI chief.
Supported by JK Tyre, the track is developed as per Ebrahim’s vision and will be used by Meco Racing as its home circuit.
“One of the added advantage of this track is that it has an academy associated with it. This will assure that the racers who come here will be under the watchful eyes of the coaches and trainers.” he added.
With a width of nine meters, the track can accommodate a maximum of 35 karts in a given race. Built on 10 acres of land, it features 11 corners and a straight measuring up to 220 meters. “There is a lot of technical aspect that has gone into making of this track. With five hairpin corners and six fast corners, the track also provides many overtaking opportunities, something that should encourage the racer to go full out,” said Ebrahim. “Today’s races have shown us that the track is fantastic in terms of speed that one can generate here.
A best lap time of 41.009 seconds with an average race time of 70 km/hr; and a top speed of 120 km/hr. That are impressive numbers.”
In September, the track will host the fourth and fifth round of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship, while talks are on to bring one round of the Asian Karting Championships to India with Bengaluru being the possible host.