Raiden Samervel & Nirvaan Chandna Bag Podiums In AutoInc Asia Max Challenge 2019

Indian karting racers Raiden Samervel and Nirvaan Chandna of Team Rayo Racing put up a brilliant show bagging podiums in Round 4 of the AutoInc Asia Max Challenge 2019 in Sepang, Malaysia. Raiden finished first while Nirvaan finished in second in the Novice Category of the series. Both teenagers participating in the Micro Max category finished 12th and 13th overall, respectively.

The Novice category saw Timofey Mikhaylov grab the pole position in qualifying with a lap time of 55.141s. In the novice category, 13-year-old Nirvaan posted a lap time of 56.623s to emerge quickest, and was followed by teammate Raiden, who was a mere 7 hundredths of a second behind with a lap time of 56.696s, starting second out of the six novices on the grid.

The Indian racers had an impressive Heat 1, but a crash in Heat 2 pushed them down the order

Heat 1 saw both the Team Rayo racing drivers start 11th and 12th and completed a straight forward race without any incident. Raiden managed to be the faster of the two and secured ninth place, one second ahead of Nirvaan who finished at P10. Heat 2, on the other hand, was a big set back for the Indian drivers as Nirvaan made contact with Raiden, having crashed into another cart. The incident saw the boys fall right down the order and eventually finished at the tail end of the race.

The finals had all racers start on the basis of their Pre Final result, which led to Raiden starting 11th and Nirvaan starting in 14th place. The grid was a close and competitive one and there was little the duo could do to move up the order. Nevertheless, Raiden improved his lap lap times marginally and finished in P12, 1.3s ahead of his teammate Nirvaan who was placed at 13th. In the novice category, the duo were first and second with Eason coming in third.

Raiden & Nirvaan finish 12th and 13th in the Micro Max category, and 1-2 in the Novice category

Speaking about his exciting weekend, Team Rayo Racing driver, Raiden Samervel said, "Racing at the Asian Rotax at the 1.2km Sepang circuit in Malaysia was very exciting. I was up against the best and it was a great learning experience. Winning the Novice Category was a moment I will never forget!"

Nirvaan Chandna added "The race weekend was a good learning experience, especially driving on the Sepang international kart circuit, which is quite a fast track. Racing against so many racers from around Asia also taught me a lot. I intend to work harder and do better."

Steve Hodges, Technical Director of Rayo Racing said, "It was unfortunate that the incident in heat 2 played an important role, in them not being able to produce a good result in the final. I would have been happier if they could have translated their pace from practice into the races. However, considering that it is only their second race weekend at this level, and that they outperformed all other novices, it is a credible performance.

"The two racers have been training hard. This exposure is good for them & I am confident there is a lot more to come from both racers" said Rayomand Banajee of Rayo Racing.