Competing in the Rotax Junior category (13-16 years) for the first time, two Indian National Karting champion Shahan Ali Mohsin kick started his National Karting season with a podium. The young racer finished second in the Meco Motorsport Rotax Kart Open held last weekend and saw the reigning Asian Karting champion put a brilliant performance.
Previously competing in the Micro Max category (8-12 years), the Rotax Junior category is new for Shahan and also saw competition from older and more experienced drivers. The opening weekend comprised a total of eight races with accumulated points deciding the eventual winner. However, it was not an easy task for the 12-year old, especially since his kart had a technical issue which meant he could not participate in the qualifying.
This resulted in Shahan starting at the back of the grid for Race 1, but as luck would have it, his kart's chain came off on the formation lap making for a premature retirement. With 9 points from Race 1, Shahan put all his energy on Race 2 in a bid to gain some crucial points.
Shahan is the reigning Asian Karting Champion
The young driver was unstoppable now and finished second behind race leader Chirag Ghorpade with a gap of 1.3 seconds. With the boost, Shahan went on to secure five podiums winning the Rookie Category title, but missed out on the Open Category, settling for second place
Nevertheless, the young racer has shown a promising start on the season opener. Speaking on his performance, Shahan said, "A great way to kick off the 2017 national season here in Bangalore. Was great to catch up everyone in the paddock after what felt like eternity!"
He further added, "This was our first race weekend in the Junior category and things went pretty well overall, even though we could have done without the issues on Saturday. But nevertheless it was a good outing battling with the more experienced drivers and in the end I'm pretty happy with the result."
