Hyderabad: Round 2 of the 9th JK Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship was flagged off today in Hyderabad at the Kart Center, Lahari Resort. The proceedings got underway under overcast skies, so while the temperatures were much lower and pleasant, the wet track conditions resulted in a cautious start by the teams. However the action heated up as the track dried out and the teams came out in full force.
Defending champion Chittesh Mandody (Team Mohites Racing) in his first appearance of the season turned the tables completely in the Senior Max category by bettering his opponents in all three – Qualifying, Heat 1 and Heat 2. Close on his heels was Amey Bafna (Team Rayo Racing) who was beaten by Chiteesh by 0.225 seconds in Heat 2. From the looks of it, leader from Round 1 and star performer of Round 1, Raj Ganatra (Team Rayo Racing) will have his hands full tomorrow trying to stave off a stiff challenge in the form of Chiteesh and Amey.
The Junior Max class was a well contested battle between Round 1 leader Krishnaraj Mahadik (Team Meco Racing), Dhruv Mohite (Team Mohites Racing) and Kush Maini (Team Maini Racing). While Kush topped in the Qualifying (33.234 seconds) and Heat 1, he had a forgetful Heat 2 finishing seventh. On the other hand Dhruv put in a consistent performance and ended the day by finishing first in Heat 2 beating the number two by over 10 seconds. Round 1 topper Krishnaraj was the proverbial brideamaid through the day finishing second in both Heat 1 and Heat 2 despite clocking the best lap of Heat 2 at 32.877 seconds.
In the Micro Max category the fight for superiority continued between Round 1 leader Pradyum Danigod (Team Mohites Racing) and number two Mira Erda (Team Maini Racing). While Pradyumn topped Mira in both Qualifying and Heat 1, the time difference between the two was less than half a second, while Mira clocked the fastest lap at 36.583 seconds. In Heat 2 Mira stepped on the throttle right from the word go and eventually over the 10 laps left the number two behind by over 5 seconds. Whether Mira continues her surge ahead or does Pradyumn have a trick up his sleeve remains to be seen tomorrow and keeping them on their toes will be HB Phaneesh (Team Mohites Racing).
The performance of the day was no doubt the stunning performance by Chiteesh who stunned the day lights out of his competition by putting in a stellar performance to top all the three outings of the day.
At the end of Round 1 held on June 9 and 10, 2012, Raj Ganatra (Team Rayo Racing), Krishnaraj Mahadik (Team Mohites Racing) and Pradyumn V Danigond (Team Mohites Racing) led in the Senior, Junior & Micro Max categories respectively. They will be back to defend their leadership positions in the pre-final and final races scheduled tomorrow (July 22, 2012).