HYDERABAD, May 20, 2012 _ Mumbai lad Arya Gandhi of Rayo Racing (206 points) pipped Chennai boy Surya Raguram of Meco Racing by one point (205) to emerge the Junior Max champion in the JK Tyre-MMS Rookie Cup 2012 karting championship at the MMS-Lahari Karting centre here on Sunday.
Gandhi, who led consistent Raguram by a single point after three races on Saturday, finished third in Sunday’s opening race which was won by Raguram, but came back strongly to win the last race in which Raguram finished third.
“I am thrilled to win the championship,” said Gandhi, a class 9 student of Hill Spring School, after the second and final round of five races in the 10-race series.
Raguram, who emerged champion in the opening round last month, said he was unlucky in the last race. “I got back-marked. I was lapping one of the drivers and when I overtook him there was another kart in front and no space, I lost time there,” said the class 9 student of Billabong School.
Mysore boy H.B. Phaneesh of Mohite’s Racing (225 points) and Anshuman Chatterjee of Mumbai (Rayo Racing) (215 points) emerged champions in the Micro Max and Senior Max categories respectively.
The JK Tyre-MMS Rotax Rookie Cup has witnessed an increase in participation as young motorsports enthusiasts have registered themselves from all over the country. The JK Tyre-MMS Rotax Rookie Cup is a prelude to the JK Tyre National Rotax Max Karting Championship (JKNRMKC) in June and provides an opportunity to rookie drivers to step up speed before they compete in the prestigious JKNRMKC.

Phaneesh made a clean sweep of the five races over the weekend end and emerged champion in thumping fashion with nine wins in the 10-race series. “I was confident of winning the title from the start,” Phaneesh said.
Anshuman Chatterjee finished second behind Pranav Thakkar in Sunday’s final two races which was run concurrently with the Junior Max class.
“I was sure of bagging the championship after my three wins on Saturday, so we tried a few experiments with the kart’s set-up, that didn’t work, so I came second today,” said Chatterjee.
The winners of the three classes in the Rookie Cup will be rewarded with Scholarship Training Programs under former ace driver Akbar Ebrahim.

“We are pleased with the increase in participation and the interest and commitment that the young drivers have shown in the championship,” Sanjay Sharma, Head of Motorsport, JK Tyre, said. “There is a lot of talent and promise in these young drivers and this augurs well for the future of Indian motorsport,” he added.

JK Tyre is credited with introducing the concept of Karting in India and has patronized karting circuits in seven cities of the country. JK Tyre together with MECO Motorsports introduced the professional level of karting in 2004 with the introduction of the Rotax 2 Stroke Kart Engines. It was then the JK Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship came into being and today it is the only National karting championship of the country.

The winners of the JK Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship are selected to represent the country in the Rotax Max World Finals held every year. Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok, Armaan Ebrahim have all graduated from these karting championships to becoming international motorsport icons.

Dhruv Mohite from Kholapur won the GP Cup, a grueling race of one hour with a compulsory refueling stop. The GP Cup is open to all drivers, rookies and professionals and the exciting feature of this race was that the juniors and the seniors raced together but under different weight categories. A grid of 24 karts took part. Arya Gandhi finished second and Nanjappa third.

Mr Hari Babu, chairman, Lahari Resorts, gave away the trophies at the prize distribution function.

Results:
Micro Max (10 laps):
Race 4: 1. H.B. Phaneesh 6:10.858; 2. Preethunna 6:21.994; 3. Yash Aradhya 6:23.958. Race 5: 1. Phaneesh 6:02.472; 2. Padam 6:03.293; 3. Mrinal 6:19.430.
Junior Max: Race 4 (15 laps): 1. Surya Raguram 8:31.154; 2. Nayan Chatterjee 8:33.668; 3. Arya Gandhi 8:35.696. Race 5 (14 laps); 1. Arya Gandhi 9:00.091; 2. Nayan Chatterjee 9:02.944; 3. Surya Raguram 9:03.200.
Senior Max: Race 4 (15 laps): 1. Pranav Thakkar 8:41.799; 2. Anshuman Chatterjee 8:43.675; 3. Rubeel Saleem 8:50.986. Race 5 (14 laps): 1. Pranav Thakkar 9:09.297; 2. Anshuman Chatterjee 9:13.763; 3. Rubeel Saleem 9:17.924.
Championship position:
Micro Max: 1. H.B. Phaneesh 225 points; 2. Yash Aradhya 174; 3. Mrinal Chatterjee 105.
Junior Max: 1. Arya Gandhi 206 points; 2. Surya Raguram 205; 3. Akash Gowda 123.
Senior Max: 1. Anshuman Chatterjee 215 points; Rubeel M. Saleem 180; 3. Pranav Thakkar 162.

About JK Tyre Motorsports:
JK Tyre has always been closely associated with the world of sports. Almost three decades back the company laid down a long term and sustained approach to promote Motorsport. Participating in this form of the sport has helped the company in continuously updating its products to meet the challenges of grueling Indian conditions. The sport at that time in India was perceived for elite but JK Tyre took upon itself to package and redesign the sport to suit the masses. The company not only made the sport affordable but also equivalent to International operating standards. JK Tyre’s foray into Motorsport was a well thought out strategic decision to not only use and develop this virgin branding platform but also to realize the dreams of making India a force in the field of motor sport.
The company acquired the Formula BMW Series in 2011 and rechristened it as the JK Racing Asia Series. With this acquisition, the company became the first Indian company to acquire an FIA accredited series. The series has been running successfully since 2001 and is in sync with JK Tyre’s philosophy of identifying and developing young racing talents to become future world champions.
The Racing and Karting programme by JK Tyre has been the breeding ground for the country’s motorsport talents like Narain Karthikeyan, Armaan Ebrahim, Karun Chandhok, Aditya Patel and other new emerging talents.

For any other information please contact: Geeta Fadnavis: 98492 56292: geeta@conceptpr.com

Geeta Fadnavis
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