Donison continues form to dominate in heats

BENGALURU: Ricky Donison has been on a good run. Last Sunday, he won all four races in the Rotax Asia Max Championship in Malaysia. The week before, he swept all eight races in the JK Tyre-MMS Open Cup at the Meco Kartopia track.

Back on his home circuit on Saturday, Donison opened his National Rotax Karting championship title defence in style. The BPC racing team driver finished first in the free practice and qualifying on the 1.2km long circuit and later left his opponents in the trails in the two heats.

The dominant performance seems more commendable with a quick glance at the field. The 30bhp Senior Max category saw Donison line up alongside former champions Vishnu Prasad and Ameya Bafna, experienced Nayan Chatterjee and Dhruv Mohite and last year’s Junior Max champion Akash Gowda.

In the first heat, Donison overtook Chatterjee on the first corner to win in 13 mins and 48 secs. He improved his time by six seconds in the second. He is expected to cruise to victory in the final races on Sunday. In the 24bhp Junior Max category, Yash Aradhya dominated to secure first in both heats.

All eyes were on Shahan Ali Mohsin in the 12bhp Micro Max category, but the 11-year-old was pipped to the top spot by Ruhaan Alva in the first heat. Mohsin came back strongly in the second, leading from start to finish --- with Alva second --- to set up an interesting starting order for the finals.

The writer’s trip is sponsored by JK Tyre