In a dominant debut for Narain Karthikeyan’s NK Racing team, the Maini brothers – Arjun and Kush – finished P1 and P2 respectively in the Senior Max class in the first two rounds of the Federation of Indian Motorsport Clubs National Karting Championship (FMSCI NKC) Rotax Max Championship. After signing a deal with Italian karting giant CRG earlier this year, NK Racing’s strong debut at the championship with the CRG KT2 chassis also marked CRG’s first front row lockout in India.
Round 1 of the Senior Max Class saw British F3 runner-up Kush Maini mount a strong performance to score a win. LMP2 and former F2 driver, Arjun Maini and Coimbatore’s K Suriya Varathan from Team MSport took P2 and P3 respectively.
In Round 2 of the Senior Max Class, Arjun Maini started on pole and took the victory with K Suriya Varathan behind him. Bengaluru’s Mihir Avalakki, flying the Birel Art banner, took the remaining podium spot. Kush Maini was replaced by reserve driver Sohil Shah, himself a National Novice cup champion, who put up impressive lap times.
The race was also the first outing for NK Racing Academy rookie drivers Divy Nandan and David Ryan who finished P9 and P11 respectively. Both the drivers showed good pace and steady improvement in their lap times as well.
Speed NK Racing Academy was founded by India’s first F1 driver and current LMP2 contender Narain Karthikeyan in 2006, and with the recent affiliation with CRG, became India’s first CRG factory team. The deal with CRG gives NK Racing a huge upper hand as it primarily gives access to CRG’s chassis and many more such equipment and tech. The affiliation led to the birth of a training programme which aims at scouting, training and guiding young talent in the motorsport industry. CRG is best known to have supported several popular Formula 1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen in their karting days.
The opening rounds of the FMSCI NKC Rotax Max Championship was exactly the sort of action motorsport fans in India needed. The concluding rounds of the championship are slated for January 7-10, 2021. So watch this space for regular coverage of the championship and much more.