Manav, Uma star as karting season opens

The 2017 karting season got off to a spectacular start with Faridabad's Manav Sharma clinching the Senior Max titles in both the Rotax Max Kart Open and Rookie Cup here.
In an intense head-to-head duel, BPC Racing's Manav got the better of Nirmal Uma Shankar from Chennai to clinch the double. He started with a bang on Saturday, winning three races and taking the second place in the fourth for a grand opening tally of 38 points.
He, however, wilted under the pressure exerted by Uma Shankar on the second day, managing a solitary victory to pick up just 32 points from the four races. However, it was good enough to give him a total of 70 points in the Open category and 67 in the Rookie category and the two crowns.

Meco's Uma Shankar started off slowly on the first day, mustering just 26 points. But he more than made up on the second day, taking 38 points with three victories and a second-place finish.
Sri Lanka's Kevin Perriera, also of Meco, took the third place in the Open category while Birel Art's Shreyansh Jain upstaged him in the Rookie category.
The Junior Max was an equally close tussle between Shahan Ali Mohsin (70) and Aditya Swaminathan (62), with the former taking the rookies' title. Both were, however, pipped to the post in the Open category by Chirag Ghorpade of BPC.

The Micro Max also threw up different winners, with Arjun Rajiv and Saathvik Raju dominating for Peregrine Racing. Arjun, in fact, won all eight races over the two days in the Open category to underline his superiority.
The Kart Open comprised of 2 rounds, with 4 races in each round for each class. The format has been conceived to give the youngsters enough track time and racing experience along with the experienced drivers in the runup to the National Karting Championship.