The Indian National Karting Championship has a lot going for it, but has much more left to achieve. Not unlike its champions who were crowned in Bengaluru.
Great Expectations. They are probably most apparent with the parents of pre-teen karters in the JK Tyre FMSCI National Karting Championship who compete in the Micro Max category. Ever since the importance of karting for a career in motorsport was established, there have more than the odd cases of an over enthusiastic parent putting two and two together to get twenty-two.
India has only now found two drivers who have used their experience in karting to turn heads in junior formula racing. Grid sizes across the Micro, Junior and Senior Max categories are a fraction of what they should be to find drivers who can consistently hold their own in karting series in Asia, let alone in Europe.
Eleven drivers in Micro Max, 16 in Junior Max and 18 in Senior Max definitely doesn’t seem to cut it but given the expenses involved and the lack of awareness about motorsport as a viable profession, it is probably the best that can be hoped for at the moment.
NO PICNIC
For Rayomand Banajee and Akbar Ebrahim, who run Rayo Racing and Meco Racing, separating the drivers who are willing to work and those who come just for the glamour, is pretty easy.
“We hold tests for all the drivers who apply to us in four-stroke karts,” said Ebrahim. “Driving those karts can make anyone think that they are Michael Schumacher.”
But it’s a different ballgame when the time comes to pilot a two-stroke Rotax engined kart that has the power-to-weight ratio of around 300bhp per ton and near instant power. So much so that engineers who maintain them instruct drivers to be progressive with the throttle in increments of 25 percent for fear of blowing the engine.
“You can see it in their eyes,” said Ebrahim. “Those who can really push these karts and those who just get shattered. The latter won’t show up again as they find out that what they are doing is serious work.”
BE PREPARED
The attempt by Ebrahim and Banajee is always to get their drivers to think of the level they are trying to get to and how different it will be than in India. At a karting weekend where live-race commentary, grid girls, family, friends, media and spectators are present, it is entirely possible for those behind the wheel to get carried away.
“Many of these drivers who will make it to races abroad come completely unprepared with what to expect,” said Banajee. “It is competitive and unforgiving and you cannot afford to make a fool of yourself and be unprepared.”
The line between a parent’s encouragment and largesse is a fine one as there is always the risk of a young racer taking things for granted. Although there are parents, even those not from a motorsport background, who treat their children’s careers as an investment rather than an indulgence. Finding more of such figures depends entirely on how much karting spreads across India.
Travel is a major expense and the father of a karter joked that he didn’t want to reveal how much he spends on it for fear of the tax authorities coming after him!
Here’s hoping the karting bug bites a few more like him and his young progeny.
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