iSport Expert Abha Mankar is back in action after her brutal mid-season accident. She shares with us her experience in the Rotax Max Championship where she was rated as the Best Driver of the Day.
I will like you all to know about the fantastic race weekend we had in Coimbatore at the Kari Speedway. Right from Wednesday over testing sessions the moods of all racers were very upbeat .Off track we drivers were enjoying, with a lot of leg pulling and jostling going on. I had a shooting pain in my left nostril while testing and a dull pain stayed with me over the week end. All the breathing while racing had to be done with my mouth. Of course it did not stop me from enjoying with my pals. The scene changed on Saturday with the moods quite full of anticipation and tension.
The schedule for Saturday was Qualifying to be followed by 2 heats & a pre final and Final on Sunday .I qualified 9th, with the kart developing a snag. The snag was worked on & in Heat 1 ended up 7th. From there in Heat 2, I overtook the 6th kart at the start, 5th during the race, and I was right behind the 4th Driver, who spun out & gifted me 4th place. So far so good. The next day, we had a good breakfast and reached the track; we had a pre final and a final. In the Pre Finals I was upset as I was put 5th as per the rules, the officials merged the result of both the Heats to deicide the grid for the Pre Finals( I expected to be 4th on the grid). At the start I overtook the 4th & 2nd kart the 3rd stayed ahead and I was behind him now in 3rd place.
I was running 3rd when the Kart behind me who had initially started 2nd, started banging me and was almost going to push me off track. After 3 or 4 laps I let him go past me so that he could overtake the guy in the 2nd position, because what was happening was that I was on complete defense, the kart right behind me was much faster plus my Amaron Pro Racing Team Mate, the guys behind us were catching up and the guy in front ( not from our team) was getting away. So I let my team mate through, and he overtook the guy in 2nd position. I started closing onto this kart which was now 3rd and eventually attacked & overtook him at the exit of a corner, anticipating his moves. I ended up 3rd in the Pre Finals. After that were the Finals, where I started 3rd.
I took the 2nd place immediately at the start again, did not keep him behind for long knowing he had much faster equipment and was tapping real hard, same scenario as the pre finals. Also my kart had developed understeer (ie. does not turn easily) to the left and poor bottom end. I decided to let him go. He almost pushed me out of the kart in the chamber once and I could hear myself gasp audibly. But he spun on his own behind me. I was sitting pretty in 3rd place for some time fighting hard to build distance from the kart behind and was moving away from him. It was the second last lap and I came across a back marker who was not obeying the blue flag! That made me lose the lead I had built on the Kart behind me & it caught up with me. When the guy behind me started whacking my kart. In the final lap he started pushing me out through the chamber exit and my kart was angled in such a way that I could not help but struggle to make it stable, and in all of it he came to overtake me by my side but he was too late, I was already on the defense line.
I had finished 3rd. Due to racing regulations I was denied 3rd place but given the Best Drive of the Day Trophy. With many a compliments from other racers and Parents & the mechs. Eagerly looking forward to the next & final round of JK TYRES Rotax Max Challenge… RMC
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