Agra-based racer Shahan Ali Mohsin made quite the impression representing India at the 2019 Rotax Grand Final in Sarno, Italy over the last weekend. The younger karting champion was competing in the Senior category in the week-long competition and was India's entry into the final round, after winning the 2019 Indian National Karting Championship. The competition saw 76 racers from across the globe participating in the senior category, where Shahan qualified in the Top 10, becoming the first Indian do so in the Rotax Grand Final. The 15-year-old was racing with Dan Holland Racing from England, qualifying 10th overall and finishing sixth in his group. However, the driver did miss out on the finals due to two retirements costing him overall points in the competition.
Shahan showed impressive pace in Heat 2 and 3, but also had 2 DNFs that affected his overall ranking
Heat 1 saw Shahan start off well in the race before a contact resulted in bending the axle on his cart and forced him to retire from the race. Nevertheless, the driver made a grand comeback in Heat 2, where he finished fourth after moving up to second for a few laps. The Agra boy had to eventually settle for fourth in the round, just 0.043s behind the third-place finisher. Moving into Heat 3, Shahan had another strong run and was placed seventh, just 0.100s behind the sixth-place driver.
Moving into the pre-finals, the young Indian driver was certainly ready and started off strong only for luck to run out. Shahan had a number of collisions during the race that damaged his column and tie rod, forcing him to retire on Lap 11. The incident was the second retirement of the week, severely costing him in points overall. This, eventually eluded him from the finals as well with the driver missing the final round by just two points, failing to compete against the top 36 out of the 72 drivers.
Despite finishing in top 10 in the senior category, Shahan missed the final round by just 2 points due to 2 DNFs
Nevertheless, Shahan's impressive pace and drive did manage to impress many including his co-participants. Speaking on the experience at the Rotax World Finals, Shahan said, "First of all, it was a matter of pride for me to represent India in the Rotax Max Grand Finals, which is recognised as Olympics of Karting on a weekend where everyone is celebrating Diwali. It was another superb experience and every time I feel more prepared. One drawback is not competing the full year but the urge to excel is even bigger in finals when you have so many experienced racers together eyeing for being world no.1. Racing with the best drivers of the world is always full of excitement and also a learning for me."
Adding further he said, "I'll say, of all the Finals I have attended, this year it was different as I felt prepared from the word go. The conditions were superb as the usual adjustment took time. We managed to improve every session and also set a benchmark for other Indians with best results in qualifying and heats. The only downer is the two retirements, especially in the pre-final which hampered my chance in the final as I was set to make it in with the points in the two Heats. Anyways, it was a full weekend and now it is all about preparing for 2020 for another year of racing. I would like to thank Mr Akbar Ebrahim and Meco Motorsports for giving me the opportunity to race in this event and thanks a lot to my team Dan Holland Racing, UK for the technical support."
