Agra-based karting racer Shahan Ali Mohsin will become the first Indian to represent the country in the IAME International Karting final at Le Mans, France. The 14-year-old has been competing in a number of karting events in India and globally and was recently crowned the karting champion in the 2018 MSports X30 Challenge, Junior category. Shahan not only won the championship in the junior category but also confirmed his seat in the IAME International Karting final that will see the young driver compete against 120 participants from across the globe.
Shahan had a highly competitive season in the 2018 X30 Challenge and the last round saw a nail-biting finale for the driver at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru. The racer headed in the final weekend with a lead of 12 points in the Junior category. He qualified fourth in Race 1, just 0.241s behind the race leader and ended the race in the same spot after a contact resulted in a puncture. Race 2 saw Shahan face equally challenging conditions with a damaged kart and was forced to retire following a collision conceding his 12 point advantage.
(Shahan will be representing India in the Junior Category at IAME International Karting Series)
However, the final two races allowed Shahan to reclaim lost ground. Fighting back, the racer finished third in Race 3 closing in the gap to four points, while the final race saw Shahan back in the lead taking the win comfortably. The championship was decided on the basis of race wins with Shahan bagging a total of nine as opposed to rival Arjun Nair's five wins through the season. In addition, the 14-year-old made his Senior category debut last weekend, also claiming an overall win in the round.
Speaking about the final weekend, Shahan said, "It was quite a frantic final weekend. It was hard to shuffle between Junior and Senior categories, especially with the title battle in the Junior category. However, I quickly managed to get the hang of the more powerful karts and was actually surprised to win races in my first weekend itself. I am also happy that fitness wise I was able to do two categories without any issue.
Speaking about his final races, Shahan said, "Aside from the Senior class wins, there is no doubt I am over the moon with the Junior category championship win under what turned out to be a difficult final weekend. The DNF really hurt my chances but I am pleased that I was able to fight back and win the title. Congratulations to Arjun as well for the solid fight and Suriya who has shown some superb racing skills. Both pushed me all season to do even better. I cannot wait to represent India in the IAME International Final where I'll be up against more than 120 competitors."
(Shahan secured the 2018 MSports X30 championship in the Junior category)
The victory propels Shahan in the IAME International Final that will be taking place at the Le Mans karting circuit in France between October 8-14, 2018. In its seventh edition this year, only the top drivers from each country are allowed to participate in the championship.
