12-Yr-Old Becomes First Indian To Win Asian Karting Championship

Shahan Ali Mohsin will now take part in JK Tyre National Rotax Max Karting Championship scheduled on 25 September.

India’s Shahan Ali Mohsin celebrates after winning the Asian Karting Championship. (Photo: Twitter/@Sportstar)

Young Indian racer Shahan Ali Mohsin created history by becoming the first Indian racer to win the Asian Karting Championship. The 12-year-old displayed a valiant performance during the final weekend after missing two days of track time due to a bout of food poisoning and staved off a strong challenge from his main rival Hayden Haikal to clinch the title.

The Agra lad will be now hoping for a repeat closer home in the JK Tyre National Rotax Max Karting Championship as well, with the final round scheduled on 25 September.

Shahan was not completely fit as he fought the infection which surfaced early on Thursday. He was severely dehydrated and the situation continued to worsen and his participation in the event became a major question while his rivals pounded the track throughout Thursday and Friday during practice sessions.

Shahan showed immense determination and hit the tracks on Saturday, even though he did not recover properly and right from the first practice session, he was in the mix for the top three spots albeit falling short by a few tenths from the outright benchmark.

Shahan Ali Mohsin in action during the Asian Karting Championship. (Photo: Twitter/@All Indian Radio News)

However, he almost magically put it together in qualifying — taking pole position by over two-tenths of a second (0.2 sec) — a dominating performance given that the drivers from 2nd to 5th position were separated by just five-hundredth of a second (0.05 sec).

It is really unbelievable. I was in a seriously bad shape just two days back and could not even think of driving a kart, let alone fight for the Asian Championship title. The strength I got from having both my parents alongside me throughout was incredible and I still do not know how I managed to walk, get into the kart and get pole position in qualifying. 

Shahan Ali Mohsin

“I surprised even myself a little bit. Everything after that was a blur and thanks to Wai Leong and the entire Top Kart team for a superb setup and excellent strategy which helped us secure the title with the least amount of risk,” he added.

(With inputs from PTI.)