Sport - Racing : Motor

Amaron karting challenge

NEDUMBASSERY: As the local stars Daniel Kiem and Segel Jacob finished their final runs at the Take-off Zone near the Cochin International Airport here, they looked confident and sure.

The two Choice School students are among the frontrunners at the Amaron Karting Challenge which begins with the qualifying rounds at the airport tracks here on Saturday. The final, with eight drivers in the fray, will be held on Sunday, from 3.30 p.m.

Daniel was an early leader in the MRF Karting championship here last year but he went for a spin and lost precious seconds after he was bumped from behind.

“I hope to do better this time, but there will be many more senior guys,” said the 13-year-old who trained in Germany early this year.

The 15-year-old Segel is almost a seasoned girl at the Take-off Zone having done more than 100 hours training after the karting circuit opened here last year.

The response for the Amaron Challenge, a seven-round series for children between 12 to 16 years, with a grand finale at Bangalore early next year, has been overwhelming.

Nearly 600 entries have come in for the third round of the series in Kochi but the organisers plan to limit the number to 250 after screening.

“The response at the last two rounds, in Chennai and Bangalore, too was very good. It was a record of sorts in Bangalore with nearly 2000 entries,” said Mackinlay Barreto, Head Motor Sports, Amararaja Batteries Ltd., which runs the event.

The Amaron Challenge is a sort of talent hunt too, to spot youngsters and prepare them for higher levels of racing.

Star driver Armaan Ebrahim, Amaron’s brand ambassador, will cheer the youngsters on Sunday. — Principal Correspondent

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