Shreyas Hareesh from Bengaluru and Kolhapur’s Jinendra Kiran Sangave qualified to represent India in the FIM MiniGP World Series Finals to be held in November in Valencia, Spain.
Shreyas (220 points) and Jinendra (213) finished first and second respectively in the FIM MiniGP World Series India 2022, which concluded at the Meco Kartopia here on Sunday. In the World Finals, the pair will compete with toppers of respective National series held in 15 countries.
The five-round, 10-race India series, organised by Meco Motorsports, saw Jinendra, 13, dominated initially by winning five races in a row. However, the 12-year-old Shreyas staged a remarkable comeback by topping four of the next five races, including a double in Round 4 on Saturday to finish on top of the series standings with 220 points.
Jinendra, who barely survived a difficult final weekend, finished with 213 points, well ahead of third-placed Nandanan Mahendran of Chennai (153), the organisers informed in a release on Monday.
Among the four girls who took part in the Series, Bengaluru’s Nithila Das finished fifth overall in the points standings with a score of 106 while Rakshitha Dave from Chennai was seventh (94). The other two girls, both from Bengaluru, Aleena Mansur Sheikh and Anastya Pol, participated only in Round 1, garnering 18 points apiece.
The FIM MiniGP World Series India, comprising a total of 10 races spread over five rounds, is part of the global programme run across 15 countries and initiated by the FIM, the World governing body for two-wheeler racing, in conjunction with Dorna Sports, promoters of the FIM MotoGP.
The FIM launched the MiniGP Series in 2021, as part of the Road To MotoGP programme, aiming to create an equal platform for young riders around the World to begin their motorcycle racing careers. All riders compete on equal Ohvale GP-0 160 machinery (Mini bikes), manufactured in Italy, while Pirelli is the official single tyre supplier for all the FIM MiniGP World Series.
Round-4 results (all races 15 laps):
Race-1: 1. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (16mins, 08.090secs); 2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Kolhapur) (16:40.592); 3. Rakshith S Dave (Chennai) (16:46.509). Race-2: Shreyas Hareesh (16:05.533); Jinendra Sangave (16:06.095); 3. Nandanan Mahendran (Chennai) (16:37.833).
Qualifying (Top 3, best lap): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (01:04.014); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (01:04.148); 3. Nandanan Mahendran (01:04.251).
Round-5: Race-1: Jinendra Kiran Sangave (16:07.381); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (16:07.958); 3. Nandanan Mahendran (16:20.406). Race-2: 1. Shreyas Hareesh (16:14.237); 2. Nandanan Mahendran (16:25.629); 3. Rakshith Dave (Chennai) (16:41.085).
Qualifying (Top 3, best lap): Shreyas Hareesh (01:03.061); 2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (01:03.244); 3. Nandanan Mahendran (01:04.208).
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS (TOP 3): 1. Shreyas Hareesh (220 points); 2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (213); 3. Nandanan Mahendran (153).
