Bakhru, Samervel win Clash of Pros

Mumbai teenagers Raaj Bakhru and Raiden Samervel won the Ajmera IndiKarting Clash of Pros racing event here in Wadala, Mumbai. Bakhru won 2 races and was second in one race to win the Pro Senior, while Samervel won all three races to win the Pro Junior.

Some of India’s best talent from around the country participated in the 2 day FMSCI sanctioned event, inspite of numerous Covid related protocols in place. More than expected entries in the Pro senior meant that the seniors would be split into groups and would therefore get 4 races each, with 6 races in total.

Bakhru qualified on pole in the Pro Senior with a lap time of 27.491, a mere tenth of a second ahead of Rahul Deshpande and Ojas Surve. Samervel bagged pole in the Pro Junior ahead of Veer Sheth and Nirvaan Chandna.

Race 1 saw Bakhru stamp his authority to win from pole ahead of Deshpande and Neville Tata who climbed up from seventh on the grid. Deshpande won race 2, while Bakhru won race 3. Surve and Aditya Patnaik, were second and third in race 2 and 3. Former National Karting Champion and JK Formula 1300 Champion - Aaroh Ravindra started last and showed his class to win race 4 ahead of Bakhru and Ishaan Barde who completed the podium.

Barde won race 5 after an intense battle with Ravindra. Surve followed in third. Race 6 was won by Aditya Pandit ahead of Patnaik, while Paarth Damani drove well to make it on the podium for the final race.

Samervel dominated the Pro Junior. He started from Pole in Race 1 and won ahead of Sheth and Chandna. Race 2 grid which was based on Race 1 results reversed, saw Samervel start from eighth and carve his way through the field to eventually win the race. Hoshmand Elavia and Chandna were second and third respectively. Samervel started from pole in race 3 and won ahead of Sheth and Elavia.

The overall Pro Senior was won by Raaj Bakhru on 21 points, ahead of Aaroh Ravindra by a mere half point. Aditya Patnaik’s consistency took him to third with 18 points. Raiden Samervel on 30 points dominated the Pro Junior ahead of Elavia and Sheth on 18 and 16 points respectively.

“We are very happy to see motorsport pick up again. Young racers travelled from Delhi, Hyderabad and other places around India for the race. Some of them will be traveling abroad to race as well and we wish them the very best” said 8 time National Champion and promoter of IndiKarting, Rayomand Banajee