Bengaluru, April 10: India’s Ruhaan Alva, supported by Italian kart manufacturer Birel Art and representing MLG Racing team, drove brilliantly to overtake two front runners on the last lap and score a fine win in the Easykart Championship in Lonato, Italy, on Sunday.
Ruhaan, the 10-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru, had won the Mini 60 class race in the first round last month in Castelletto, Italy, but decided to move to the more competitive Easykart 60 category. The Indian youngster did extremely well to qualify for pole position in a field of 27 racers, and in the final, kept his cool on the last lap while storming from third to first in a tight finish where less than a second separated the top three.
Ruhaan was involved in a three-way battle throughout the 12-lap final. Going into the last lap, he was placed third behind Patrese Lorenzo of Italy and Czech Adam Kowalski, but overtook both to clinch victory that put him fourth in the Championship.
Ruhaan’s father, Umakanth Alva, said: “We decided to move Ruhaan from the Mini 60 category which has just six racers to the more competitive Easy Kart 60 category. It is important that Ruhaan learn to fight the competition keeping in mind that he is trying for the WSK Championship (World Championship) this year.”
Birel ART India’s team principal Marco Bartoli said: “We are very proud of Ruhaan’s win today. The top three kept swapping positions until the last lap. With one lap to go, he overtook two drivers and pulled off gap to the chequered flag. He made India very proud!”
