Weekly Motorsports Digest: From Ruhaan Alva winning back-to-back titles to Jorge Martin extending his championship lead in Indonesia

This weekend, the Madras International Karting Arena (MIKA) hosted its inaugural event, the fifth and final round of the MECO-FMSCI National Karting Championship Rotax Max Classes 2024.

Ross Chastain won the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 opener in Kansas, while Jorge Martin won the Indonesian Moto GP to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. 

National Karting Championship 2024: Ruhaan Alva regains Senior Max title; Arafat Sheikh, Rivaan Dev Preetham emerge champions

Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSPORT) stamped his authority in the Micro Max category and retained the title on Sunday in the fifth and final round of the MECO-FMSCI National Karting Championship Rotax Max Classes 2024, organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club, at the Madras International Karting Arena (MIKA).

In the Senior Max class, Ruhaan Alva (MSPORT) emerged as the National champion while Pune’s 12-year-old Arafath Sheikh (Crest Motorsports) annexed the crown in the Junior Max category gathering just enough points even as Chennai’s Eshanth Vengatesan (MSPORT) did the double by winning both Pre-Finals and Finals.

The three national champions qualified to represent India in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Sarno, Italy, from October 19 to 26.

NASCAR Playoffs: Chastain takes first Cup series win of the season

Ross Chastain brought excitement to the Playoffs after he snatched the victory from title contenders at the Kansas Speedway. The No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet managed to take the lead from ousted Martin Truex Jr. just after the final restart to take his first win of the season. 

Chastain, who is not among the top 12 drivers in round 4 of the 2024 Playoffs, held off a charging William Byron to deny him an automatic advancement into the Round of 8. Byron finished second, Truex third while championship leader Kyle Larson took a significant hit, dropping to fourth. 

Larson cut a tyre and crashed early, struggling home to a 26th-place finish and is only 18 points above the cut-line. After the fourth round, Byron moved to the top of the table with Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell behind by six points. The bottom four drivers, who are at risk of elimination, are Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric. 

DTM: Arjun Maini finishes third from maiden pole position

Arjun Maini finished third in race one of DTM at the Red Bull Ring, a day after he became the first Indian to secure pole position in the sports car series (1:30.128). The 26-year-old struggled with radio issues but managed to protect his third place, keeping behind Van Der Linde and Guven.

READ: F1: Daniel Ricciardo leaves RB with immediate effect, Liam Lawson named replacement

However, in qualifier 2, Maini couldn’t replicate his pole performance, settling for an eighth-place finish, just 0.5 seconds behind pole-sitter Rast. But he managed to turn that around in Race 2 to secure another third-place finish, completing his campaign at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, with a strong showing.

MotoGP: Martin extends lead after taking Indonesian GP win

Jorge Martin led from start to finish to take his third race win of the season in Mandalika and extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. The Pramac Racing driver now leads reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia by 21 points. 

The Spaniard finished ahead of 20-year-old rookie Pedro Acosta, who put the championship leader under serious pressure. Third-placed Bagnaia of Ducati won Saturday’s sprint race to further eat into the lead of Martin but the former undid the gains after securing victory in a crash-filled race on Sunday. 

Outside title rivals Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez were unable to produce good results – Bastianini crashed out of third place while trying to catch up while Marquez suffered a mechanical problem as the engine failed on lap 12.