Muscat: Oman-based go-karting racer Shonal Kunimal capped his season on a high when he clinched the runner-up spot (Micro Max category) in the ninth and final round of the 2021-2022 UAE Rotax Max Challenge at the Al Ain Raceway International Kart Circuit in Al Ain, UAE, recently.
The runner-up spot also secured the ten-year-old Indian School Ghubra student an overall third place in the championship standings.
The overall podium finish coupled with a second-place result in the concluding race of the highly-competitive season was a creditable performance from Shonal, who has been getting little support from teams or corporate sector.
Having met with success over the past four years, the talented go-karting racer had earlier grabbed a third place in the penultimate eighth round.
With only his aunt, Marsleen Qandeel, to cheer him on the final rounds, Shonal thanked his coach, Sanad al Rawahi, for guiding him through a zoom call.
It was the fourth successive podium finish for Shonal, and sixth in the season, underlying his consistency after the initial hiccups in the early rounds. Out of the six podiums he climbed, two were second-place finishes and rest were third.
Russian racer Maxim Bobreshov and favourite was crowned the overall champion while Greek racer Leonidas Peruzzi, who was involved in a close battle with Shonal, took the overall runner-up place.
After nine rounds, Maxim garnered 870 points while Leonidas secured 772. Shonal concluded the season with a total of 717 points.
In the final round of the season, Shonal started in a spectacular fashion to bag first place in the qualifying. However, a collision with another driver pushed him to sixth position in the pre-final races.
But, the Muscat-based racer displayed lot of grit and fighting spirit to bounce back from P6 to runner-up spot sending a clear signal that he will be in contention in the coming season for the title.
Speaking after finishing runner-up and overall third, Shonal said, “It was a mixed experience in the final round. After a great qualifying, I had to settle for sixth place in pre-final.
“I was determined to fight hard till the last lap. A pep talk from my aunt Marsleen and coach Sanad helped me achieve the second place in the final race. I am happy to end the season with a good result. It will give me good confidence in the next season where my target will be to win races.”
It may be mentioned that Shonal had achieved overall success in back-to-back seasons (2017-2018 and 2018-19) at the UAE Rotax Max Challenge in Bambino category.
