Podium finish for rising star Hirani in FIA World Rallycross

Podium finish for rising star Hirani in FIA World Rallycross

Kenyan teenage motorsport sensation, Tejas Hirani, made history at the closure of the FIA RX Lites World Championship in Latvia to become the first African driver on the podium at the international event.

The motorsport superstar, finished third during the last round of the RX Lites World championship, his first podium finish, behind Norwegian JC Race Teknik driver Sondre Evjen and American star Conner Martell who represented Dirtfish Motorsports.

Hirani who is a multiple Kenyan Karting, Rally Raid and Autocross champion was +16.516 seconds behind winner, Teknik.

In a race that had 12 drivers from different nationalities, Hirani a former Formula Gulf 1000 champion,  became the first Kenyan and by extension first African driver to race in the FIA World Rallycross RX Lites Championship in the season opener.

The schedule for the Latvia event started with the first qualifying race on Friday with Q1, Q2 and Q3 being held on Saturday as Q4, both semis and final taking place on Sunday.

Tejas finished 5th in Q1, 9th in Q2, third in Q3 and ninth in Q4.He took third in both the semi and final round.

The 2016 RX Lites Cup – a one-make feeder series to the FIA World Rallycross Championship consisted of seven events plus a standalone round in Canada.

The seven rounds which made up this year’s calendar included Hockenheim, Belgium, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Barcelona and Latvia.

Hockenheim and Latvia were this year’s new additions to the RX Lites schedule.

RX Lites are identical 310bhp, mid-engined, four-wheel drive cars designed by Olsbergs MSE and produced in Turkey in co-operation with Avitas Motorsport. Featuring strictly controlled spec vehicles, the series is designed to provide an affordable platform to showcase the talent of emerging young drivers.

The winner of the 2016 RX Lites season will be awarded a Supercar drive at Estering, the penultimate round of the World Championship, which takes place in Germany from 14-16 October.

FINAL CLASSIFICATION OF RX LITES ROUND IN LATVIA

1 Sondre Evjen (JC RACE TEKNIK/NOR) 5:58.048 8
2 Conner Martell (DIRTFISH MS/USA) 5:58.610 (+0.562 5)
3 Tejas Hirani (OLSBERGS MSE/KEN) 6:14.565 (+16.516 4)
4 Simon Olofsson (SWE) DNF 3
5 Joachim Hvaal (JC RACE TEKNIK/NOR) DNF 2
6 Thomas Holmen (NOR) DNF 1

Tags:

FIA World Rallycross Hirani RX World Championships Tejas Hirani

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