Seven-year-old from Oman becomes go-karting champion in UAE

Muscat: A seven-and-a-half-year boy who lives in Oman has been crowned the overall champion of a leading go-karting competition in the region.

Shonal Kunimal became the overall go-karting champion in the 2018/2019 season of the IAME X30 Series Championship in the Bambino class after the 6th and final round of the tournament. He secured the highest points total (725) on April 19 at Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE.

This is a great victory for Shonal as in all the rounds he secured 1^st position and became the overall champion. The IAME X30 series, the UAE’s most competitive karting competition, was held over six rounds spread over the Dubai Kartdrome, Abu Dhabi’s Al Forsan Sports Club, and Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE.

Speaking to Times of Oman, Shojai Kunimal, Shonal’s father, said: “He has won many trophies in both Oman and abroad and we are very happy to see him win. He really loves go-karting, and he is such a small boy, only seven-and-a-half years old. We are truly proud of his achievements.”

The event at Ras Al Khaimah was the final, 6th round of championship having a total of three time-trials over a track length of 876 metres. The final round was contested by nine drivers. All the three time-trials were won by Shonal as he achieved the highest points for this season of IAME 2018-2019.

In the first time-trial, Lennard Titica, the Bulgarian driver, came second and Nicholas Stura, the Italian driver, came third. There was a time difference of +0.735 seconds and +1.380 seconds respectively for the 2^nd and 3^rd positions. The seven-and-a-half year-old Indian School Ghubra student clocked the fastest time-trial and made the best lap time of 54.838 sec

In the second time-trial, Nicholas Stura came second and Lennard Titica came third. There was a time difference of +0.768 seconds and +1.259 seconds respectively for the 2^nd and 3^rd positions, while Shonal Kunimal clocked the fastest time-trial, once again at 54.581 sec

In the third time-trial, Nicholas Stura came second and Lennard Titica came third. There was time a difference of +0.576 seconds and +1.054 seconds respectively for the 2^nd and 3^rd positions. Shonal again clocked the fastest time-trial at 54.404 sec

Shonal thanked Sanad Al Rawahi who is his coach, and the GPX Academy for their prompt support, in addition to providing special thanks for Wahaibi Motor Sports, who supported Shonal in all the six rounds of IAME series plus Dubai O-Plate, by even providing special senior mechanic Leonardo Abalos of WMS.