Adding weight to expectations,Kevin looks to go karting

Like many of the young go-kart drivers at the finals of the Amaron National Karting challenge held over the weekend,Kevin Lazarus had to face the disappointment of finishing with a poor run and getting knocked out.

Like many of the young go-kart drivers at the finals of the Amaron National Karting challenge held over the weekend,Kevin Lazarus had to face the disappointment of finishing with a poor run and getting knocked out. But unlike others who suffered crashes,or rammed into the mini-tyre walls along the makeshift track at the parking lot just outside the Hyderabad International Airport,or simply due to drivring error,Kevin’s need for speed was spiked because he was deemed underweight.

His oversized helmet with customised lettering sitting precariously on his shoulders,Kevin had started well,finishing third in his heat. But as he took his place on the grid of the semi-final run,organisers determined they had a problem The 12-year-old,they said,was too light.

At 35 kg,organisers claimed that Kevin enjoyed an unfair advantage over his weightier opponents,some as old as 16 and moved in with drastic measures. “They said that the drivers must weigh at least 50 kg,” recalls Kevin. The organisers weighed down his go kart with a 15 kilograms of iron weight and then sent him off to compete. It was a no contest after that. Kevin pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor,but the small craft sputtered and complained,only finishing 7 th in the race and knocking Kevin out of contention.

Back in Delhi,Kevin got back to school,game and more cars. “It’s not really surprising but I am a huge racing fan. But more than Formula 1,I like rallying. That’s why my favorite car is the Subaru Impreza,” says the standard 6 student who affirms he isn’t the smallest in his class. Several years behind his driving age limit,Lazarus has already begun driving his family’s Subaru Forrester SUV,”although only in the parking lot,” he is quick to add.

Kevin needs all the practice he can get in the high horse power car. He has the Rotax kart races in Kolhapur in September to look forward to.

“The kart is powered by a 22 horsepower two-stroke engine,”says Kevin knowingly. This does not sound like much but as Kevin continues to say,”it is much better than the go-karts in Delhi and the ones we used at Hyderabad. They are only 7 horsepower and four-stroke,” he says with a sneer.

But that tournament is a long way off. Till then Kevin will have to wait,practicing on the far slower karts of the 32 nd Milestone track. “I can’t wait to get into the Rotax kart,” says Kevin,who in the six months time also promises to gain enough weight,so that at Kolhapur,it will be just be him on in the kart,not carrying any dead weight.

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