BENGALURU — Rayo Racing’s Krish Gupta clinched his maiden National Rotax Karting title with a podium finish in the Senior Category of the FMSCI National Karting Championship on Monday, completing a stunning fightback from 16th in qualifying to the top of the championship standings. The sixth and final round of the Meco FMSCI National Rotax Karting Championship at the Kartopia Circuit in Bengaluru ended with Gupta on 428 points, ahead of Pune’s Arjun Chheda of Crest Motorsport on 415 and Bengaluru’s Akshat Misra on 414.
The Mumbai driver started the final round in the worst way possible, qualifying way down in 16th place. But he made amends with brilliant drives, pulling off 10 overtakes in each of the two heats to finish sixth in both. The crucial pre-finals, which carried championship points, saw him start sixth — then make a brilliant start to jump from sixth to third, and midway through the race move into second, where he stayed until the chequered flag behind Chennai’s Eshanth Vengatesan of MSPORT.
Gupta started second in the final but fell to third at the start, made up one position, then was passed by Bengaluru’s Ishaan Madhesh before eventually finishing third behind Vengatesan and Bengaluru’s Ruhaan Alva of MSPORT. He finished ahead of both his closest championship rivals in the pre-finals and the finals, allowing him to extend his championship lead and win the title.
Krish Gupta Earns India Ticket to Portugal
Besides a glittering national trophy, the Rayo Racing driver earned the ticket to officially represent India at the Rotax World Finals in Portimão, Portugal, where the champions of over 56 countries will compete for the world title. The global event is scheduled to take place at the Kartódromo Internacional do Algarve circuit from November 7 to 14, with 432 elite racers from more than 60 nations expected on the grid.
“My first National Title has taken longer than I would have liked. It feels great to finally be a National Champion. I really want to thank my parents, my team and mechanics, Steve who did a brilliant job tuning my kart all season and Ameya, for all the effort they have put in,” said an elated Krish.
Krish Gupta’s Long-Awaited Breakthrough
Eight-time national champion Rayomand Banajee, who has mentored Gupta, praised the achievement: “Krish has been deserving since a few years now. He missed out earlier due to reasons outside his control. He has upped his game tremendously and really deserves this National Title.”
The 2026 MECO FMSCI Indian National Karting Championship concluded at Meco Kartopia, supported by SIDVIN Energy Engineering and MRF Tyres, crowning four new national champions across categories. Alongside Gupta in Senior Max, Chennai’s Rivaan Dev Preetham of MSPORT clinched the Junior Max title, Arshi Gupta of Leapfrog Racing won Mini Max and Kolhapur’s Ayansh Patil of MSPORT took Micro Max. Rivaan also earned Best Rookie honours in his class, while Eshanth Vengatesan was recognised as the Senior Max championship’s Best Rookie and MSPORT dominated the team standings.
Krish Gupta, Rivaan Dev Preetham and Arshi Gupta have all earned the opportunity to represent India at the Rotax Max Grand Finals in Portugal. With the national titles decided, the focus now shifts to Europe, where India’s leading Rotax racers will compete against international talent — and Gupta will arrive as a national champion at last.
The Numbers Behind Krish Gupta’s Title
The final round results show how narrowly the Senior Max championship was decided. In the 18-lap finals, Vengatesan took the win in 16 minutes 36.487 seconds, with Alva second in 16:40.224 and Gupta third in 16:40.528. In the 14-lap pre-finals, Vengatesan again led in 12:53.758, with Gupta second in 12:55.146 and Alva third in 12:55.784.
Points, as the saying goes, mattered more than victory: despite not winning the final round, Gupta’s consistency across the heats, pre-final and final — and crucially, his finishing ahead of both Chheda and Misra when it counted — gave him the 428 points needed to seal the crown. Vengatesan’s double victory was recognised with the Senior Max Best Rookie award for the round and the championship, while MSPORT dominated the team standings in the class.