Chennai's Rivaan Dev Preetham excels in Academy karting series in Spain

Talented Rivaan Dev Preetham, the only Indian to have won a race in the history of FIA Motorsport Games, once again, showcased his skill and talent, dishing out promising results in the second round of the prestigious Champions of the Future Academy Programme here, according to a release from FIA. The reigning Micro Max National champion logged a poor qualifying time due to a strategy that did not work, but managed to finish a creditable P11 in the first final after a forgettable P21 and P27 in the heats. However, the 11-year-old bounced back, qualifying fifth among 37 competitors from around the world and finishing a creditable P5 in the second heat.

He went on to post another top-15 result, finishing 11th in the second final for a satisfying outing in Round 2, where he garnered 22 points. The driver supported by Redbrick Constructions, Sankar Group of companies and Chaicup, clocked a best lap of 1min, 02.442 seconds. F1 Academy promotes the global karting programme for young professional racing drivers. The MSport product will return from Spain on Wednesday, but will return to training as he will not have much time to celebrate his birthday on April 18, as he prepares for the Meco Meritus Cup.

The Grade 6 student of Lady Andal House of Children in Chennai, who won two National titles in 2023 and 2024, is looking for a hat-trick this year. In 2024, he put up an admirable show at the World Motorsports Games, where he won a race and a heat before finishing 8th overall in the Karting Mini class among participants from over 40 countries.

"I'm very happy to be on pace with the top guns. This is a good learning experience, and I look forward to better results in the remaining rounds," said Rivaan Dev, as quoted from a release by FIA.

The third round is in Italy from July 2 to 6, followed by another three rounds in Hungary, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.