Mumbai's Kiaan Shah secured the Rotax Senior title at the Meco Meritus Cup held in Bengaluru on January 31, 2026, continuing his strong start to his racing career.

The 15-year-old, who recently achieved a podium finish at the RMC Asia Trophy in Thailand, won Race 1 and finished second in Race 2, leading the standings after Round 1 of the Meritus Cup.

Kiaan’s victory contributed to a successful event for Rayo Racing, with fellow Mumbaikar Atharva Hemani claiming the Rotax Micro title and Aarav Sureka finishing third. The winners received free entry into all rounds of the FMSCI National Karting Championship.

National Champion Aditya Patnaik, head of Rayo Racing, commented, “Kiaan raced really well and we are very impressed with how he is developing. The micro racers showed a lot of maturity and nerve to pull off a victory.” Rayo Racing CEO Saurav Bandopadhyay stated, “We have been spending a lot of time working on the psychology and mindset of our racers. That has started to show results.”

During Race 1, Kiaan advanced from third to second at the start and took the lead in the fourth corner, passing Misra. MSport’s Vengatesan moved to second position behind him. Kiaan extended his lead to win the race comfortably.

In Race 2, Kiaan started well, moving from third to second, but was hit from behind at corner 2 and lost ground he could not recover, finishing second. Misra won Race 2, with Vengatesan taking third.

The Micro category’s Race 1 involved a major pile-up at the first corner, with most of the field going off track. Both Rayo Racing drivers, Aarav Sureka and Atharva Hemani, started further back and went off track but avoided collisions, rejoining near the front. Atharva led comfortably throughout the race, while Aarav defended his position against Saakhir Nagpal of Peregrine Racing to finish second.