Eshan Pieris comes second at Asian Karting Open Championship

Young Eshan Pieris kept the Sri Lankan flag flying high as he came in second at the Asian Karting Open Championship, held recently in Macau, China. He represented the RL Karting Team from Malaysia, using the Birel Art chassis and powered by IAME X30 Engine.

With a total of three, eight-minute practice sessions before the qualifying round and 56 drivers to compete against, it was a challenge to learn the track and find the right setup. Yet Eshan managed to qualify in 16th place.

He started 11th in both Heat 1 and 2 finishing in seventh and sixth place respectively. In the pre-final, starting in seventh place, he finished fourth, putting him in a strong position for the final.

The final saw him get off to a perfect start, taking the lead right from the second turn. The race had the entire crowd on their feet as he and Marc Tulloch from Australia battled it out. Despite Eshan leading the race from lap 6 to 18 he finished just behind Marc at the chequered flag. Eshan, an old Thomian, now in his first-year as an undergraduate at Monash University, Malaysia said: “This has been a great year for my karting career despite having to balance racing and studies”.

Among his other international racing achievements, this year, he was placed second in Round 2 and third in Round 3 and Round 5 of the Rota Max Challenge Asia. He also had the opportunity to race for the very first time in Europe at Castelletto, Italy with the KMS Hungary team where he qualified in the top ten; an impressive accomplishment given the quality of the field. He then went on to race at the IAME International Final in France.

Eshan was quick to give credit where it was due and said: “I would not have been able to achieve any of this without the support of my parents, my coach and manager, Aaron Lim, and my team at RL Karting without whose constant tutelage, guidance and support, I would definitely not have enjoyed this degree of success”.

He is looking forward to some fun driving during the a much-deserved Christmas vacation back home at the Sri Lanka Karting Circuit, Bandaragama, where previously, as a cadet kart trainer he generously shared his experience and expertise with the next cadre of young drivers. He added: “It’s a shame I didn’t start racing earlier but the sport wasn’t that developed here in Sri Lanka then. I hope that more kids will get in to it at earlier age allowing them to bring even greater glory to Sri Lanka’s in the arena of motor sports.”