Yevan becomes first Sri Lankan karter to win internationally
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Yevan Ranasinghe David, the 13-year-old, made history for Sri Lanka on Sunday by being the first Sri Lankan to win a European Heat karting race in Genk, Belgium.In the Champions of the Future, he competed in the OKJ category, which is the Junior World-Class category featuring the best 12 to 15 year olds in the world. He finished 15th in the final race starting at 16th.
Born in the United Kingdom to Sri Lankan parents, Yevan moved to Singapore when he was four years old and started karting at the age of six before competing two years later. He won his first race and championship at the age of 10 and moved to junior level competition at 12. He was placed second in the Rotax Asia Championship last year and at 13 years, Yevan was placed 13th overall in the IAME Winter Cup in Valencia, Spain.
His father Yohan, revealed that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yevan spent last year participating and racking up wins in online racing. He moved to Europe in 2021 with the dream of becoming the first world champion for Sri Lanka.
“It was his seventh race in Europe, the momentum has been building and Yevan has featured in the last five semi-finals and two of the last three finals in the previous six race weekends. It was all about qualifying well and building on the success throughout the weekend. The previous race had been a hard one, but he bounced back to qualify in the top seven in his group and 19th overall from the 92 competitors,” his father detailed.
The first three heats has decent success with Yevan finishing sixth, seventh and eighth. Heat 4 started the same as the previous heat with Yevan slotting himself into fourth position behind Dane August Therbout.
Having put his head down over the next four laps, Yevan chased down the leaders. In the fifth lap Yevan overtook Therbout and took off after Kiano Blum in second and Sonny Smith in the lead. Over the next three laps Yevan and Kiano chased Sonny down before Kiano took the lead with two laps to go.
“In the ninth lap Yevan overtook Sonny to take the second slot and signaled him to push forward to Blum. At the start of the last lap, Yevan was inches behind Kiano Blum, with three corners to go. But Kiano defended to the inside forcing Yevan to go on the outside. In the sprint through the next corner, again Blum defended the last corner, and Yevan took a wide entry. Blum went wide on exit and Yevan’s entry allowed him the inside line with higher momentum, Sonny Smith was right behind. It’s a drag race to the finish line and the rest is history,” further explained Snr. David.
Yevan David now becomes the first Sri Lankan to win a European Karting Race signaling the Karting world that the tiny island of Sri Lanka can produce world class talent.
“We have said before of Yevan, that the talent is without question and to see him fly the flag high for Sri Lanka make this day. Yevan goes on to finish 15th overall in the final from 92 drivers before penalties. We hope that Sri Lanka takes note and provides Yevan the support to pursue his dream to become the first Sri Lankan Formula 1 driver,” noted his proud father.
Two months ago Yevan competed at the 3rd Round of the WSK Super Masters Series held at the world famous Circuito Internazionale Napoli in Sarno, Italy and finished 15th overall from 80 of the best junior drivers in the world. To achieve this feat in only his fourth race in Europe is unprecedented. He has also consistently beaten drivers from the prestigious Mercedes and Sauber F1 Academies.
Europe is the pinnacle for Go-Karting globally and is widely recognised as the foundation towards a career in Formula 1. The WSK Championships and the CIK European Championships annually showcase the best drivers the world has to offer. Mclaren, Redbull, Mercedes AMG, Ferrari and Sauber have all recruited drivers from these series and Yevan is making his mark now.
Yevan, at the tender age of 13, moved to Europe to pursue his dream of one day being the first Sri Lankan World Champion in Formula 1. He is living away from his parents and siblings and focusing full time on racing and remote studies.
He is driving for the championship winning Forza Racing Team in the OK Junior category. Forza have won the European and World Championship in 2017 and have Williams F1 driver George Russel as part of their alumni.
Yevan will remain for the entire year in Europe competing in the European and World Championships, and his goal is to move into Formula 4 in 2022 or 2023. The ability is unquestionable, the funding will be the barrier to this sportsman putting the Sri Lankan flag on the highest pinnacle of motor racing.