Bengaluru's Yash Aradhya created history by becoming the first motorsports star to win the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar on Wednesday.
He received the award in a grand ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan from President Ram Nath Kovind.
The 17-year-old has been scorching race tracks since the age of nine. He has 13 championship wins including over 65 podium finishes and 12 awards to his credit.
The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puruskar is India's highest civilian honour bestowed upon exceptional students from various fields under the age of 18.
Yash along with the 49 other talented kids was chosen by an elite panel set up by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development. They will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before they take part in the Republic Day parade on January 26.
"I thank the Government of India for considering me worthy of this award and humbly accept it. It is a great honour to receive the award from the Honorable President of India and to meet the Honorable Prime Minister of India," Yash said after receiving the award.
"I have been working really hard and after attaining considerable success at both international and national circuit, it really is very gratifying to be bestowed with this recognition," he added.
The motorsports star said that the award will always to special to him as he is the first from the fraternity to win the accolade.
"While I have had my share of success on the grid in the past few years, this award will remain always special as this is not an achievement for me but for the whole fraternity. This award will inspire other young enthusiasts and they will push themselves more as they now would know that their achievement will be recognised," added Yash.
The journey has been tough for Yash. He started his career in the JK Tyre National Go-karting Championship eight years back, racing for Akbar Ebrahim's Meco Motorsports and has steadily moved up, eventually making it to Formula Racing.
He has taken part in international championships too including the CIK FIA Academy Trophy in 2015 in Spain, Belgium, and France. He was also nominated by FMSCI to represent India in the Rotax World Finals in 2017 to race in Portugal. In 2019, he took part in the FIA Motorsport Games held in Rome.
Yash debuted in the Formula-4 South East Asia Championship in the 2019 season and claimed the first 2 podium finishes to underline his talent.
( With inputs from ANI )