Sai Shiva Sankaran, left, who won the MRF F1600, and Arjun Chheda, the MRF F2000 winner.
Teenagers Arjun Chheda and Sai Shiva Sankaran secured stunning victories in the MRF Formula 2000 and F1600 categories in the first round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on Saturday.
The 16-year-old Arjun made the best of a poor start by pole-sitter Ishaan Madesh, who stalled his car to drop to sixth, but eventually finished second on debut. Arjun, with a sizeable lead, won comfortably.
Sai Shiva Sankaran, who slipped to second after a bad start from pole, fought his way back into the lead to notch his maiden win in this class. Arjun S. Nair and Nigel Abraham Thomas came in second and third.
Veteran and former champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts), returning to the championship after a year’s hiatus, powered his way to a win in the Indian Touring Cars category.
The results (provisional – all 12 laps unless mentioned): MRF F2000: Race-1: 1. Arjun Chheda 13:28.502s; 2. Ishaan Madesh 13:37.603; 3. Shivesh Selvarathnam 13:41.796.
MRF F1600: Race-1: 1. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran 14:24.471; 2. Arjun S. Nair 14:24.902; 3. Nigel Abraham Thomas 14:40.437.
Indian Touring Cars: Race-1: 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) 15:24.662; 2. Dhruv Chavan 16:04.961; 3. Rajkumar G.D. 16:09.765.
Indian Junior Touring Cars: Race-1: 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) 16:29.216; 2. Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) 16:32.728; 3. Yug Italiya (Team N1) 16:38.848.
Super Stock: Race-1: 1. Kesara Godage 16:03.927; 2. Aman (Strada Motorsports) 16:12.272; 3. Manan Patel 16:15.632.
Formula LGB 1300: Race-1: Open and Junior: 1. Joel Joseph (DTS Racing) 15:16.951; 2. Lokithlingeash Ravi (DTS Racing) 15:17.112; 3. Pathik Ashok (DTS Racing) 15:17.155.
Volkswagen Polo Cup: Race-1: 1. Aman Nagadev (Buzzing Hornet) 15:34.403; 2. Pratik Sonawane (Buzzing Hornet) 15:36.772; 3. Aditya Patnaik (Buzzing Hornet) 15:37.439.
Published – July 19, 2025 08:01 pm IST
