Sarthak Chavan Stuns at Madras Circuit, Leads TVS Racing Podium Sweep

Pune teenager Sarthak Chavan produced a remarkable comeback at the Madras International Circuit on Saturday, winning the premier Super Sport 301-400cc Open race despite starting from the last row and arriving in Chennai only hours before the race.

The 19-year-old had travelled overnight from Spain and reached Sriperumbudur around 6 a.m. on Saturday. With jet lag and virtually no sleep, Chavan had also missed Friday's practice and qualifying sessions. Yet, once he got on the track, he quickly found his rhythm and delivered one of the day's most impressive performances in the second round of the Indian National Racing Challenge 2W – 2026.

Chavan's victory was helped by the retirement of race leader Rahil Pillarisetty at the end of the penultimate lap. However, the Petronas TVS Racing rider still had to make up considerable ground after starting at the back of the grid.

The victory also resulted in a clean sweep for Petronas TVS Racing. Chennai teenager Rakshith Dave finished second, just 0.195 seconds behind Chavan, while Bengaluru's Chiranth Vishwanath completed the podium. Vishwanath, who also started from the last row, had missed Friday's sessions after suffering from food poisoning.

Another standout performance came from 16-year-old Kabilesh Rajini Krishnan of RACR Castrol Power1. The son of multiple former National champion Rajini Krishnan dominated the Super Stock 301-400cc Open race to claim a convincing victory.

Former National women's champion Ann Jennifer AS also produced a dramatic comeback in the Super Stock 165cc Intermediate race. Riding for Motul Sparks Racing, the Chennai racer started last after failing to set a qualifying time following a crash earlier in the day. She recovered strongly to take the chequered flag first.

In the Pro-Stock 200cc Open race, Thiruvallur's Mohamed Mikail of Team MRA edged Kozhikode's Amarnath Menon K by just 0.221 seconds in a closely fought finish. Abdul Basim RS of Chandra LGE Racing was third.

Anandhu KK of Veedol C2 Racing capitalised on a crash involving race leader Kavicholairasan of Speed Up Racing to win the Stock 301-400cc Novice category. Rehbar Islam Baktoo of Jammu and Kashmir finished second, while Bengaluru's Ashwin R was third.

Motul Sparks Racing secured a 1-2 finish in the Stock 165cc Novice category, with Visakhapatnam's Yashwant Varma taking the win ahead of Tadipatri's Raja Sreeharsha Singamsetty. Bengaluru's Dev Agastya finished third.

In the Petronas TVS Racing One-Make Championship, Hyderabad's Rajender Beedani claimed his second victory in three outings in the Expert (Apache RR 310) class. He narrowly defeated Bengaluru's AS James, with only 0.113 seconds separating the two at the finish.

Bengaluru teenager Poojita Anil Kumar continued her impressive run in the Women's (Apache RTR 200) category, securing her second win in as many races. She finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of Hyderabad's Hannah Akkineni Joshitha, while Pune's Mansi Ashok Walunj took third.

Mancherial's Pothu Vignesh emerged victorious in the Rookie (Apache RTR 200) class, finishing just 0.479 seconds ahead of Bengaluru's Dev Agastya. Rehbar Islam Baktoo was third.

The results (provisional):

Super Sport 301-400cc Open (Race-1)

1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) – 11:03.311
2. Rakshith Dave (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) – 11:03.506
3. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Petronas TVS Racing) – 11:06.187

Pro-Stock 200cc Open (Race-1)

1. Mohamed Mikail (Thiruvallur, Team MRA) – 11:51.610
2. Amarnath Menon K (Kozhikode, MadRabbit Racing) – 11:51.831
3. Abdul Basim RS (Chennai, Chandra LGE Racing) – 11:53.924

Super Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-1)

1. Kabilesh Rajini Krishnan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1) – 11:38.273
2. Kamal Navas (Chennai, Rockers Racing) – 11:41.065
3. Seshadri (Bengaluru, Motul Gusto Racing) – 11:41.153

Super Stock 165cc Intermediate (Race-1)

1. Ann Jennifer AS (Chennai, Motul Sparks Racing) – 12:46.048
2. D Annish Samson (Bengaluru, Motul Sparks Racing) – 12:53.234
3. Anandhu KK (Chennai, Veedol C2 Racing) – 12:55.971

Stock 301-400cc Novice (Race-1)

1. Anandhu KK (Chennai, Veedol C2 Racing) – 12:15.190
2. Rehbar Islam Baktoo (J&K, Motul Gusto Racing) – 12:17.181
3. Ashwin R (Bengaluru, Pvt.) – 12:17.860

Stock 165cc Novice (Race-1)

1. Yashwant Varma (Visakhapatnam, Motul Sparks Racing) – 13:09.445
2. Raja Sreeharsha Singamsetty (Tadipatri, Motul Sparks Racing) – 13:09.792
3. Dev Agastya (Bengaluru, Pvt.) – 13:10.097

Petronas TVS Racing One-Make Championship

Expert (Apache RR 310), Race-1

1. Rajender Beedani (Hyderabad) – 11:42.499
2. AS James (Bengaluru) – 11:42.612
3. Kamal Navas (Chennai) – 11:44.190

Women (Apache RTR 200), 5 laps

1. Poojita Anil Kumar (Bengaluru) – 11:14.009
2. Hannah Akkineni Joshitha (Hyderabad) – 11:43.872
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