Chennai, September 19: The storied Madras International Circuit here will again reverberate with the sound of finely tuned racing engines as the second round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2025 gets underway on Saturday, September 20, having received 82 entries across all categories.
The two-day event has a card of 12 races that comprise of triple-headers in the combined grid of MRF Formula 2000 and Formula 1600 that will headline the event, the touring cars with its three sub-categories all to be run concurrently, besides the Volkswagen Polo Cup, the MRF Saloons and the popular, entry-level Formula LGB 1300 that boasts of a big grid of 22 single-seaters.
The saloon car races are bound to set the adrenaline coursing with 32 cars lining up on the combined grid which is a sure recipe for drama and hot action.
The MRF F2000 will see a renewal of rivalry between championship leader Arjun Chheda from Pune, who won two of the three races in the previous round in Coimbatore, and Bengaluru’s Ishaan Madesh with just six points separating the pair.
Similarly, it appears to be a straight fight between leader Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran, the 17-year-old from Pune, and second-placed Bengaluru’s Nigel Abraham Thomas who is four points adrift, both having won a race apiece in the Coimbatore round.
Only four points separate former champion Arjun Balu, the Coimbatore ace piloting a Race Concepts-prepared Honda City Vtec, and Lonavala’s privateer Dhruv Chavan while defending champion Biren Pithawalla (N1 Racing) is currently third in the championship in the premier Indian Touring Cars category. The trio is expected to do the front-running this weekend.
The highly competitive Indian Junior Touring Cars category sees the return of the Performance Racing team that had skipped the first round in Coimbatore, with a two-car tandem of Deepak Ravikumar and Viswas Vijayaraj, a former Formula LGB 1300 champion. Championship leader Rithwik Thomas (Race Concepts) from Bengaluru can expect a strong challenge from the experienced Performance Racing pair.
Sri Lankan Kesara Godage of Red Line Racing India won two of the three races in Coimbatore which puts him at the top of the leaderboard in the Super Stock class, 10 points ahead of Guwahati’s Krishanu Dutta Bhuyan (Zion Racing).
The situation in the Formula LGB 1300 category is much closer with just nine points covering the top six in the championship standings headed by 19-year-old Joel Joseph (DTS Racing) from Ernakulam.
In the VW Polo Cup, which will be run concurrently with the MRF Saloons, Navi Mumbai’s Aditya Patnaik leads Aman Nagdev (Noida) by one point with Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai) a further seven points behind. The Polo Cup dished out some close races and the trend is likely to continue this weekend.
Chairman of the Event Vicky Chandhok said: “We can expect the competitors to stretch their legs a bit more at the MIC than the tight and compact Kari Motor Speedway that hosted the first round in July. And that should make for some exciting contests. It augurs well for the championship that more young drivers, fearless and hungry for success, are on the various grids, especially the Formula LGB 1300 which offers a good platform to launch their racing careers. So, there is much to look forward to this weekend!”
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