Chennai, January 24: Bengaluru’s Ishaan Madesh and Nigel Abraham Thomas displayed impressive race craft to notch fine victories from pole positions in the MRF Formula 2000 and Formula 1600 categories, respectively, at the damp and windy Madras International Circuit which is hosting the fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2025, here on Saturday.
Equally impressive was Tarushi Vikram from Chikmagaluru who notched her maiden win this season in the highly competitive MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) category with a sensational drive in light drizzle, starting from pole position, while Chennai’s Ritesh Rai (Buzzing Hornet) and Diljith TS (DTS Racing) from Thrissur continued their winning streak in the Indian Touring Cars and Super Stock classes, respectively.
Versatile racer from Chennai, Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) marked his return after missing the previous round with a resounding victory in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class, but Bengaluru’s Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) continues to lead the championship despite finishing fifth.
Navi Mumbai’s Aditya Patnaik (Momentum Motorsports) snatched a win in a tight battle with Bhuvan Bonu (MSPORT) from Visakhapatnam while championship leader Ernakulam’s Joel Joseph (DTS Racing) finished third.
Both Ishaan Madesh, 17, and Nigel Abraham Thomas, 20, had to work hard for their victories in their respective MRF single-seater races. Ishaan was off to a good start, but through the eight laps, had to defend his lead on the track with Pune teenager Arjun Chheda snapping at his heels. “I think I was short on pace compared to Arjun but managed to hold my position. Still two more races to go tomorrow and I hope I can find some pace,” said Ishaan who is now just two points adrift of Arjun in the championship standings.
Nigel, after the initial jostling for track positions, managed to open just enough gap between him and the two rivals, Arjun Nair (Bengaluru) and Pune’s Sai Shiva Sankaran. The trio finished in that order but Sai Shiva enjoys a 22-point advantage over Arjun Nair going into Sunday’s double-header.
The ITC race had its share of drama with pole-sitter and former champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) leading comfortably after a good start from pole position. However, in the fifth lap, the front left wheel came off leading to his fourth consecutive retirement, including three in the previous round. With the Coimbatore veteran out of the race, Rai cruised to victory, his sixth of the season in seven starts. Defending champion, Mumbai’s Biren Pithawalla (N1 Racing) finished third behind multiple National Rally champion Karna Kadur (Arka Motorsports). However, Pithawalla moved past leader Dhruv Chavan from Lonavala in the championship standings. Chavan finished a distant fifth.
The results (Provisional, all Race-1, 8 laps):
MRF F2000: 1. Ishan Madesh (Bengaluru) (12mins, 51.183secs); 2. Arjun Chheda (Pune) (12:52.050); 3. Shivesh Selvarathnam (Bengaluru) (13:03.800).
MRF F1600: 1. Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru) (13:55.894); 2. Arjun S Nair (Bengaluru) (13:56.411); 3. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (Pune) (13:57.709).
Indian Touring Cars: 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Buzzing Hornet) (14:59.428); 2. Karna Kadur (Coimbatore, Arka Motorsports) (15:03.519); 3. Biren Pithawalla (Mumbai, N1 Racing) (15:03.924). ITC 1625: 1. Nikanth Rambabu (Coimbatore, Performance Racing) (15:52.940); 2. Vidyaprakash Damodaran (Coimbatore, Performance Racing) (16:07.926).
Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Performance Racing) (15:32.831); 2. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, Performance Racing) (15:33.210); 3. R Raja Rajan (Chennai, Performance Racing) (15:45.157).
Super Stock: 1. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (16:36.868); 2. Lal Kattikulam Bharathan (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (16:48.941); 3. Anirudha Arvind (Chennai, DTS Racing) (16:54.675).
Formula LGB 1300 (Open and Junior): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai, Momentum Motorsports) (17:57.626); 2. Bhuvan Bonu (Visakhapatnam, MSport) (17:57.813); 3. Joel Joseph (Ernakulam, DTS Racing) (18:00.792).
MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios): 1. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru) (16:59.449); 2. Mohammed Arfath (Chennai) (17:06.681); 3. Akshay Muralidharan (Coimbatore) (17:08.397).
Volkswagen Polo Cup: 1. Aman Nagdev (Noida) (15:32.762); 2. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai) (15:36.672); 3. Ojas Surve (Navi Mumbai) (15:38.390).
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