Chennai, September 10: The country’s best riders, known for their competitiveness and fearless riding, will congregate yet again to renew their rivalries in the second round of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 2W 2026 to be held at the Madras International Circuit from September 11 to 13 with 18 races besides practice and qualifying sessions scheduled.
The inaugural round in August witnessed many heart-stopping moments in all the six classes besides the Petronas TVS Racing One-Make Championship. And Round-2 which has attracted over 125 entries, including half-a-dozen from the North-East, representing 15 teams, is expected to dish out more of the riveting wheel-to-wheel racing.
The premier Super Sport 301-400cc Open class will highlight the weekend programme with its no-holds-barred racing astride the TVS GP 310R bikes. A trio of teenaged Petronas TVS Racing riders – Sarthak Chavan (Pune), Chiranth
Vishwanath (Bengaluru) and Rakshith Dave (Chennai) –who, besides competing fiercely among themselves, will have to contend with Hyderabad ace 28-year-old Rahil Pillarisetty representing the RACR Castrol Power1 team.
Another youngster to be watched is 16-year-old Kabilesh, the son of multiple National champion Rajini Krishnan, competing in the Super Stock 301-400cc Open class. The young Chennai rider is still a work in progress though his racing genes were very much in evidence in Round 1. He retired with a mechanical problem when leading in Race-1 but won the next race competing with older and more experienced riders. Kabilesh had suffered major injuries after a crash when racing in Malaysia but has returned to racing after a lengthy rehabilitation.
Chennai’s Ann Jennifer (Motul Sparks Racing), a former National women’s champion, shared the limelight with the big boys by winning both races in the Super Stock 165cc Intermediate class which has a mixed gender grid. Now in fine form, she will be looking to extend her winning streak.
Chairman of the Event and Race Director Manoj Dalal said: “It is a good sign that the MRF Indian National Challenge 2W is thriving with a lot of talented youngsters as was seen in Round 1 in August. It is even more heartening that the number of first-time racers has increased reflecting the growing popularity of two-wheeler racing.
We welcome all the competitors and stakeholders for Round 2 which I am sure will be as exciting, if not more, than the previous round.”
