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6 IVAL 202 T S E F G ACIN rs INDIAN R Youngste rule the Indian F4 & 2, Round 1 KMS 2026 in INDIA’S FIRST AND ONLY MOTORSPORTS & OFF‑ROAD MAGAZINE

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026 | Rs. 99

OCTOBER 2

WRC DEBUT FOR TSI RACING WITH DEAN AND GAGAN

THE SECOND ACT

Sangeeth Samuel

MRF 2W RALLY Defending champion

Tanveer wins

Round 2

RFC INDIA 2026

5th Title for KODAVA

Chethan Chengappa

FIM MOTOMINI INDIA

Prem Khandle & Rian Sarath for 2026 World ﬁnals in Spain

BLUEBAND INRC

+DEAN’S ERA CONTINUES.... , TSI Racing’s DEAN & GAGAN continue to defend their title, Podium sweep for ARKA Motorsports INTL RALLY Naveen and Musa WRC3 podium hat‑trick

NATL ROTAX KARTING 26

After back to back Round 4 & 5 Grand ﬁnals to be more exciting

FEATURE

ATMA, AMRUTHA COURTYARD, RouteMatic’s bet on AI

SPECIAL FEATURE

JSW MG MOTORS꞉ Women Power, EV Future‑Vijay Kumar

EDITORIAL / IMPRINT

Hi,

A season of change and renewed momentum

he 2026 motorsport season got off to a delayed and disputed start, with the promoter rights for several National Championships going under the hammer and some major championships changing hands. After months of uncertainty, however, calendars are gradually falling into place and Indian motorsport is ﬁnally gathering momentum.

The fallout from last season continues to be felt. Four National Championships promoted in 2025 with the backing of a Mysuru‑based businessman from Vijayawada were scrapped, as the federation had to intervene to ensure the completion of three of the championships last year. The promoter changes and the subsequent legal proceedings have added another layer of complexity to an already challenging situation.

For perhaps the ﬁrst time, the courts have become an important part of the process, with appeals and legal proceedings inﬂuencing how some of the long‑pending issues are resolved and how the federation moves forward.

After months of uncertainty, the Blue Band FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship calendar was ﬁnally announced. An apparent out‑of‑court settlement has brought some much‑needed relief to competitors, teams, technicians and organisers, allowing preparations for the country's premier rally championship to resume. The second round, the Rally of Coimbatore, was an encouraging start to the delayed season, attracting a strong 64 entries.

There are also positive developments beyond the domestic scene. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has stepped up efforts to bring major international motorsport events back to India. The possibility of Formula 1 and MotoGP returning in the coming years could provide a fresh lease of life to the Buddh International Circuit, India's only FIA Grade 1 circuit. The venue, now under the Adani Group, has previously hosted both Formula 1 and MotoGP.

The FMSCI itself is going through a period of change. With various parties approaching the courts over the federation's election process, the elections scheduled for September were stalled. The courts have directed that the process follow the Sports Ministry's guidelines and to complete the process within six months, including amendments to the byelaws.

There have also been changes in the promoter structure of two championships previously run by the Madras Motor Sports Club. The four‑wheeler National Championship has been allotted as a consortium to a Chennai‑based businessman, while the future of the two‑wheeler National Championship is still under discussion. The FMSCI is understood to be considering running the championship under its own banner.

Meanwhile, the F4 championship has provided an early glimpse of what the future could hold. The opening round produced an exciting ﬁeld and saw some of the youngest drivers make their mark on the podium, underlining the importance of developing a new generation of Indian racing talent.

For all the uncertainty surrounding the sport's administration and commercial structure, the one constant remains the competitors' passion for racing. From rally stages and circuits to karting tracks and motorcycle grids, the engines are once again roaring across the country.

As the 2026 season gathers pace, we wish every competitor, organiser, ofﬁcial, volunteer and enthusiast a safe, successful and memorable season.

S. ASHOK KUMAR TIWARI Editor M꞉ +91‑9845296190 autotrack.editor@gmail.com O1 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

IMPRINT

Editor S. Ashok Kumar Tiwari Concept and Design꞉ S. Ashok Kumar Tiwari

Staff Photographers꞉ Noorulla, Keshava Murthy Managing Editor꞉ Roopa A. Tiwari Sr. Correspondent꞉ S. Nithyanand

Correspondent꞉ K. Manjunath Ghanshyam A Tiwari Gokul

Spl. Correspondent꞉ David Bodapati Western Region꞉ autotrack.west@gmail.com Mob꞉ 09757176958

Editorial Office꞉

Auto Track 7/3‑1, Lalitha Engineering Building, Subbanna Garden Main Road, Vijayanagar, Bangalore‑40 autotrack.editor@gmail.com www.autotrack.ind.in For Subscription, contact꞉ 9845296190

For Advertisement, E꞉ ashok.autotrack@gmail.com The Publisher makes every effort to ensure that the magazine’s contents are accurate. However, he accepts no responsibility of any effects arising therefrom. Printed at Raj Hans Enterprises, Rajajinagar Industrial Town, Bangalore‑560044. Published by S. Ashok Kumar Tiwari At # 7/3‑1, Lalitha Engineering Building, Subbanna Garden Main Road, Vijayanagar, Bangalore ‑ 560040

VOLUME 18, ISSUE 6

CONTENTS

October 2026

70 NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS꞉ 06

FORMULA 4 INDIA CHAMPIONSHIP R1 & R2꞉ 12 BLUE BAND INRC 4W ‑ R2, COIIMBATORE꞉ 20

2W RACING CHALLENGE ‑ R1 & R2꞉ 26

RALLY SPECIAL FEATURE꞉ 34 14 5 2W NRC ‑ R2, COIMBATORE꞉ 50

4W RACING CHALLENGE ‑ R1꞉ 54

68꞉ FORMULA 1

MOTO MINI INDIA, BENGALURU꞉ 58

70꞉ RAIN FOREST CHALLENGE INDIA 40꞉ JSW MG MOTOR FEATURE

IPONE DIRT DRAG ‑ 2W꞉ 60

42꞉ ATMA

ARCH RALLY, COIMBATORE꞉ 62

NTORQ MONSOON SCOOTER RALLY꞉ 64

MOTO GP꞉ 66

44꞉ AMRUTH COURTYARD FEATURE 28

64 46

O2 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

22 64

50 16

Readers 19

KISHAN RANA UTTAR PRADESH VENKATESH KARNATAKA SURESHAN CHENNAI

Voice

1. Why was the 2026 season delayed?

The season was delayed mainly because several disputes were taken to court, with some stakeholders choosing the legal route to resolve their differences. At the same time, a few championships changed hands, and the process of re‑allotting some of them took longer than expected. The two‑wheeler INRC was one such example.

The four‑wheeler INRC eventually got off to a very good start, despite the unexpected delay. With most of the championships now in place, another challenge has emerged — ﬁnding space for all the rounds in an already crowded calendar. The number of championship rounds exceeds the number of available weekends, making clashes difﬁcult to avoid.

With the major championships now settled, the expectation is that the 2027 season can begin on time and run more smoothly.

2. How will the calendar look this year?

The two karting National Championships are likely to be among the ﬁrst to complete their seasons. The MRF Supercross Championship has also completed roughly half of its scheduled rounds.

With so many championships competing for the same weekends, clashes are inevitable and will have to be accepted to some extent. However, this is an area where the Federation needs to do more.

With all the major promoters now in place, except for the two‑wheeler National Racing Championship, the

Federation should bring all stakeholders together before the end of the current season. A detailed discussion involving promoters, sponsors and venue owners could help in preparing both a ﬁnal calendar and a tentative calendar for the following year.

Such a calendar should take into account the national and international commitments of riders and drivers, sponsorship requirements, logistics, climatic conditions, venue availability and the practical demands of organising each championship.

If this exercise is undertaken for the coming season, it would be a signiﬁcant step towards bringing greater professionalism to Indian motorsport.

The Federation could also consider providing common on‑site support facilities at temporary or makeshift venues. This would reduce the operational burden on promoters and organisers and make events more efﬁcient.

Another area that requires much greater attention is media coverage. National championships are being conducted across the country, but consistent and professional media coverage remains a neglected priority. A coordinated approach to promoting the championships and the competitors would give the sport greater visibility and help take Indian motorsport and its athletes to the next level.

3. Will the Federation's election process hinder the sport?

Based on the court's directions, there should not be any major disruption

to the day‑to‑day functioning of the Federation. The court has laid down guidelines concerning the fundamentals of the election and governance process, rather than interfering in the routine working and decision‑making of the Federation.

The fact that most of the regular National Championships are now on track indicates that the sport's competitive calendar can continue despite the ongoing election process. The two‑wheeler National Racing Championship is yet to get off the ground, but that issue is part of the broader promoter and championship‑allocation process.

At this stage, the priority should be to concentrate on strengthening the existing championships and ensuring that they are conducted efﬁciently, rather than taking on unnecessary complications or ventures.

The objective should be to bring stability to the sport, provide certainty to competitors and promoters, and allow the championships to develop on a professional and sustainable footing.

NATL & INTL NEWS

Rivaan Dev Preetham ﬁnishes impressive fourth in Asia‑Paciﬁc Karting Championship

Rishik Rohit Reddy gains valuable

experience on international debut at Macau

engaluru's 13‑year‑old karter Rishik Rohit Reddy completed his first international racing weekend at the FIA Karting Arrive & Drive Asia‑Pacific Championship 2026 at the Circuit of Macau – Coloane, gaining valuable experience against a competitive international Junior field.

Rishik showed encouraging pace during his debut weekend and made steady progress through the various sessions. In free practice 1 his first practice of the weekend he was 18th fastest out of 20 athletes meanwhile the same day he moved up to 15th position in Free practice 2 and 3, after free practice he learned the track and new equipment and all new tyre with higher grip and placed 12th in the official Warm up next day and later in Qualifying Heat 1, he started from 16th and moved as high as eighth before dropping to 17th and recovering to finish 12th.

He continued to make progress on the ﬁnal day in the warm up having a good start to the warm up keeping himself in top 4 positions for about ﬁve laps and

TVS MOTOSOUL 6.0

showing pace as fast as the fastest on the grid and then got stuck in traffic but still he clocked 11th fastest in Official warm up on the final day. The weekend culminated in the 17‑lap Final. Rishik was unable to complete the race distance and was classified 19th, after completing four laps until then he was in top 9 trying to progress upwards,

Despite the final result, the Macau outing gave the young Bengaluru racer an opportunity to compete in an international field and experience the pressures of qualifying, sprint races, reverse‑grid racing and a final at a renowned circuit.

Reﬂecting on his debut, Rishik said꞉ “I am very happy with my pace and performance. It was really a good learning curve and a rich experience.”

For the young karter, the Macau weekend was an important step in gaining international racing experience and understanding the level and demands of competition beyond the domestic karting scene, and he responded well

TVS Motor Company, part of TVS VENU and a leading global two‑and three‑wheeler manufacturer, announced the sixth edition of its ﬂagship motorcycling festival, TVS MotoSoul 6.0, to be held on December 11 and 12, 2026, at Goa.

06 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

ndian karting talent Rivaan Dev Preetham delivered a standout performance at the FIA Karting Arrive and Drive Asia Paciﬁc Championship 2026, held at the legendary Circuit of Macau Coloane in Macau. Despite delays and the cancell‑ ation of Sunday's heats due to thunderstorms, Rivaan started the Grand Final from P5 on the 20‑driver grid. After navigating an action‑packed opening lap, he fought his way up to secure an impressive P4 overall ﬁnish in the Junior category.

Competing on the Macau track for the ﬁrst time against local champions, Rivaan demon‑ strated exceptional pace and adaptability throughout the event. Across ﬁve Free Practice sessions, his best was a P3 in the second outing on Day 1.

Rivaan, last year's Indian champion in the Mini class, carried momentum into qualifying sprint heats, ﬁnishing second in Sprint 1 (from P5) and third in Sprint 2 (from a reverse‑ grid P6)

Jagathishree gets podium at

FIM Asia Women's Cup of Road Racing in Thailand

ndian rider Jagathishree Kumaresan produced a strong performance to ﬁnish third overall in the FIM Asia Women's Cup of Circuit Racing

that concluded at the Thailand Circuit at Nakhon Chaisi .

Representing fmsci, as Team India in the fourth round of the 2026 championship, the Chennai rider finished third in the opening race and followed it with a fourth‑place finish in Race 2. Her consistent performance across the two races earned her seven championship points and third place in the overall round classification.

In Race 1, Jagathishree completed the 10‑lap contest in 17꞉39.782, ﬁnishing 16.723 seconds behind Kamakari. She improved her pace in Race 2, recording fourth place in 17꞉38.389, just 2.452 seconds behind third‑placed Maria Graciella Reyes of the Philippines

Naveen, Musa complete WRC3 podium hat‑trick in Paraguay

istory‑making Indian rally duo Naveen Puligilla and co‑driver Musa Sherif made a stunning recovery to score another WRC3 podium with a ﬁghting third‑place ﬁnish in the Rally del Paraguay, the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, which concluded at Encarnación in Paraguay.

The Duran Racing duo completed a remarkable hat‑ trick of WRC3 podiums, finishing 2nd at the season‑ending Rally Saudi Arabia in November 2025, where Naveen became the first Indian driver to secure a WRC class podium, and along with Musa, became the first all‑Indian driver‑co‑driver combo to achieve the feat. In March, they came third at the Safari Rally Kenya.

In their second WRC rally this season, Hyderabad's Naveen and seasoned co‑driver, Musa from Kasaragod, drove a Ford Fiesta Rally3, through the

08 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

NATL & INTL NEWS

Indian Navy and TVS Motor Join Forces For 'Fleet To Forts' Expedition To Inspire the Youth

he Indian Navy, in association with TVS Motor Company, part of TVS VENU, a reputed global manufacturer of two‑and three‑ wheelers, ﬂagged off the 'Fleet to Forts' Motorcycle Expedition from Kohli Stadium, Mumbai. The 14 day The 25‑member contingent ride will cover over 1600 km and include scaling of 10 Forts associated with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,

including those recently in‑ scribed on the UNESCO heritage List under the nomination “Maratha Military Landscapes of India”. The ride also aims to raise awareness among the youth about career opportunities in the Indian Navy, with a special focus on the Agnipath Scheme ‑ the Government of India's short‑ term recruitment programme for personnel below ofﬁcer rank in the Armed Forces.

demanding 22 red‑gravel Special Stages (SS) covering 357.64 km in 5 hours, 10 minutes and 54.9 seconds including penalty times. Overall, of the 58 entries in all classes, only 44 cars ﬁnished.

After going off the road in Special Stage 3 on Friday, which resulted in penalties for the six stages they missed, the duo mounted a brilliant recovery on Saturday. With calm composure, they steadily fought their way back up the WRC3 order, setting a series of competitive stage times from SS10 onwards. Despite a further 15‑minute penalty for a turbo change, their recovery reached a fitting climax on Sunday. Naveen produced a blistering run in the short SS20 before closing with a strong second‑place finish in class in the final Power Stage, SS22, behind WRC3 winners, Bolivian Nataniel Bruun, and co‑driver Mario Javier.

Mahindra Racing retains

Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries for GEN4 era

ahindra Racing announced that Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries will continue to drive for the team in the upcoming 2026/27 FIA Formula E World Championship season. Season 13 marks the beginning of a new era for Formula E, with the series entering its fourth generation with the arrival of the state‑of‑the‑art GEN4 – the fastest Formula E car to date.

Having joined Mahindra Racing in 2023, Mortara and de Vries have played a pivotal role in the team's progression and development over the past three seasons and together, have secured two victories and a further 10 podium ﬁnishes, alongside six pole positions. Their efforts during the 2025/26 season helped to deliver Mahindra Racing its strongest campaign.

NATL 2W RALLY, COIMBATORE

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

SI Racing's Dean Mascarenhas and co‑driver Gagan Karumbaiah ended their South American World Rally Championship campaign on a positive note with a top‑8 ﬁnish and a stage‑win in the WRC3 class, completing back‑ to‑back rallies in Paraguay and Chile.

Driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3 prepared by PH Sport, the reigning Indian National Rally Champions ﬁnished a creditable eighth in WRC3 class n Rally Chile Biobío, a technically demanding event featuring twisty gravel stages and winding forest tracks of the Biobío region.

A fortnight earlier, the Mangaluru‑Kodagu pair were in contention for a WRC3 podium in Rally del Paraguay before an unfortunate accident forced them into a DNF with just one stage remaining. They also won a Stage in the tough Paraguay Rally in their class.

For TSI Racing, the Paraguay and Chile rounds were part of a carefully planned programme aimed at providing the Indian duo with international experience in some of the

Dean and Gagan

end South American WRC3 campaign on positive note

toughest conditions on the WRC calendar.

Their WRC campaign began with Rally Islas Canarias in April, where they ﬁnished seventh in class, followed by an FIA European Rally Championship outing at Rally di Roma Capitale in July, where they ﬁnished 12th in Rally3.

Mohan Nagarajan, MD of Sidvin Energy Engineering, which backs

TSI Racing, said the international campaign had delivered valuable experience for both the crew and the team. “The three WRC rounds have given Dean, Gagan and the entire team a wealth of experience. It has been a great learning curve, and we have seen them improve with every rally. Chile was particularly demanding, and they drove very well on some of the most

technical and tricky stages we have encountered. We take home a lot of positives from the last two rounds and will build on this experience as we plan our next steps,” said Nagarajan, a former rally racer.

“The experience we gained from this rally is huge. It is one of the toughest rallies I have ever driven, and completing it gives me immense pleasure. The team did a great job in putting together a competitive car, while Gagan was spot on with his notes throughout. These three WRC rallies have given us a lot of conﬁdence and taught us a great deal. I thank my team TSI Racing and PH Sport for this rich experience,” said Dean.

Founded in 2007 and backed by Sidvin Energy Engineering, TSI Racing was the ﬁrst Indian outﬁt to enter the WRC in 2008 and has since provided an international platform for Indian drivers, including Gaurav Gill and Naren Kumar. Nearly two decades later, the team's commitment to taking Indian rallying to the global stage continues with Mascarenhas and Karumbaiah 10 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

12 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

FORMULA 4, ROUND 1 Race 1 Winners Luviwe Sambudla, Aris Kyriakou & Aaron Mehta

Kyriakou the standout as F4 Indian Championship opens 2026 season

ifteen‑year‑old Aris Kyriakou emerged as the standout performer as the F4 Indian Championship 2026 got underway at Kari Motor Speedway (KMS), Coimbatore, on September 13.

Competing as part of the Indian Racing Festival, powered by JK Tyre, the Cypriot secured two runner‑up ﬁnishes and a victory in the three races of Round 1.

The opening round produced seven different drivers on the podium across the three races. Round 2 will also be held at Kari Motor Speedway before the six‑ round championship moves to its other venues.

Teenage talent shines at Kari Motor Speedway

South African Luviwe Sambudla made the most of a strong drive in Race 1. Starting eighth for Goa Aces JA Racing, Sambudla carved his way through the field and was in podium contention within the opening four laps. A mid‑race Safety Car closed up the field, but Sambudla held his nerve to take victory in 31꞉05.808, finishing 2.245 seconds ahead of Kyriakou. Pole‑sitter Aaron Mehta completed the podium in third.

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 13

Race 1 winner Luviwe Sambudla, Goa Aces JA Racing

Mehta, a 15‑year‑old Singaporean representing Kolkata Royal Tigers, had earlier created a piece of championship history by becoming the youngest driver to take pole, with a lap of 1꞉05.652. He slipped to third as his tyres faded during the race but held on for a notable podium ﬁnish on his championship debut. Narola converts pole into victory

Race 2 belonged to another 15‑year‑old, Aryan Narola. Starting from pole for Goa Aces JA Racing, Narola resisted sustained pressure from Kyriakou throughout the 26‑lap race to take his maiden championship victory by just 0.624 seconds.

Sai Aditya, Chennai Turbo Riders & Mahlori Mothlabani, God Speed Kochi

Kyriakou ﬁnished second, with Swarnav Das completing the podium. Narola's victory made him the second‑youngest race winner in F4 Indian Championship history. Kyriakou takes Race 3

Kyriakou saved his best for the ﬁnal race of the weekend, converting pole 14 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Bhuvan Bonu, Hyderabad Blackbirds

FORMULA 4, ROUND 1 Race 3 winners Aris Kyriakou, Mahlori Mothlabani & Aaron Mehta

Aaron Mehta, Kolkata Royal Tigers

Race 3 winner (53) Aris Kyriakou, Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru

fourth, beneﬁted from the incident to move into third.

position into victory after another close battle.

With seven different drivers making the podium across the

Race 2 winners Aryan Narola, Aris Kyriakou & Swarnav Das

three races, Round 1 underlined the competitive nature of the championship. But Kyriakou's consistency — two second‑place

The Cypriot faced constant pressure from South African Mahlori Mabunda, who remained close to his gearbox for much of the race. Kyriakou held firm to take the chequered flag, with Mehta finishing third and Sambudla fourth.

ﬁnishes and a victory — made him the clear standout as the F4 Indian Championship heads into Round 2 at the same venue

Mabunda had the pace to challenge for victory but was hampered by dirty air while running behind the leader. The turbulent airﬂow from the car ahead reduced downforce and made it difﬁcult for the chasing driver to maintain the pace through the corners.

The closing stages produced further drama as the leaders began lapping the field. Ntiyiso Mabunda came to a halt on the final lap, prompting a yellow flag. Mehta, who had been running

Race 2 winner Aryan Narola, Goa Aces JA Racing OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 15

Race 1 winners

Bonu takes surprise victory as Kyriakou retains champion‑ ship lead

16 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

SAMBUDLA takes two wins in Round 2

FORMULA 4, ROUND 2 OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 17

Aris Kyriakou with three podiums this weekend & Championship leader

Nntiyiso Mabunda with two podiums this weekend

Mahlori Mothlabani ahead of Ntiyiso

Aryan Narola in action

uviwe Sambudla of Goa Aces JA Racing won two of the three races, while Hyderabad Blackbirds' Bhuvan Bonu took the other as the second round of the F4 Indian Championship concluded at Kari Motor Speedway (KMS), Coimbatore, on September 20.

Sambudla's two victories moved him closer to championship leader Aris Kyriakou, who recorded three podium ﬁnishes over the weekend for Kichcha's Kings Bengaluru.

Swarnav Das second runner‑up Race 3

The round also marked the 50th F4 Indian Championship race since the series began, with Goa Aces JA Racing, owned by actor John Abraham, taking the milestone victory. Sambudla leads from pole

Sambudla converted pole position into victory in Race 1, leading Kyriakou to the ﬁnish. Speed Demons Delhi's Ntiyiso Mabunda 18 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Race 1 action Ntiyiso and Aris

The race was interrupted by a Safety Car after Ahmedabad Apex Racers' Mathias Alexander Forland made contact with Aditya. Sambudla retained the lead after the restart and also set the fastest lap.

Bonu takes reverse‑grid victory

Bonu made the most of reverse‑ grid pole in Race 2 to claim his ﬁrst victory of the weekend.

The race was disrupted at Turn 1 when Kolkata Royal Tigers' Aaron Mehta and Sambudla made contact. Sambudla went into the gravel with broken steering and retired.

Mahlori Mabunda crossed the line second but was handed a ﬁve‑place penalty, dropping him to seventh. Ntiyiso Mabunda was therefore classiﬁed second, with

FORMULA 4, ROUND 2

took third for his ﬁrst podium of the season, while Godspeed Kochi's Mahlori Mabunda ﬁnished fourth.

Kyriakou third. Kichcha's Kings Bengaluru's Enzo Rujugiro and Goa Aces JA Racing's Aaryan Narola completed the top ﬁve.

Sambudla returns to winning ways

Sambudla recovered from his Race 2 retirement to win the ﬁnal race of the weekend. Kyriakou ﬁnished second, with Kolkata Royal Tigers' Swarnav Das third.

Chennai Turbo Riders' Sai Aditya made up several places after starting 10 t h , while Narola retired with a puncture. Mehta also failed to ﬁnish after encountering brake problems.

Race 2 winners

After two rounds, Kyriakou leads the championship with 93 points, with Sambudla on 88. Bonu is third on 51, followed by Mahlori Mabunda on 46 and Mehta on 42.

The championship now moves to the Madras International Circuit (MIC), Chennai, for Round 3, with four rounds remaining

Race 3 winners Luviwe Sambudla Race 1 winner

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 19

20 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

NATL RALLY 4W, ROUND 2 Overall INRC winners

DEFENDING CHAMP

DEAN MASCARENHAS begins INRC 2026 with a win

Top‑three ﬁnish for Arka Motorsports at Rally of Coimbatore. PHOTO BY꞉ SRINIVASA KRISHNAN

ean Mascarenhas and co‑ driver Gagan Karumbaiah turned a nine‑second overnight deﬁcit into victory at the BlueBand Sports Rally of Coimbatore, round two of the BlueBand FMSCI National Rally Championship 2026 at Coimbatore, which concluded on September 20.

Driving for Arka Motorsports with support from Sidvin and MRF, the Mangaluru‑Kodagu combination came from behind to beat team‑mates Karna Kadur and Musa Sherif, while another Arka Motorsports crew, Jason

Saldanha and PVS Murthy, completed the podium. Mascarenhas ﬁnished the rally in 1꞉36꞉19.777 , winning by 23.482 seconds.

Eight runs, two stages, 111 timed kms

The rally provided a close battle at the front over eight stage runs covering 110.80 km , almost entirely on gravel. Saturday's stages, Black Thunder (13.50 km) and S.M. Agro (14.20 km), were run twice each, before the crews tackled the same roads in reverse on Sunday. The change of OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 21

Karna Kadur and Musa Sheriff ﬁrst runner‑up INRC1

direction made the familiar stages a fresh challenge.

Kadur, the former National champion and winner of the opening round, established the early advantage, winning the ﬁrst two stages. Mascarenhas then began clawing back the deﬁcit from SS3 onwards and ended Saturday nine seconds behind Kadur, setting up a closely fought second day.

The decisive battle came on Sunday. Mascarenhas took nearly nine seconds out of Kadur on S.M. Agro Reverse, reducing the gap to just 0.148 seconds. He then found another burst of pace on Black Thunder Reverse, gaining more than 14 seconds in a single run. Mascarenhas was faster than Kadur on every stage from SS3 onwards and eventually secured the overall victory. 22 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Kadur and Musa Sherif kept the pressure on to finish second, while Jason Saldanha and PVS Murthy completed an all‑Arka Motorsports podium on their new Peugeot 208. Naveen Puligilla and Santhosh Thomas, driving a left‑hand‑drive Ford Fiesta for the first time this season, finished fourth for Duran Racing, 19 seconds away from the podium. Harikrishan Wadia and Kunal Kashyap were fifth, with Ritesh Rai and Phalguna Raghavendra sixth.

INRC2 winners

Mascarenhas said the nine‑ second deﬁcit at the end of the opening day had not caused concern.

“Karna and Musa set a really strong pace on Saturday, so we knew we had to stay patient and keep chipping away. Being nine seconds down overnight wasn't

INRC3T winners

NATL RALLY 4W, ROUND 2

importance of pace notes, particularly during Sunday's close battle.

“Pace notes were everything this weekend, especially on Sunday when the gaps were so small. Dean trusted every call, and that made all the difference. Beating a crew as experienced as Karna and Musa is never easy, and we're looking forward to the rest of the championship.”

CLASS BATTLES

The INRC 2 class produced one of the rally's biggest twists. Kerala privateers Fabid Ahmer and Milen George had led until the ﬁnal stage, only to retire with engine problems with just three kilometres remaining. Their Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap winners INRC 2

a bad place to be, because there was a lot of road left. On Sunday we found our rhythm, and once we got going on Black Thunder (R) we just kept pushing. It was a

proper ﬁght with a great competitor, and I'm delighted to take the win in Round 2.”

Pradeep Ravi and Thimmanna Uddapanda winners of FMSCI Masters Cup

Karumbaiah highlighted the

Jason Saldanha and PVS Murthy second runner‑up INRC1 OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 23

moved up two places to finish second, while Abhishek Gowda TC and Mahesh Nandi were third, five seconds further back. Tarushi Vikram and Athreya Kousgi finished fourth, ahead of Shivani Pruthvi.

Anushriya Gulati and Karan Aukta winners of INRC 3T

misfortune handed the class victory to Solan's Aditya Thakur and co‑driver Virender Kashyap of Chettinad Sporting. Philippos Matthai and Harish KN ﬁnished second for Duran Racing, 35 seconds behind, while Ritesh M Guttedar and Suraj M of Aart Motorsports took third. Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar were fourth, followed by Arjun Mavaji and Jeevarathinam J.

In INRC 3T, Anushriya Gulati and Karan Aukta extended their overnight advantage to win by 1 minute 10 seconds. Driving a Citroen C3, the Arka Motorsports crew ﬁnished ahead of Arjun Rajiv and Chandra Mouli of Chettinad Sporting. Adith KC and Avinash CA, representing Arka Motorsports, completed the podium ﬁve seconds behind the runners‑up. Maninder Singh Prince and Rohit Gowda were fourth, followed by Darshan Kokkengada and Kushalappa Madapanda.

INRC 3 honours went to Venunath V and Sanath G of Chettinad Sporting, who converted their overnight lead into a 44‑second victory. Jenu Johnson and Lenin Joseph 24 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

The JINRC class went to Tarushi Vikram and Athreya Kousgi of Chettinad Sporting. The pair had a lead of more than six minutes and had little to do other than bring the car safely to the ﬁnish. Hoshmand Elavia and Venu Ramesh Kumar were second, followed by privateers MJ Amiadh and Marimanavalan AP. Young Vihaan Bhatt, competing in his debut rally with father Vivek Bhatt as co‑driver, restarted on Sunday and ﬁnished fourth.

Tarushi also completed a double by winning the INRC Women class. Shivani Pruthvi, who had led by more than 30 seconds, lost ground with ignition problems during the final transport section and finished second by just 0.2 seconds. Phoebe Dale and Shahid Salman were third, while Athira Murali and Arun Chakkalayakal finished fourth.

FMSCI Master Cup winners

Tarushi Vikram and Athreya Kousgi winners of JINRC and Women class

NATL RALLY 4W, ROUND 2

Ladies class winners

The FMSCI Gypsy Challenge produced a dramatic late change. Kariappa Mekerira and Abhinav Ganapathy moved into the lead after transport penalties affected the overnight leaders. Avin Nanjappa and Abhilash Sudhindra ﬁnished second, while Chetan Chengappa and Sujith Chengappa retained third despite a ﬁve‑minute transport penalty. Chetan had set six

Gypsy class winners

Balakrishna J and Bopanna Nelammakkada were third. Ashok P John and Arun V ﬁnished fourth, with Sangeeth Samuel and Vybhav Mukund Rao ﬁfth.

The championship now moves towards the coffee country of Kodagu, where the Robusta Rally is scheduled for November 20‑22

“Karna and Musa set a really strong pace on Saturday, so we knew we had to stay patient and keep chipping away. Being nine seconds down overnight wasn't a bad place to be, because there was a lot of road left. On Sunday we found our rhythm, and once we got going on Black Thunder (R) we just kept pushing. It was a proper fight with a great competitor, and I'm delighted to take the win in Round 2. fastest stage times and led until the final stage. Sanjay Agarwal and Dinky Varghese were fourth, with Vinod Singh and Shailendra Singh fifth.

JINRC winners

Ceremonial Flag‑off

The FMSCI Classic Challenge had only one ﬁnishing crew, with Lavana Poonacha MP and Ruthwick BH of Kodava Racing completing the rally.

In the FMSCI Masters Cup , Pradeep Ravi and Thimmanna Uddapanda of Arka Motorsports strengthened their overnight advantage from 42 seconds to 2 minutes 2 seconds to take the class victory. Dinesh Kumar T and Lohith JM ﬁnished second, while

INRC3 winners OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 25

Hari Haran R, winner of the Stock 165cc (Novice)

Rakshith Dave, Kabilesh Rajini Krishnan score big

Double delight for Ann Jennifer, Ashwin, Hari Haran in National bike racing PHOTO BY꞉ ANAND PHILAR

akshith Dave, a gifted rider from Chennai and only 18 years old, who survived a horriﬁc crash on Day 1, was handed the biggest victory of his career as he got promoted to the top step of the podium following a 30‑ second penalty to the race winner Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru in the premier Super Sport 301‑400cc class as the ﬁrst round of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 2W‑2026 concluded at the Madras International Circuit . 26 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Super Sport 301‑400cc꞉ In a closely‑fought battle Sarthak Chavan, the 19‑year‑old from Pune, snatched a dramatic victory with a last‑lap move as he led a 1‑2 ﬁnish for Petronas TVS Racing team in Race 1. For the best part of the six‑lap race that saw a huge crash involving Rakshith Dave and Savion Sabu (both riders unhurt) at Turn‑2, Sarthak was tucked in behind pole‑sitter and team‑ mate Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru, and Hyderabad's Rahil Pillarisetty from RACR

Castrol Power1. In the last lap, Sarthak passed both while surviving a contact with Chiranth at Turn 11 for a close win. Chiranth ﬁnished second, ahead of Rahil, last year's Pro‑Stock National champion. In Race 2, the trio of Hyderabad's Rahil Pillarisetty, Bengalurian Chiranth Vishwanath and his team‑mate Sarthak Chavan from Pune, swapped lead positions in the ﬁrst half of the race. Chiranth then moved to the front, hotly chased by Sarthak with a struggling Rahil in P3. In the last lap, Sarthak passed

Chiranth on the Turn‑3 left‑ hander, but the two came together on the exit of the corner. The Pune rider crashed, but got up and rejoined the race, while Chiranth went on to win ahead of Rakshith, who had started last on the grid, and Rahil. Following a post‑race inquiry, Chiranth was docked a 30‑ second penalty which dropped him to seventh while Sarthak limped home in eighth. Rakshith Dave ﬁnished on top followed by Rahil and Mohamed Mikail from Thiruvallur representing Mad Rabbit Racing

The 16‑year‑old Kabilesh Rajini Krishnan, riding for his father's team, RACR Castrol Power1, and in just his second full season, scripted his maiden win in domestic competition by topping Race 2, Allwin followed him in second while Seshadri finished third. Kabilesh, the son of legendary Rajini Krishnan, an 11‑times National champion, started last on the grid, but made his way through to the front and then hung on for a brilliant win. “Of course, I am very happy that Kabilesh won, but there is still a long way to go,” said Rajini Krishnan. Incidentally, Kabilesh was laid off for 10 months after breaking his thigh bone in a massive crash during a race in Malaysia last year. Stock 165cc (Novice)꞉ RACR Castrol Power1 team started the day with a win through Hari Haran from Coimbatore who survived a close battle in the lead bunch in Race 1. Completing the podium were Motul Sparks Racing team‑ mates Yashwant Varma from Visakhapatnam and Meghalaya's Faruk Ali Sohtun. Notching a double was Hari Haran in a tight finish Race 2, Yashwant finished second and Dev Agastya a privateer from Bengaluru finished third. Pro‑Stock 200cc Open꞉ Bengaluru's Savion Sabu from Madrabbit Racing rode a very mature race for a fine win in Race

1 moving up from P6. Localite Abdul Basim RS from Chandra LGE Racing finished second and the Coimbatorian from Team Rockers Racing Senthil Kumar finished third. While young Abdul took the honours in Race 2 with a couple of front‑runners crashing out. Undoubtedly, this was the closest race of the weekend with a bunch of five riders in the frame to win before the last lap crash which decided the podium finishers. Kozhikode's Amarnath Menon of MadRabbit Racing, returning to racing after a four‑ year break, finished second and ahead of Chennai's Soorya PM from Chandra LGE Racing.

2W RACING CHALLENGE, R1

Super Stock 301‑400cc Open꞉ Thrissur's Alwin Xavier from RACR Castrol Power1 took the honours in Race 1. Alwin Xavier beneﬁted when team‑mate and race leader, 16‑year‑old Kabilesh Rajini Krishnan retired when the throttle body came off in the ﬁfth and penultimate lap. Xavier made the best of the situation to win the race ahead of Bengaluru's Seshadri from Motul Gusto Racing and local challenger Kamal Navas Rockers Racing.

Ann Jennifer , en route to victory in the Super Stock 165cc Intermediate race

Stock 301‑400cc (Novice)꞉ Bengalure's Ashwin R, a private entrant, topped the Race 1 that went down to the wire. Localite G Balaji from Veedol C2 Racing finished in second ahead of Bengalurian Aaron Joseph from RACR Castrol Power1. In the weekend's final race, Bengaluru's private entrant Ashwin R yet again trumped the field for his second win of the weekend. Another Bengalurean Lokesh V from Speed Up Racing came in second while local rider Venugopalan S a privateer was third. Super Stock 165cc Intermediate꞉ Equally impressive was Chennai rider, Ann Jennifer from Motul Sparks Racing, a former National woman champion, who won the Race 1 in which she was the only female competitor. She thus completed a grand double riding on equal footing with the boys. Former National woman champion Ann Jennifer, the only female rider on the Super Stock 165cc Intermediate grid, did as she pleased to win without any serious challenge. Ipone Yakuza Racing India's Ajai Xavier from Nagerkovil and localite Anand Kumar came in second and third, respectively. Ann Jennifer rode the race of her life to win the Race 2 despite a

Top three in Super Sport 301‑400cc race

RS Abdul Basim celebrating his win in the Pro‑Stock 200cc category

Rakshith Dave, winner of the Super Sport 301‑400cc race OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 27

Sarthak Chavan on way to winning the Super Sport 301‑400cc race

Kabilesh Rajini Krishnan, winner of the Super Stock 301‑400cc race

bad start due to a missed gear shift which dropped her to fourth from pole position. She lost another two spots after contact with another rider. However, she kept her composure to slice through the field for a brilliant win. “Yes, it was the best race of my career,” remarked Ann Jennifer, the only female rider on the grid. Anand finished second while Anandhu KK from Veedol C2 Racing finished third Maiden win for Poojita in Petronas TVS Racing OMC꞉ Poojita Anil Kumar, the 18‑year‑ old from Bengaluru, notched her maiden win at the National level as she fought her way to a brilliant victory in the Women's (Apache RTR 200) category. Starting from pole position, Poojita, in her third competitive 28 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

season, had a poor start and dropped to sixth. However, she kept her nerves to fight back into contention and then took the lead which she maintained to the chequered flag for a well‑ deserved win. Fellow‑ Bengalurean Dhrishya Nair finished second, ahead of Vadodara's Kinjal Raj. Hyderabad's Rajender Beedani won the Expert RR310 Race 1, while Coimbatorian Hari Haran R finished second and Manoj Yesuadiyan from Chennai finished third. Chennai's Kamal Navas, who started last on the grid, came up with a stunning ride to win the Race 2 edging out Race 1 winner Rajender Beedani from Hydera‑ bad at the finish line. Hari Haran from Coimbatore finished third.

Alwin Xavier (23), winner of the Super Stock 301‑400cc race

Kamal Navas, who took pole in the Super Stock 301‑400cc Open

2W RACING CHALLENGE, R1

Faruk Ali Sothun, who qualiﬁed for pole in the Stock up to 165cc category

Bengaluru's Poojita Anil Kumar, who notched her maiden win

Ann Jennifer, winner of the Super Stock 165cc race

Vignesh Pothu from Mancherial won the Rookie (Apache RTR 200) Race 1, Rehbar Islam Baktoo from J&K finished second and Coimbatorian Godwin Clarence C finished third. Bengaluru's 15‑year‑old Dev Agastya topped the Race 2, bettering his P6 finish on Saturday while Rehbar Islam Baktoo was placed second, followed by Pothu Vignesh in third. Electric RTE꞉ Local rider Mohamed Mikail bagged the victory in Electric RTE class. Rakshith Dave also from Chennai finished second while Bengalurian Savion Sabu finished third. Media꞉ This was the most time consuming race as it was red flagged twice. Noida's Ansh Srivastava finished on top followed by Pranav Singh Rawat from Pune and Delhi's Mohammed Inamul Hasan finished third

Chiranth Vishwanath, who qualiﬁed for pole in the Super Sport 301‑400cc class OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 00

Ann Jennifer (24), who won the Super Stock 165cc Intermediate race

Sarthak, Ann Jennifer, Kabilesh continue winning run

Anandhu wins a brace; Faruk Ali Sohtun, Venkatesan Iyyappan score

PHOTO BY꞉ ANAND PHILAR

arthak Chavan, the teenager from Pune, romped to his second consecutive victory in the premier Super Sport 301‑400cc Open class to complete a double in the second round of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 2W – 2026 which concluded at the Madras International Circuit, Chennai on September 13. Super Sport 301‑400cc Open class꞉

Sarthak's arrived late at Sriperumbudur due to a foreign assignment and missed both Friday's practice and qualifying sessions. But he found his rhythm at the right moment to pull off a stunning win. He acknowledged that leader Rahil Pillarisetty's retirement at the 30 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

end of the penultimate lap played a part in his victory.

In Race 1, Sarthak led a podium sweep for Petronas TVS Racing team as Chennai teenager Rakshith Dave ﬁnished second ahead of Bengaluru's Chiranth Vishwanath who started last having also missed the practice and qualifying sessions due to a bout of food poisoning.

Starting from pole position, Sarthak stumbled a bit in the beginning of Race 2 which allowed the Chennai teenager and his Petronas TVS Racing team‑mate Rakshith Dave to take the lead. The duo held position until the last lap when Sarthak passed Rakshith at Turn 4 and went on to win. Behind them, Hyderabad's Rahil Pillarisetty of RACR Castrol

Power1 carved his way from the back of the grid to P3 but was left with too much gap to make up as the trio ﬁnished in that order.

Stock 301‑400cc Novice

Chennai's Anandhu KK from Veedol C2 Racing won the Race 1 with close to 2‑sec margin over

Hyderabad's Rahil Pillarisetty, who qualiﬁed for pole position in the Super Sport 301‑400cc Open class

2W RACING CHALLENGE, R2

Kabilesh Rajani Krishnan (67), who notched a double in the Super Stock 301‑400cc class

Rehbar Islam Baktoo from J&K representing Motul Gusto Racing, Bengalurian privateer Ashwin R ﬁnished third.

In Race 2, Anandhu claimed his double as Kavicholairasan from Trichy racing from Speed Up Racing ﬁnished second while Rehbar ﬁnished third. Super Stock 301‑400cc Open class꞉

Another impressive performance came from 16‑year‑old Kabilesh from RACR Castrol Power1, son of former multiple National champion Rajini Krishnan, who won the Race 1 in a dominant fashion. Local rider Kamal Navas from Rockers Racing ﬁnished second as he managed to keep Bengalurian Seshadri from Motul Gusto Racing behind him with just below 100th of a second.

Kabilesh Rajini Krishnan also recorded a double. Having won Race 1 on Saturday, Kabilesh topped Race 2, after a red‑ﬂag stoppage and restart. The race was reduced to a three‑lap sprint that Kabilesh won handily from Bengaluru's Seshadri S (Motul Gusto Racing) and Kamal Navas (Rockers Racing), also from Chennai.

Super Stock 165cc Intermediate class꞉

Former National women's champion from Chennai Ann Jennifer from Motul Sparks Racing also scripted a fairytale victory which she started last on the mixed grid with boys after failing to set a time during qualifying this morning, following a crash. D Annish Samson from Bengaluru ﬁnished second while Anandhu KK from Veedol C2 Racing ﬁnished third.

Sarthak Chavan who won the Super Sport 301‑400cc Open race

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 00

The Race 2 podium was dominated by Motul Sparks Racing. Faruk Ali Sohtun marked his long journey from East Khasi, Meghalaya, with a brilliant win as he kept his nerves in a close ﬁnish to lead a podium sweep for his team. Yashwant Varma from Visakhapatnam, came in second, ahead of Raja SreeharshaSingamsetty from Tadipatri, Andhra Pradesh.

Pro‑Stock 200cc Open class꞉

Thiruvallur's Mohamed Mikail (Team MRA) won the Race 1 in a tight ﬁnish, followed by Kozhikode's Amarnath Menon K from MadRabbit Racing in second as Abdul Basim RS localite from Chandra LGE Racing ﬁnished third.

Anandhu KK (17), winner of the Stock 301‑400cc race

Ann Jennifer continued her unbeaten run in the Race 2 as she completed a double with another fine win. It was her fourth win in a row this season. Another local rider Anandhu KK also notched a double that was cut to four laps following a red‑ flag stoppage. Annish finished third.

In the weekend's last race, Venkatesan Iyyappan came through for a superb win in Race 2. The six‑lap race was an exciting affair as half‑a‑dozen riders swapped lead until Venkatesan broke clear of the field even as a couple of riders in contention crashed in the last lap. Mohamed Mikail from Team MRA finished second and Savion Sabu from Mad Rabbit Racing finished third.

Stock 165cc Novice class꞉

It was top two ﬁnish for Motul Sparks Racing, Visakhapatnam's Yashwant Varma was the topper followed by his teammate from Tadipatri Sreeharsha Singamsetty in second and Dev Agastya, a privateer, from Bengaluru ﬁnished third.

Ann Jennifer winner in 165cc Intermediate class

32 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Mohamed Mikail, winner of the Pro‑Stock 200cc Open race

Sarthak Chavan (75) who scored a double in the Super Sport 301‑400cc Open class

2W RACING CHALLENGE, R2

Yashwant Varma (88) winning from Raja Shreeharsha Singamsetty (58) in the Stock 165cc Novice race

Petronas TVS Racing One‑Make Championship

Hyderabad's Rajender Beedani notched his second win in three outings, in Race 1 holding off Bengaluru's AS James in a close ﬁnish, Kamal Navas localite ﬁnished third.

Kamal Navas notched his second win of the season Race 2 that was reduced to four laps and restarted after stoppage due to on‑track incident. Another Chennai rider Manoj Yesuadiyan was second ahead of Coimbatore's Hari Haran.

Women (Apache RTR 200) (5 laps)꞉

Poojita Anil Kumar, the teenager from Bengaluru, also recorded her second win in as many races in the Women (Apache RTR 200) class, sparing some 29 seconds to second‑placed Hannah Akkineni Joshitha from Hyderabad. Mansi

Ashok from Walunj Pune ﬁnished third.

Rookie (Apache RTR 200) (Race‑ 1)꞉

Pothu Vignesh from Mancherial took the top honours in Race 1, followed by Bengaluru's Dev Agastya in second and Rehbar Islam Baktoo from J&K ﬁnished third.

Bengaluru's Dev Agastya topped the Race 2, with a ﬁne ride to hold off Rehbar Islam Baktoo (J&K) and Godwin Clarence (Coimbatore) for his second win of the season.

Electric RTE EV (3 laps)꞉

Sarthak Chavan (Pune) continued with his win‑spree by topping the four‑lap Electric RTE EV race with two riders from Bengaluru Chiranth Vishwanath and Savion Sabu ﬁnishing second and third, respectively

Venkatesan Iyyappan, qualiﬁed for pole in the Pro‑Stock 200cc Open class OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 00

34 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

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36 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

NATL 2W RALLY, COIMBATORE

The rhythm was

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 37

38 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

One of the surprises today was that fancied Rivaan Dev Preetham from Chennai of MSport went winless in the Junior Max class. He was fourth in the Pre‑Final and second in the Final where he exhibited his race craft and daring to move up from mid‑grid to the podium.

The Senior class races, marked by 23‑kart grids, also dished out Round 4 winners (left to right) ‑ Rivaan Dev Preetham, Arshi Gupta, Ayansh Patil and Krish Gupta

Dominating wins for Arshi Gupta, Zidaan Arshaan Anees

KARTING NATIONALS, ROUND 5

Ayansh Patil of MSport and the hard charging Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat Leapfrog Racing from Gurugram, both of whom ﬁnished on the podium in two races on Sunday.

nail‑biting finishes where the track positions kept changing in both Pre‑Final and Final. Akshat Misra, after holding off the challenge in the early laps, topped both outings. Bengaluru's Rohaan Madesh of Peregrine Racing managed to finish ahead of Eshanth Vengatesan in the Pre‑Final. Later, in the Final, Rohaan looked good for P2 behind Akshat Misra until he got involved in a collision and dropped out of contention. Eshanth squeezed through for a P2 finish ahead of Mumbai's Aahil Mecklai (Rayo Racing)

Akshat Misra, Hridaan Sanadhya grab maximum points

rshi Gupta, the nine‑year‑ old from Faridabad, yet again showcased her undoubted talent and composure with a sizzling performance in the Mini Max class that saw her snatch maximum points in the ﬁfth round of the MECO‑fmsci Indian National Karting Championship RMC India 2026 at Bengaluru.

As in the fourth round a couple of days back at the same venue, Arshi of Leapfrog Racing won both the championship points scoring races, the Pre‑Final and Final, comfortably. She also put in eight consecutive fastest laps in the Final today.

Meanwhile, two Bengalureans and Peregrine Racing team‑ mates, Zidaan Arshaan Anees (Micro Max) and Akshat Misra (Senior Max) triumphed in their respective classes while Hridaan Sanadhya from Pune (Crest Motorsports) topped the Junior Max category. The trio earned

maximum championship points by winning the Pre‑Final and Final races.

Almost all the sessions had their fair share of contacts and collisions which spiced up the proceedings. Amidst the chaos, Arshi Gupta was simply unstoppable as she won the Mini Max races in a dominating fashion.

Arshi Gupta in action

One of the exciting races was the Mini Max Final where Coimbatore's Shivneel Karthikeyan of MSport, son of India's first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan, clinched a third spot after fighting his way through the field, but could not pass Bengaluru's Ridhaan Anil Kumarr (Red Rabbit Racing) who finished second behind Arshi.

Meanwhile, Zidaan, after jumping into the lead at the start, maintained consistent pace which saw him draw away from the chasing pack that included Round 4 topper Kolhapur's

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 39

NATL 2W RALLY, COIMBATORE

A ﬁghiting win for defending champ Tanveer in Season Opener 50 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

2W NATL RALLY, COIMBATORE MRF MoGrip National Rally Championship attracts Supercross riders PHOTO BY꞉ VIKRAM

efending champion Abdul Wahid Tanveer of Mysuru edged out Satara's Shlok Ghorpade by 32sec to open his campaign with victory in the MRF MOGRIP fmsci National Rally Championship season opener in Coimbatore recently.

Superbike Pro‑Expert up to 500cc Group A

For the ﬁrst time, a second manufacturer entered the fray in the premier class, which has traditionally been dominated by TVS Racing. Both manufacturers brought young Supercross riders into rallying for their maiden events, setting up an intriguing battle between experience and youth.

Petronas TVS Racing's Tanveer, who has progressed from dirt track racing all the way to the Dakar Rally qualiﬁers, found himself up against Hero Motorsports' young Shlok Ghorpade, who is also being groomed for Dakar in the coming years. The battle began intensely from the opening stage. Ghorpade, making his rally debut with Hero

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 51

through the stages but held on to second. Bengaluru privateer Amogh Nag GS completed the podium, 31sec behind. Recovering from a leg injury, fellow Bengaluru privateer Sanjay Somashekar ﬁnished fourth, just 6sec behind Amogh.

Supersport up to 165cc Group B

SHLOK GHORPADE FIRST RUNNER‑UP OVERALL

Motorsports, made an excellent start, topping the ﬁrst stage by more than a second over Tanveer. The second stage, however, changed the complexion of the rally. Tanveer took the lead with a 15‑sec advantage after Ghorpade crashed.

NATARAJ R WINNER EXPERT UPTO 500CC GROUPA

IMRAN PASHA WINNER OF 165 TO 250CC GROUPB

Tanveer then dominated the remaining two stages to secure the class victory. Ghorpade suffered another crash in the ﬁnal stage but was fortunate to retain second place, holding off Petronas TVS Racing's Samuel Jacob by less than a second.

Ghorpade's Hero Motorsports teammate Rajendra RE, who was more than 7sec off the podium, had occupied third place until the final stage. Losing around 10sec there dropped him to fourth. Pune's Rugved Barguje, competing in his debut rally, finished fifth.

Superbike Expert up to 500cc Group A

NITHAN L WINNER OF UPTO 165CC GROUPB 52 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

VM Motorsports rider Nataraj R defending his title in the Superbike Expert up to 500cc Group A class, began with in emphatic fashion, winning all four stages and ﬁnishing 2min 2 1 s e c ah e ad o f t e am m at e Naresh VS. Naresh continuously lost time

VM Motorsports dominated the podium, with three Bengaluru riders taking the top three places. Nithyan L was the clear winner with a lead of more than 36sec. Bharath L, attempting to recover from the time lost in Stage 1, ﬁnished second, while Varun Kumar R was third, a further 1min 36sec behind.

Shivamogga privateers Darpan D and Dheeraj H ﬁnished fourth and ﬁfth respectively.

Supersport 165 to 250cc Group B

Petronas TVS Racing's Imran Pasha dominated the Supersport 165 to 250cc Group B class, winning all four stages and ﬁnishing 42sec clear.

Hero Motorsports' Karan Kumar M was second, while Petronas TVS Racing's Sachin D finished third, a further 37sec behind. Petronas TVS Racing's Banteilang Jyrwa and Hero Motorsports' Jayden W M Nongkhlaw were fourth and fifth, with margins of 17sec and 14sec respectively. Bengaluru privateer Jeevarathinam J finished sixth.

Supersport 260 to 400cc Group B

Kushalnagar's Stephen Roy won the Supersport 260 to 400cc Group B class by 18sec. Coimbatore's Sabarish R of VM Motorsports ﬁnished second, while his Bengaluru teammate Hemanth M held on to third, a further 19sec behind.

Local privateer Venu Ramesh Kumar ﬁnished fourth, with Bengaluru privateer Rajesh Kumar M ﬁfth, 11sec behind.

Scooters up to 210cc Group B

Petronas TVS Racing swept the top three places. Former

Bengaluru's Gourthm N and Pune's Pinkesh Thakkar, both riding for VM Motorsports, ﬁnished fourth and ﬁfth respectively. Women up to 460cc

SYED ASIF ALI WINNER OF SCOOTERS UPTO 210CC GROUPB

Petronas TVS Racing's Aishwarya Pissay, the defending champion in the Women's up to 460cc class, won by 25sec over Hero Motorsports rider Somyya Chaudhary.

Superstock 165 to 260cc Group D

Coimbatore's Karthick A of VM Motorsports won the Superstock 165 to 260cc Group D class by 57sec. Bengaluru privateer Pradeep C ﬁnished second, while fellow Bengaluru privateer Pavan BK was third, just 4sec behind.

Coimbatore privateer Saravana Kumar K ﬁnished fourth, 23sec

2W NATL RALLY, COIMBATORE

champion Syed Asif Ali was the winner with a total time of 56min 36sec. Shamim Khan was 1min 6sec slower in second, while Karthik N completed the podium a further 46sec behind.

behind, while VM Motorsports rider Vikram Sekhar was ﬁfth, 1min 4sec behind.

Superstock 260 to 450cc Group D

Kochi's Sreekanth Komana won the Superstock 260 to 450cc Group D class with a total time of 57min 14sec. Coimbatore's Thangaraj S missed out on victory by just over a second to ﬁnish second.

Fellow Coimbatore rider Karthikeyan Dhanabal ﬁnished third, a further 2min 27sec behind, while Bengaluru's Ashish Kumar was fourth. Star of Tamil Nadu

Namakkal's Deepan Kumar S emerged as the Star of Tamilnadu winner. Coimbatore's Gowtham S ﬁnished second, 20sec behind, while fellow Coimbatore rider Barani Visak R was third, a further 42sec adrift.

Suresh Mani of Palladam and Sankar S of Kethanur completed the top ﬁve in fourth and ﬁfth positions respectively

AISHWARYA PISSAY WINNER OF WOMENS CLASS UPTO 460CC

STEPHEN ROY WINNER OF 260 TO 400CC GROUPB

SREEKANTH KOMANA WINNER OF 260 TO 450CC GROUPD DEEPAN KUMAR S WINNER OF STAR OF TAMILNADU

KARTHICK A WINNER OF 165 TO 260CC GROUPD OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 53

Gyan S, winner of the MRF F1600 race

Saishiva unbeaten in MRF F2000, Bhuvan excels

Triple delight for Viswas, Kaveen at MRF Racing Challenge PHOTO BY꞉ ANAND PHILAR

clutch of teenagers lit up the ﬁrst round of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 4W – 2006 which concluded at the Madras International Circuit, near Chennai on August 23. Eighteen‑year‑old Saishiva Sankaran from Pune completed a hat‑trick of wins in the MRF Formula 2000 while Visakhapatnam's Bhuvan Bonu, only 16, won both the races on the ﬁnal day in the MRF Formula 1600, Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksa from Sri Lanka, also 16, achieved a triple crown in the Junior category of the Formula LGB 1300 class. 54 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

At the other end of the spectrum, a trio of seasoned campaigners Ritesh Rai in Indian Super Touring Cars, Diljith TS in Super Stock and in Polo Cup Pratik Sonawane remained unbeaten in both their respective races, highlighting their experience and undoubted pace to leave the rest of the grid chasing their shadows. MRF Formula 2000꞉ Despite a poor start Pune's Saishiva Sankaran made ground to win from seemingly‑ hopeless positions as he showcased his grit and pace while winning all the three races. Coincidentally,

he conceded but regained the lead from Navi Mumbai's Aditya Patnaik on all three occasions. Pole‑sitter Saishiva, winner of the F1600 title last year, had a poor start in Race 1, and was running second behind Patnaik with two of the 10 laps to go when they ran into a backmarker. Aditya lost precious tenths of a second negotiating the backmarker and Saishiva closed the gap. Aditya lost more time when he again ran into another backmarker on the last lap. Saishiva needed no second invitation as he passed Aditya for a win. Aditya had to be content with second place, ahead of

Pune's Swarnav Das. In Race 2, Saishiva with over 2‑ sec lead on Patnaik was the winner, while Krishay Gutte from Mumbai finished behind Patnaik in third. The final race of the round saw Saishiva once again finishing on top, this occasion with over 5‑sec lead on Patnaik, and with a further 5‑sec behind Swarnav finished third. MRF F1600꞉ In the F1600 class that was run concurrently with the F2000, Gyan too was in P2 for much of the race, trailing Bhuvan Bonu from Visakhapatnam with Bengaluru's Priyanka Vijay in P3.

Formula LGB 1300 Open class꞉ In contrast, Nellore's Viswas Vijayaraj was in a league of his own as he led a podium sweep for DTS Racing in Race 1. Vijayaraj had no challengers once he snatched the lead at Turn 1 and then gradually increased the lead for a commanding win, a race that turned out to be processional once the grid settled down after initial jostling. Vijayaraj was followed home by his DTS Racing team‑mates Vinith Kumar from Tirupur and Liron Jaden Samuels from Tirunelveli finished third. Viswas started Race 2 in P8 on the reverse grid but was in the front bunch by the end of the first lap and then moved to the front to notch a win, followed by Vinith in second and Liron finished in third. Later, in Race 3, he scored a lights‑to‑flag win after starting from pole, by finishing ahead of the second finisher Liron and Vinith in third.

completed the podium another 3 seconds behind. It was a third straight win for Kaveen. Bengaluru's Shatveer Shetty from Meco Racing came second with a 6‑sec deﬁcit and Yash was third a further 8sec behind in Race 3. Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksa also enjoyed a fruitful weekend by winning all three races. “I loved every moment here. Back in Sri Lanka, we do not get such big grids. So, it was fun to be competing with so many drivers. I am very happy that I won all three races in the Junior category,” said Kaveen who a fortnight back had won a Formula 1300 race in a Sri Lankan competition. Indian Super Touring Cars꞉ Earlier, former National champion Arjun Narendran from Coimbatore, driving an Arka Motorsports‑prepared Volkswagen Polo, and returning to active racing after several years, expectedly qualiﬁed for pole position in the Indian Super Touring Cars class, with a hot lap of 01 minute, 49.033 seconds. Starting in race1 behind him will be the trio of Buzzing Hornet

Neel Shah ‑ pole position in Volkswagen Polo Cup category

4W RACING CHALLENGE, CHENNAI

Towards close, Bhuvan suffered from a drop in power which saw both Gyan and Priyanka pass him while the Vizag driver finished third. Bonu displayed exemplary composure to survive some tough moments while winning both the final day races. He finished on top in Race 2 as Mumbai's Evan Shrawan finished second. In the final race of the day, Bhuvan was followed by Gyan Satish from Chennai in second and Shivansh Bejoy from New Delhi finished third.

Diljith TS, who qualiﬁed for pole position in the Super Stock class

Pratik Sonawane, winner of both Polo Cup races Viswas Vijayaraj (1), en route to winning the Formula LGB 1300 race

Junior Formula LGB 1300꞉ Srilankan Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksa from Momentum Motorsports with over 18‑sec margin was the winner of Race1 followed by Bengaluru's Abhijit Vadavalli in second. Agra's Yash Vikram Singh from Delta Speeds came third with about 200th of a second difference. In Race 2, Kaveen was followed by Abhijit in second with just over 2‑sec difference and Sri Lankan Aadam Junaid from Momentum Motorsports OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 55

Ritesh Rai won both races in the Indian Super Touring Cars class

Motorsports drivers, Ritesh Rai from Chennai, Aman Nagdev from Noida and Jeet Jhabakh from Hyderabad. Ritesh, though, was trifle lucky when his arch‑rival Arjun Narendran spun and retired when in the lead in the first race and could not start Race‑2 as the necessary repairs to his car could not be completed on time. Ritesh won the Race 1 with a comfortable lead of over 13sec, as the second finisher Aman managed to keep Jeet behind him in third by 8 seconds. The results remained the same as well in Race 2.

4W RACING CHALLENGE, CHENNAI

Viswas Vijayaraj won all three Formula LGB 1300 Open races

Sri Lankan Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksha, won all three Formula LGB 1300 Junior races

quickest in qualifying session with a best lap of 01꞉55.377, followed by his Buzzing Hornet Motorsports team‑mates Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai), Hitrath Bhat (Ahmedabad), Sidharth Desai (Mumbai) and Dushyant Nagesh (Bengaluru). Pratik won the Race 1 as Neel finished in second and Hitarth finished third. In Race 2, Pratik was the winner, Neel followed him in second and Balaji Raju from Chennai finished third

The winners Saishiva Sankaran (left, MRF F2000) and Gyan S (MRF F1600)

Super Stock꞉ Veteran Diljith TS from Thrissur led a 1‑2‑3 sweep of the top three qualifying spots for DTS Racing, clocking a best lap of 02꞉02.678. It was a clean sweep for DTS Racing as Diljith finished on top, while Deepa S John from Thiruvananthapuram finished second and Thrissur's Lal Kattikulam Bharathan completed the podium sweep. In Race 2, Diljith was followed by Lal in second and Deepa finished third. Volkswagen Polo Cup꞉ Mumbai's Neel Shah was the 56 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Saishiva Sankaran celebrating his win in the MRF F2000 race

KARTING NATIONALS, ROUND 4

drove well to ﬁght his way on to the podium.

Mini Max꞉ Nine‑year‑old Arshi Gupta was driving her own race in the Mini Pre‑Final after getting a good start from pole position. She put in consistent lap times to stay comfortably ahead while Shiv Tummala came in second ahead of Micah Hayden Andrews.

Arshi extended her winning streak by topping the Final, virtually unchallenged. Micah Hayden Andrews ﬁnished second while Shiv Tummala completed the podium.

Arshi Gupta, Ayansh Patil notch brilliant wins Krish Gupta, Rivaan Dev Preetham excel

engaluru, September 4꞉ Arshi Gupta from Faridabad and Kolhapur's Ayansh Patil lit up the fourth round with brilliant victories in the Mini Max and Micro Max categories respectively, as the MECO FMSCI Indian National Karting Championship 2026 RMC India concluded at the MECO Kartopia in Bengaluru on September 4.

Arshi from Leapfrog Racing, the last year's Mico Max champion, took the honours from lights to ﬂag as did Ayansh of MSport as the duo dominated their respective classes. The pair topped the Qualifying, two Heats, the Pre‑Final and the Final sessions to underline their supremacy in Round 4 which attracted a massive 73 entries.

Senior Max꞉ Equally impressive winners were Mumbai's Krish Gupta (Rayo Racing) who made a brilliant overtake in the latter half of the race to win the Finals which boasted of a 25‑kart grid.

On an action‑packed day, Krish Gupta was outstanding in the

Senior Final where he came up with a brilliant pass on leader Akshay Misra from Bengaluru (Peregrine Racing) after both had overtaken pole‑sitter and Pre‑Final winner Arafat Sheikh (Crest Motorsports). Arjun Chedda from Crest Motorsports ﬁnished third.

In the Pre‑ﬁnals Arafath S Sheikh from Crest Motorsports was the winner followed by Krish in second while Akshat ﬁnished third.

Junior Max꞉ While 13‑year‑old Rivaan Dev Preetham of MSport from Chennai was in a league of his own while topping the Finals.

Both dropped down the grid and out of contention. Abhishikt Barse was placed second and Hamza Balasinorwala, third following post‑race penalties.

In the Pre‑ﬁnal, Rivaan had to soak up considerable pressure throughout the race from Rishik Rohit Reddy who just could not pull out a bit more pace and ﬁnished second. In third spot was Rehan Khan Rasheed who

Ayansh Patil extended his domination in the Micro Max, winning the Pre‑ﬁnal and the Final in style. He barely put a foot wrong through all the sessions and emerged a deserving winner.

Micro Max꞉ Ayansh Patil extended his domination in the Micro Max, winning the Pre‑final and the Final in style. He barely put a foot wrong through all the sessions and emerged a deserving winner. In Pre‑finals Ayansh was followed by Yeshwin Vinay Kishore in second and Shriyan Rao Thakkatapelly finished third.

In the ﬁnals Ayansh Patil from MSport was the topper followed by Yeshwin Vinay Kishore from Peregrine Racing in second while Aarav Sureka from Rayo Racing ﬁnished third

Round 4 winners (left to right) ‑ Rivaan Dev Preetham, Arshi Gupta, Ayansh Patil and Krish Gupta

Rivaan Dev Preetham, last year's Mini Max champion, was simply imperious in the Junior Max class, winning both Pre‑Final and Final after surviving close attention early in both sessions. Behind him, there was action aplenty, especially in the Final with half‑a‑dozen drivers ﬁghting for the remaining two podium spots. In the bargain, Rehan Khan Rasheed and Rishik Rohit Reddy suffered contacts. OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 57

Prem Khandle, Rian Sarath for World Finals in Spain

WINNER PREM KHANDLE

FIM Moto Mini India Series launched in Bengaluru

PHOTO BY꞉ SRINIVASA KRISHNAN

rem Khandle of Palghar, Maharashtra and Chennai's Rian Sarath will represent India at the FIM Moto Mini World Series Finals in Valencia, Spain, after ﬁnishing ﬁrst and second respectively in the inaugural Moto Mini India Series.

The three‑round national series, organised by House of Machines (HOM) in association with the Future Development of Motorsport Trust (FDM), brought together some of India's promising young motorcycle racers. Coimbatore's Rithin Sai A ﬁnished third overall. The FIM Moto Mini India Series is aimed at riders aged between 10 and 14 and is designed to provide a structured pathway 58 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

from national‑level competition to international racing, was launched at the MECO Kartopia circuit at Bengaluru on September 29.

The top two riders from the Indian series will join 44 competitors from around the world at the World Finals in Valencia from November 22 to 26, ahead of the ﬁnal round of the FIM MotoGP World Championship.

The Indian series was conducted at the Meco Kartopia circuit in Bengaluru from September 25 to 27, with three rounds featuring a series of closely fought races.

Khandle emerged as the dominant rider, building his championship lead through a

consistent run of victories. Sarath, however, provided strong competition, particularly in the opening round where he won the ﬁrst two races.

Sarath opened the series with victory in Race 1, ﬁnishing less than half a second ahead of Khandle, while Tumakuru's Mithun Keerthi was third. Rithin Sai A and Hari Advik Balaji completed the top ﬁve.

Sarath repeated the result in Race 2, keeping Khandle behind him by less than four seconds, with Rithin third. The third race, however, belonged to Khandle. He took the win after Sarath retired on the opening lap, with Rithin and Keerthi completing the podium.

Khandle ﬁnished the opening round at the top of the standings with 27 points, ahead of Sarath on 20 and Rithin on 15.

The second round strengthened Khandle's position at the top. He won all four races, although the margins varied considerably. Sarath was his closest challenger, ﬁnishing just 0.200 seconds behind in one race and 0.173 seconds behind in another. Rithin consistently remained in contention for the podium, while Keerthi narrowly missed out on podium places on more than one occasion.

Khandle's four consecutive wins gave him a commanding championship lead going into the ﬁnal round.

MOTOMINI INDIA, R1,R2&R3

RITHIN SAI A & MITHUN KEERTHI IN ACTION

RACE1 WINNERS

OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS

He eventually completed the series with 78 points to take the overall title. Sarath ﬁnished second, 14 points behind, while Rithin Sai A was third, a further 19 points adrift. Keerthi ﬁnished fourth.

“Our goal is to ﬁnd an Indian talent representing India in MotoGP at some point in the future. We also look forward to collaborating with all the racing

The young riders competed on the purpose‑built Moto Mini Ohvale 160cc motorcycle, the same speciﬁcation used in the FIM Moto Mini World Series. The common machinery gives Indian competitors an opportunity to develop their racecraft on a p l at f o rm al i g n e d wi t h t h e international championship.

institutions across the country to speed up the process,” he said.

For Khandle and Sarath, the immediate focus now shifts from

the national series to Valencia, where they will line up against some of the world's best young riders at the FIM Moto Mini World Series Finals

The programme is intended to create a clear progression for young Indian riders towards international competition and, ultimately, the higher levels of motorcycle racing.

Ajit Bharadwaj, Managing Director, House of Machines, said the objective was to identify and develop Indian talent capable of progressing to the international stage.

RIAN SARATH FIRST RUNNER‑UP OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 59

Kathiroli fastest rider of the day at DIRT DRAG

PHOTO BY꞉ VIKRAM SUNDARAMURTHY

athiroli emerged as the fastest rider of the day at DIRT DRAG Racing in Coimbatore, clocking 7.606 seconds to win the Group A up to 250cc 2&4 Stroke class. The two‑ day event, which brought together riders and enthusiasts from across India's growing off‑ road and performance riding community, was sponsored by IPONE, the premium French motorcycle lubricant and maintenance brand developed exclusively for motorcycles, as the Title Partner of DIRT DRAG Racing at Coimbatore recently.

The partnership marks the ﬁrst s tep in IPONE's sustained engagement with India's rider community. Further rider‑ focused activities and events are planned in the coming months, reﬂecting the brand's “Ride with Attitude” philosophy and its 60 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

commitment to India's growing adventure and performance riding community.

Milind Acharya, Chief Marketing Officer at Motul India and South Asia, said the partnership reflected the changing face of motorcycling in India. “Motorcycling today is no longer defined only by long rides. A new generation of riders are embracing adventure, off‑road experiences and stunt culture, not just for the thrill, but as a way of expressing their individuality while riding responsibly,” he said.

“Events like DIRT DRAG perfectly embody this energy and provide the ideal platform for us to engage with these communities. Through our partnership with Throttlerz Racing, we aim to support the riders, the culture and the experiences that are

shaping the future of motorcycling in India.”

On the track, Sreekanth Komana won the 251‑450cc 2&4 Stroke class with a time of 7.613 seconds, ﬁnishing 0.303 seconds ahead of Shajeer Ismail.

Kathiroli also topped the Group A up to 250cc 2&4 Stroke class with his 7.606‑second run. Sabari ﬁnished second, 0.045 seconds behind, while Mani was third, a further 0.067 seconds adrift. Alen and Pranav Prem completed the top ﬁve.

In the Group B up to 260cc 4‑ Stroke class, Jagadeesh won with 7.900 seconds, ﬁnishing 0.119 seconds ahead of Mani. Anil was third, more than 0.300 seconds behind the winner, followed by Kathiroli and Karthik.

Local rider Venu Ramesh Kumar V won the Group B 261‑450cc

4‑Stroke class, beating Jagan M by 0.114 seconds. Shajeer Ismail was third, just 0.010 seconds behind Jagan, with Mani and Sabari fourth and ﬁfth respectively.

Mani took the Group B Indian Open 4‑Stroke title by a narrow 0.012‑second margin over Jagadeesh. Karthick A finished third, more than half a second behind the winner. Anil was fourth, just 0.002 seconds ahead of Kathiroli, who finished fifth.

In the Novice up to 260cc Group B class, L Yeshwanth won with 8.676 seconds, ﬁnishing 0.015 seconds ahead of Bathri Prashad. Anil was third, while Kishore ﬁnished fourth with a time in the nine‑second range.

Shajeer Ismail won the Group B Royal Enﬁeld Open class in 8.836 seconds. Jinu Joseph was

The Group B Hero Open class went to Santhosh, who won by 0.287 seconds over Kathiroli. Anil was third, 0.311 seconds behind the winner, while Mani missed the podium by 0.054 seconds.

Harsha Varthan won the Group B 2‑Stroke Open up to 165cc class with a 0.035‑second advantage over Anthony Bendick. Red Ramesh was third and Ganesh fourth.

In the Group B Ladies Open, Kalai Subramaniam won with 9.486 seconds. Sneha CC was second in 9.740 seconds, while Kalpaha Viruksham ﬁnished third in 10.673 seconds. Suveda R and Pooja Sivaji were fourth and ﬁfth respectively. Tabarak Minnal won the Group

DIRT DRAG, COIMBATORE

second, 0.036 seconds slower, while Sreekanth Komana ﬁnished third, 0.020 seconds behind Jinu. Mani and Saravanakumar completed the top ﬁve.

B Scooter Open 2&4 Stroke class in 10.739 seconds, with Danish second in 10.865 seconds. Varun Kumar V was third and Kaleem fourth.

The Group B Moped Open title went to Salman, who clocked 11.894 seconds. Tabarak Minnal was second in 12.721 seconds, while Raja Pandian took third in 11.991 seconds. Kaleem ﬁnished fourth.

In the Group D up to 260cc class, Aswin emerged victorious by a narrow 0.013‑second margin over Mani. Jinu Joseph ﬁnished third and Newton fourth.

With riders competing across multiple capacity, engine and experience categories, DIRT DRAG provided a broad platform for India's performance and off‑ road riding community, while Kathiroli's 7.606‑second run gave him the fastest time of the day

WINNERS OF GROUPB LADIES CLASS

WINNERS OF GROUPB 261 TO 450CC 4‑STROKE OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 61

Fabid Ahmer and Milen George win inaugural ARCH Rally PHOTO BY꞉ VIKRAM SUNDARAMURTHY

erala's Fabid Ahmer and co‑driver Milen George underlined their pace and consistency to dominate the inaugural ARCH Rally 2026, coming through a demanding two‑day contest in Coimbatore with a comfortable victory in July.

Driving a Hyundai i20 N Line for JA Motorsports and supported by TSI Racing, Fabid and Milen set the tone early, winning the night Qualifying Stage at Kari Motor Speedway before carrying their momentum into the rally proper. The pair won ﬁve of the six Special Stages to claim the Rally 2 class as well as the Overall title. The rally covered 147.5 km, including six timed Special Stages totalling 78.5 km.

Fabid led from the opening stage and, despite giving away some time in SS2, quickly settled into his rhythm and began stretching his advantage. By the ﬁnish, the 62 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Kerala crew had built a winning margin of 51.300 seconds. Jason Saldanha and PVS Murthy kept the pressure on in a couple of stages, but could not sustain the challenge as the rally progressed and had to settle for second overall.

Lady driver Pragathi Gowda and co‑driver Trisha Alonkar produced another strong performance to ﬁnish third overall, a further 54 seconds behind Saldanha. Philippos Matthai and Harish KN, who had also ﬁgured among the front‑

OVERALL WINNERS FABID AHMER AND MILEN GEORGE

runners, missed the overall podium by just five seconds and finished fourth. Ritesh Rai and Phalguna Raghavendra completed the top five, another five seconds behind. With the regular rallying season

Rally AutoX

ARCH RALLY

Avinash CA, who ﬁnished second. Thejas Reddy and Arjun SSB took third.

Joseph George and Prakash Muthuraj won Rally AutoX in 1꞉23꞉49. Daksh Gill and Vignesh Mahalingam ﬁnished second, well behind the winners.

Rally Classic

Sreejesh MP and Anjsha NS were the lone competitors in the Rally Classic class JASON SALDANHA AND PVS MURTHY WINNERS RALLY1

WINNERS RALLY CLASSIC CLASS

facing delays, Arka Motorsports conceived the ARCH Rally as a one‑off event to give competitors an opportunity to remain competitive and gain valuable seat time. The initiative brought together drivers from across the country for a compact but competitive two‑ day contest. Rally 1

Jason Saldanha and PVS Murthy emerged as the Rally 1 winners with a total time of 1꞉14꞉49. Ritesh Rai and Phalguna Raghavendra were second, 1 minute 6 seconds behind the winners.

Harkrishan Wadia and Kunal Kashyap completed the class podium in 1꞉36꞉07. After losing time in the opening two stages, the pair recovered strongly to secure third. Dhruva Chandrashekar and Srikant CM ﬁnished fourth in 1꞉55꞉22. Rally 2

There was little doubt about the class winner as Fabid Ahmer and Milen George completed their run in 1꞉13꞉58. Pragathi Gowda

and Trisha Alonkar were second in 1꞉15꞉44.

Philippos Matthai and Harish KN completed the Rally 2 podium, five seconds behind the second‑ placed crew. P Ananth Kumar and Chiranth Jain finished fourth, followed by Sumesh M and Vishakh B in fifth.

RALLY 3T WINNERS

Rally 3

Ashwin Pugalagiri and Raghuram Saminathan took the Rally 3 honours with a total time of 1꞉04꞉16. Venunath and Sanath GG ﬁnished second, more than three seconds adrift.

Dehradun's Anushriya Gulati secured third, 1 minute 11 seconds behind the winners. Chandan Manchegowda and Suraj Keshava Prasad endured a particularly close ﬁnish, missing the podium by less than a second to take fourth. Abhishek Gowda and Lenin J were ﬁfth.

RALLY 3 WINNERS

Rally 3T

Hyderabad's Naveen Puligilla and Santhosh Thomas topped Rally 3T with a time of 1꞉17꞉57, building a substantial advantage over Kerala's Adith KC and OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 63

Aditya Samant

emerges as the Overall fastest rider

ditya Samant emerged as the Overall fastest rider in the TVS NTORQ Sportscraft Monsoon Scooter Rally which concluded at Pune recently. The annual Scooter Rally moved to a new venue this year, and was held at Ambale village near Pune after starting out in Navi Mumbai

64 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

after spending the past couple of years in Nashik. A total of 45 competitors took part in the rally, which featured a six‑kilometre stage, run three times. The event was ﬂagged off by Gulab Baguji Chaudhari at Legacy by Sahyadri Hills in Ambale. Aditya Samant emerged as the

Overall fastest rider, completing the three stages in 25 minutes 47 seconds. Mumbai's Venkatesh Shetty ﬁnished second, with Hitesh Ghadge third, 1꞉18 behind the winner. Mohsin Faki was fourth, 32 seconds behind Ghadge, while Clinton Cordeiro completed the top ﬁve, a further six seconds behind.

Thakur wins 125cc class Rohan Thakur recovered from a slow start to win the Up to 125cc 2‑stroke Group A class. He was third in the opening stage but improved steadily through the remaining runs. Shaikh Altmash had built a lead of more than 90 seconds after the ﬁrst stage, but his challenge ended in the following run, leaving Thakur to

Prachi Shubham Pawar was the only entry in the Ladies class but did not take the start.

Hitesh Gadge winner 125 to 210cc 4‑stroke

SCOOTER RALLY, PUNE

Nashik's Aakash Chandrakant Satpute retired during the second and third stages respectively.

Pune's Amar Sathe lost more than 45 seconds on the opening stage and finished second, 2꞉03 behind Saeed. Nashik's Nilesh Yashwant Thakare was third, a further 2꞉32 behind. Raju Laxmanrao Mate and Hiten D. Thakkar finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Cordeiro tops 125cc Group D Clinton Cordeiro was fastest on all three stages to win the Up to 125cc 4‑stroke Group D class by 1꞉48 over Gurpreet Singh. Abdul Rehman finished third, a further 1꞉15 behind, while Zahir Ahamad and Prasad Yadav completed the five finishers. Raju Laxmanrao Mate also won all three stages in the 125‑160cc 4‑stroke Group D class. He finished 2꞉12 ahead of Purushottam Laxmanrao Mate, with Pritam Raskar third, 10 seconds behind the runner‑up.

Aditya Samant was fastest on all three stages to take the class victory by 1꞉12 over Nitish Chaudhari. Mohammad Saeed finished third, a further 59 seconds behind. Amul Satpute was fourth, while veteran rider Amar Sathe finished fifth.

Saeed wins Veteran class Mohammad Saeed dominated the Veteran 125‑210cc 4‑stroke Group B class, setting the fastest time on each of the three stages.

The event also featured former rally driver Sanjay Takale, the only Indian to have completed the Dakar Rally, who performed the ceremonial honours

Samant tops The TVS One‑Make TVS NTORQ Open Group B class attracted the largest ﬁeld, with 10 riders taking the start.

Venkatesh Shetty winner 125 to160cc Private Open

take the class victory. Veteran Nashik rider Nilesh Yashwant Thakare ﬁnished second, 42 seconds behind.

start. Ghadge was fastest on all three stages and ﬁnished 3꞉14 ahead of Tejas Prashant Kadam.

Khan dominates 125‑160cc class Shawer Khan led the 125‑160cc 2/4‑stroke Geared Scooter Group A class from the opening stage and continued to extend his advantage through the rally. He ﬁnished with a winning margin of 5꞉33 over Nashik's Hiten D. Thakkar, who improved his stage times on each run. Rahul Mokashi ﬁnished third, a further 2꞉26 behind, with Aditya Dutt fourth.

Shetty takes Private Open class Venkatesh Shetty overcame a slow start to win the 125‑210cc 4‑stroke Group B Private Open class. He was third in the opening stage but improved to record stage times under nine minutes on the subsequent runs. His winning total was 25꞉48.918. Mohsin Faki, who was fastest in the opening stage, ﬁnished second, 49 seconds behind. Gazi Khan took third, a further 1꞉26 behind.

Ghadge wins Group B Hitesh Ghadge had little opposition in the Up to 210cc 4‑ stroke Group B class, with only two of the ﬁve entries taking the

Muzaffar Ali, the fastest in the opening stage, slipped to fourth, just over two seconds behind Khan. Sahil Pathan ﬁnished ﬁfth. Pinkesh Thakkar of Pune and

Shawer Khan winner 125 to160cc Geared Scooter class Mohammad Saeed winner Vetran Class

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 65

Acosta claims maiden MotoGP victory at Red Bull Ring

PHOTO BY꞉ MOTOGP

edro Acosta ﬁnally broke through for his maiden MotoGP victory with a composed ride at the Austrian Grand Prix, bouncing back from his Sprint disappointment to deliver a landmark win for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing at the team's home circuit.

The 21‑year‑old Spaniard, who had scored 15 MotoGP podiums without a victory, battled past championship leader Jorge Martin before holding off the Aprilia rider to the chequered ﬂag. Martin ﬁnished second, while team‑mate Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium, just 0.192 seconds behind him.

Aprilia made the strongest start, with Martin, Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura occupying the top three positions after the opening lap. Acosta moved into fourth, while Marc Marquez dropped three places. 66 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Bezzecchi brieﬂy took the lead from Martin at Turn 1 on Lap 2, only for Martin to respond at Turn 3. Acosta then passed Ogura at Turn 6 and began closing rapidly on Bezzecchi.

On Lap 4, Acosta made his move at Turn 2b to take second. The corner was signiﬁcant, having been the scene of his Sprint error the previous day. By Lap 7, Martin and Acosta had established a 1.5‑second advantage over Bezzecchi, with Ogura fourth.

The decisive move for the lead came on Lap 9. Acosta used the exit of Turn 1 to out‑drag Martin towards Turn 2a and take control of the race.

Behind the leaders, Marquez endured a difﬁcult afternoon. After moving into fourth, the Ducati rider ran wide at Turn 1 and lost places to Brad Binder and Fermin Aldeguer, dropping

At the halfway stage, Acosta led Martin by 0.7 seconds, with Bezzecchi a further second back. Ogura remained within striking distance of the podium, while Marquez continued his recovery.

The race tightened in the closing stages as Acosta's advantage brieﬂy fell below a second. The KTM rider responded with a 1꞉30.693 lap on Lap 22 before rebuilding his margin. With two laps remaining, he was 1.4 seconds clear, while Bezzecchi was closing on Martin for second.

Acosta began the final lap with a 1.2‑second advantage and delivered the clean lap he needed to secure a long‑awaited first MotoGP Sunday victory. The result was particularly significant with Acosta and KTM set to begin a new chapter in 2027.

Martin's second place extended his championship lead to 12 points over Marquez. Bezzecchi's third place strengthened Aprilia's title challenge, while Ogura ﬁnished fourth, just 0.9 seconds from the podium, on his return ahead of his home Grand Prix in Japan.

AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

as low as seventh before recovering to ﬁfth.

Marquez finished fifth, 7.3 seconds from victory, followed by Binder, who recorded his best result of the season. Francesco Bagnaia was seventh, with Aldeguer classified eighth after a three‑second post‑race penalty for causing contact. Fabio Di Giannantonio finished ninth and Johann Zarco completed the top 10.

For Acosta and KTM, however, the day belonged to the #37. After nearly three years of waiting, the young Spaniard ﬁnally stood on the top step of the MotoGP podium

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 67

Turn 16. Verstappen eventually moved ahead of Hadjar and began attacking Piastri for second.

Meanwhile, Antonelli was recovering from a difﬁcult opening lap that had dropped him to 17th. The Mercedes driver steadily worked his way through the ﬁeld.

Russell had built a lead of almost 10 seconds by halfway distance, although he brushed the wall at Turn 15 and reported concerns over tyre pressure. Behind him, Norris struggled for pace after several mistakes.

Russell holds off Verstappen in dramatic Baku ﬁnish PHOTO BY꞉ FORMULA1

eorge Russell secured his third victory of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship season with a hard‑fought win in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, holding off Max Verstappen by just 0.196 seconds after a late‑race battle around the Baku City Circuit.

moving into second ahead of Leclerc. Norris initially climbed to fourth, but Hadjar soon reclaimed the position before Verstappen followed through. The Red Bull pair then began to pressure Leclerc.

Hadjar passed Leclerc around the outside at Turn 1 and completed the move at Turn 3, with Verstappen soon following. The Red Bulls then closed on Piastri, whose McLaren appeared to struggle for traction out of

The Mercedes driver converted pole position into victory despite two Safety Car periods that closed up the field. Verstappen finished second for Red Bull Racing, with team‑mate Isack Hadjar completing the podium on his return from injury. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, while Kimi Antonelli recovered from 16th on the grid to finish fifth.

Lewis Hamilton was sixth, followed by Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad and the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman. Carlos Sainz completed the top 10 for Williams. Oscar Piastri, who had run near the front, dropped to 14th after a late error.

Russell made a clean getaway from pole and quickly established control, with Piastri 68 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

Russell came under intense pressure from Verstappen on the ﬁnal laps

The ﬁrst Safety Car was deployed on Lap 30 after Alexander Albon locked up at Turn 6 while battling Ocon and hit the barriers. The neutralisation allowed the leaders to make their pit stops without losing signiﬁcant track position. Russell retained the lead, while Red Bull double‑ stacked Verstappen and Hadjar.

The restart produced another major incident. Verstappen passed Piastri for second, while Colapinto locked up approaching Turn 1 and collided with Alpine team‑mate Gasly. Gasly was then unable to avoid

AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX Russell came out on top to secure his third win of the season

Norris, sending all three cars into retirement and bringing out a second Safety Car.

Russell again led at the restart, ahead of Verstappen, Piastri and Hadjar. But Piastri soon made another mistake, locking up into Turn 1 under pressure from Hadjar and spinning down the order.

Antonelli continued his recovery, passing Hamilton with eight laps remaining to move into ﬁfth.

At the front, Verstappen stayed within a few tenths of Russell through the closing laps. A late yellow ﬂag followed Bottas'

crash, but the leaders continued their battle.

As the ﬁnal lap began, Verstappen drew alongside Russell on the run to the ﬁnish. Russell held his line and carried enough momentum to stay ahead, crossing the line just 0.196 seconds clear to claim his eighth career F1 victory.

Hadjar ﬁnished third, 10.704 seconds behind, followed by Leclerc, Antonelli and Hamilton. Lindblad was seventh, ahead of Ocon, Bearman and Sainz, who took the ﬁnal point‑paying position

Russell’s dramatic Baku ﬁnish

The Red Bull pair raced in tandem around the Baku streets OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 69

Ujjal and spotter Chethan retain '4x4 Extreme' RFC title Sarjerao and co‑driver Rushikesh, win '4x4 Modiﬁed' title; Athul and Binil, '4x4 Stock' 2026 champs

70 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

RFC INDIA, GOA

jjal Namshum from Arunachal Pradesh and spotter Chethan Chengappa from Kodagu successfully defended their '4x4 Extreme' title at the 12th edition of the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) India, winning the country's biggest and toughest off‑road motorsport event for the second consecutive year at Panjim.

The '4x4 Modiﬁed' category produced another strong performance, with Pune's Sarjerao Kawade and co‑driver Rushikesh Patil taking the overall title with 1633 points out of 2000.

Kerala's Athul Thomas and co‑ driver Binil Babu emerged victorious in the '4x4 Stock' category, scoring 1247 points from 1400.

Fifth RFC title for Chethan Chengappa

The defending champions in 4x4 Extreme category produced a remarkable recovery after a difficult start to the competition, eventually dominating the final stages and winning all five stages to finish with 2253 points out of a possible 2600. As the top driver in the '4x4 Extreme' category, Ujjal also earned a free automatic entry to the RFC Global Series Finale in Malaysia later this year. It was also the fifth RFC overall title for spotter Chethan Chengappa.

Hyderabad's Kranthi Kumar Vengala and co‑driver Rajeev Lal PM ﬁnished runners‑up with 2052 points, while Goan driver Viddesh Madgaonkar and spotter Sahil Sadekar took third with 1962 points.

The Extreme category produced one of the most unpredictable battles of the event. Kranthi and Rajeev Lal appeared to have established control in the opening stages, but Ujjal and Chethan from Manabhum Off‑ roader's Club Arunachal (MOCA), steadily fought their way back after a series of setbacks, eventually taking the lead on Day 4 and carrying it through to the ﬁnish. OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 71

vehicles submerged almost to their roofs. SS3 included two winching points and an approximately 80‑metre high‑ speed section, while SS4 also required ground anchors.

Kranthi's strong opening was built on a cautious approach. After the ﬁrst few stages, he said the tracks had been “far more technical and competitive than 2025” and that he was concentrating on driving well rather than constantly watching the points table. Having competed at RFC India since 2015, he was chasing a ﬁrst victory for Hyderabad.

The second day brought further drama. Kranthi continued to lead the Extreme standings after nine stages with 790 points out of 900, while Anand moved into second with 745. Ujjal slipped to third with 688 after a difﬁcult day that included a rollover, winch problems and mechanical trouble.

The competition opened in dramatic fashion at Quepem on July 28, with persistent rain, technically demanding terrain and difﬁcult winching sections taking a heavy toll. Special Stage 1 alone produced 20 DNFs.

After four of the 26 Extreme stages, Kranthi and Rajeev Lal led with 355 points out of 400. Ujjal and Chethan were second on 334 points after receiving a belt penalty, while Kerala's Anand Manjooran and Vishnu Raj were third with 331. Vishnu Santhosh and Rahul of 4x4 Beats were fourth with 246, followed by Viddesh Madgaonkar and Sahil Sadekar of Team 4x4 Addictz Goa.

SS1 immediately established the character of the 2026 event, featuring three separate winching points. SS2 was marginally easier in terms of winching, but the absence of trees meant competitors had to 72 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

use ground anchors. Extensive water‑wading sections added another dimension, with some

Kranthi also lost a tyre during one of the stages but completed the section on three tyres while recovering the lost wheel. Ujjal's rollover came while he was pushing to improve his position. After the vehicle was repaired, the team continued, but further

winch problems resulted in a DNF (did not ﬁnish) in another stage. Chethan also suffered an incident at a winching point after encountering a photographer head‑on. With two axles subsequently giving up, the team had to concentrate on simply ﬁnishing and protecting its position.

Despite the setbacks, Ujjal refused to dwell on the previous days. As he climbed back up the standings, he said꞉ “We decided to forget what happened on the previous days; each day is a new day, a new challenge. We just focus on covering ground and getting into the position we want.”

The Extreme leaderboard remained tightly contested after 14 stages. Kranthi and Rajeev Lal led with 1204 points from 1400, Anand and Vishnu Raj were second with 1141, while Ujjal and Chethan had moved back to third with 1137.

The turning point came on Day 4. After 19 of the 26 stages, Ujjal and Chethan ﬁnally moved into the lead with 1637 points from 1900. Kranthi, who had led from the opening day, dropped to second with 1598, while Viddesh held third with 1523.

RFC INDIA, GOA

Nikunj Vora and Parag Patil were third with 338.

The Modiﬁed competitors tackled largely the same terrain as the Extreme ﬁeld but without the winching points, making driving ability and vehicle control even more critical. Several stages featured deep water crossings, while the rough terrain and aggressive driving resulted in mechanical damage to a number of vehicles.

Ujjal's recovery from second on Day 1 to third on Days 2 and 3 culminated in the decisive ﬁnal phase. The defending champions then completed their comeback by winning all ﬁve stages to take the overall Extreme crown for a second successive year.

Reﬂecting on the victory, Ujjal summed up the demanding week꞉ “Defending our title is hard to put into words; there is struggle, frustration, even anger along the way, and then this joy at the end that makes it all worth it.”

performance, with Pune's Sarjerao Kawade and co‑driver Rushikesh Patil taking the overall title with 1633 points out of 2000.

Kawade returned with a rebuilt vehicle after ﬁnishing on the podium last year and put together a much stronger and more consistent campaign. He led the category for much of the competition and eventually converted that consistency into victory.

Kerala's Shehinsha TP and co‑ driver Muhammed Nabeel ﬁnished second with 1572 points, while Gagan Karumbaiah and Bopanna Maleyanda took third with 1569.

The Modiﬁed competition began with 16 teams. After the opening four stages, Kawade and Rushikesh Patil led with 363 points from 400, narrowly ahead of Coorg's Suraksha BS and Sanoj S on 339. Maharashtra's

After eight stages, the battle at the top was virtually level. Kawade and Rushikesh Patil and Suraksha BS and Sanoj S were tied on 652 points from 800, with Shehinsha and Muhammed Nabeel only four points behind on 648. Gagan and Bopanna were fourth at that stage with 626.

Kawade subsequently established a clear advantage. After 13 stages, he led with 1137 points from 1300, with Gagan moving into second on 1067 and Suraksha third on 1065. He maintained that advantage through the remaining stages to secure the Modiﬁed title.

Kawade had earlier acknowledged the tougher

The clean sweep of the final five stages had also been a specific target. “We set ourselves a personal target this year꞉ a perfect day, a clean sweep of stage wins,” Ujjal said. “We achieved that on Day 4 of the competition and that moment was as precious for us as this win.”

He also described RFC India as the event around which the team builds its entire year. “RFC India is the one event we build our whole year around,” he said. “It's not just a race, it's a pilgrimage.” Kawade converts consistency into Modiﬁed victory

The '4x4 Modiﬁed' category produced another strong

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 73

on 677. Athul, however, recovered strongly in the concluding stages to take the overall title, while Naku maintained second and Sabu completed the podium.

Athul's victory was particularly signiﬁcant because he had not originally planned to compete at RFC India. An event in Coimbatore had been cancelled, prompting him to enter RFC India instead. After making a mistake on the opening stage, he adopted a simple approach for the rest of the competition.

nature of the event, saying the tracks were “more technically sound” and tougher than the previous year. He had also taken a 30‑point penalty after choosing to avoid a rollover with his larger and heavier vehicle.

After securing the title, he credited better preparation and strategy. “Last year, I didn't fully understand how to strategize and give my best, but this year I prepared properly and came in with a clear plan,” he said. “To come out on top after all of that means everything to me.”

Athul Thomas wins Stock after early setback

Kerala's Athul Thomas and co‑ driver Binil Babu emerged victorious in the '4x4 Stock' category, scoring 1247 points from 1400.

The category produced a close contest, with RFC India debutant Naku Hage Chada and Loda Punyo from Arunachal Pradesh ﬁnishing runners‑up with 1173 points. Bengaluru's Sabu Xavier and Halvin Appanna were third with 1144.

Sabu initially topped the Stock standings after the opening four stages with 348 points from 400, ahead of Athul on 336 and Naku on 332. Reigning 2025 Stock champion Mihir Dharkar, who 74 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

switched from his usual Gypsy to a Hilux for the 2026 event, was fourth with 300 points.

The Stock category faced its own set of challenges as rain made the already technical stages considerably more demanding. The category was deliberately made tougher than in its previous edition, with deeper water, more technical sections and a greater emphasis on vehicle and driver preparation.

Mihir, explaining his switch to the Hilux, said the larger vehicle

could not match the smaller cars through tight obstacles but had cleared everything else effectively. “This year's stages have been tougher than last, with a lot more rain,” he said, adding that RFC was about “pushing each other to do better, stage by stage, and helping each other out no matter what category you are in.”

Naku moved to the top after eight stages with 704 points from 800. Athul was second on 689, while Sabu slipped to third

“I told myself not to look at what anyone else was doing; just trust ourselves and focus entirely on the track in front of us,” Athul said after the win. “That's what got us through.” Class honours across the three categories

The Extreme category also produced a number of closely fought class battles.

In the up to 1600cc Petrol or Diesel class, Kranthi Kumar Vengala and Rajeev Lal PM were the winners. Viddesh Madgaonkar and Sahil Sadekar ﬁnished second, while Anirudha Shete and Gajender Singh were third.

RFC INDIA, GOA

and Rajeev Lal began as early leaders and remained at the top through the ﬁrst three days. Ujjal and Chethan, meanwhile, survived a rollover, winch failures, mechanical problems and a difﬁcult opening phase before climbing to the lead on Day 4.

That recovery was particularly significant given the strength of the field. Viddesh Madgaonkar, competing in only his second RFC India, eventually finished third overall, while several established competitors were forced to fight through mechanical setbacks.

The 1611 to 3010cc Diesel class was won by Vishnu Santhosh and Sahil. Sri Venkat Devineni and Daljit Singh ﬁnished second, with Mehaboob Karuvadi and Shaﬁ CK third.

In the Above 3010cc class, Benaeer PP and Nasar CK took victory, followed by Pravin Jadhav and Ajit Sabale in second.

In Modiﬁed, Shehinsha TP and Muhammed Nabeel won the 1611 to 3010cc Diesel class, ahead of Gagan Karumbaiah and Bopanna Maleyanda. Suraksha BS and Sanoj S ﬁnished third.

reliability as important as outright driving speed.

The Extreme category covered 26 Special Stages, while Modiﬁed competitors contested 20. Stock competitors had their own eight‑stage programme within the event. Across the

competition, water crossings, rock sections, winching points, ground anchors and rough terrain repeatedly tested both crews and machines.

The progression of the Extreme battle demonstrated how quickly fortunes could change. Kranthi

In Modiﬁed, Kawade's rebuilt machine proved sufﬁciently reliable to withstand the demanding stages, while the close battle with Suraksha and the subsequent challenge from Gagan and Shehinsha kept the category competitive through the middle of the event.

The Stock category continued to demonstrate the progression intended by the organisers, with competitors moving through the different levels of RFC competition and tackling substantially tougher terrain than in the previous edition

The 4x4 Stock up to 1510cc Petrol class was won by Athul Thomas and Binil Babu. Naku Hage Chada and Loda Punyo were second, while Sabu Xavier and Halvin Appanna completed the podium.

In the Above 2510cc Diesel class, Aneesh JP and Asif A won, with Mihir Dharkar and Shrey Pande second and Rahul Bedi and Mohit Singh third.

A demanding 2026 edition

The 2026 RFC India was marked by persistent rain and technically demanding stages, making preparation and vehicle OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 75

NATL KARTING, R3‑ CHENNAI

Peregrine Racing was named Best Rookie.

Aarav had earlier won the Micro Max Pre‑Final in 11꞉03.180 , with Rudrapratap second in 11꞉07.875 and Kolhapur's Ayansh Patil of MSport, third in 11꞉09.574. Rudrapratap's penalty in the Pre‑Final had pushed him down from the winning position.

Rudrapratap, Rehan top; wins for Eshanth and Shiv Neel

Penalties and incidents turn results topsy‑tury in RMC Round 3 at MIKA

ictories were lost and gifted, while penalties and incidents turned the results on their head as the third round of the MECO fmsci Indian National Karting Championship 2026, RMC India, produced a series of dramatic ﬁnishes at the Madras International Karting Arena (MIKA), near Chennai, in August.

Eshanth Vengatesan (MSport) in Senior Max, Rehan Khan Rasheed (Momentum Motorsports) in Junior Max, Shiv Neel (MSport) in Mini Max and Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (Leap Frog Racing) in Micro Max emerged as the winners after a day of closely fought and often unpredictable Finals.

In Senior Max, Chennai's Eshanth Vengatesan was declared the winner after a number of front‑runners were eliminated in incidents. Eshanth completed the 18‑lap Final in 15꞉24.827, just 0.380 seconds ahead of Pune's Arjun Chheda (Crest Motorsports), while Bengaluru's Rohaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing) was third in 15꞉26.312. Eshanth also took the Best Rookie award.

Earlier, Rayo Racing had 76 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

dominated the 14‑lap Pre‑Final, with Krish Gupta leading a 1‑2‑3 for the team. Gupta won in 11꞉45.183, ahead of teammates Kiaan Shah in 11꞉46.026 and Laksh Manish Bafna in 11꞉51.598. The trio, however, became involved in a collision in the Final, opening the door for Eshanth and the other survivors.

The Junior Max class provided another twist, with penalties deciding the outcome of both races. Swarnav Das was initially the Pre‑Final winner but a 10‑ second penalty dropped him down the order, handing victory to Rehan Khan Rasheed. Rehan completed the 14‑lap race in 11꞉59.241, followed by Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSport) in 11꞉59.569 and Hamza Murtuza Balasinorwala (Crest Motorsports) in 12꞉00.083.

Rehan then converted the advantage into another victory in the 16‑lap Final, clocking 14꞉21.312. Bengaluru's Rishik Rohit Reddy of MSport, returning after recovering from an inner‑ body injury sustained in a crash during practice at the previous round in Bengaluru, ﬁnished second in 14꞉22.753. Reddy had started from the rear of the grid

and recovered strongly. Hamza Murtuza Balasinorwala was third in 14꞉22.888, just 0.135 seconds behind Reddy. Rehan also claimed the Best Rookie award.

There was similar drama in Micro Max, where Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat emerged from a close contest to win the 12‑lap Final. The Gurugram driver from Leap Frog Racing stopped the clock at 11꞉02.508 , ﬁnishing 1.576 seconds ahead of Bengaluru's Zidaan Arshaan Anees of Peregrine Racing, with Mumbai's Aarav Sureka of Rayo Racing third in 11꞉05.633 . Yeshwin Vinay Kishore, also from

The Mini Max Finals also underwent a late change in the classification. Bengaluru's Jishnu Seralathan of Peregrine Racing crossed the finish line first after 14 laps in 12꞉19.928 , but a penalty dropped him from the top position, promoting Coimbatore's Shiv Neel (MSport) to victory. Neel, the son of India's first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan, was classified first in 12꞉19.928, while team‑mate Raghav Krishnaraj was second in 12꞉22.559 and Jishnu third in 12꞉22.779. Shiv also took the Best Rookie award.

Jishnu had earlier won the 12‑lap Mini Max Pre‑Final in 10꞉35.775, narrowly beating Faridabad's Arshi Gupta (Leap Frog Racing), who was second in 10꞉35.960. Bengaluru's Ridhaan Anil Kumar (Red Rabbit Racing) was third in 10꞉36.126, completing a ﬁnish in which all three were separated by less than half a second.

The third round once again underlined the unpredictability of national‑level karting, with penalties, collisions and incidents playing as important a role as outright pace

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recreation with Tuticorin's historical coastal identity. The retreat is not a substitute for commercial infrastructure; it contributes something that commercial infrastructure alone cannot provide꞉ a setting for visitors and professional interactions, and another reason to experience the city beyond its industrial waterfront.

"VOCPA will play a key role in infrastructure transformation”

Beyond the Waterfront꞉ VOCPA, Tuticorin's Evolving Port Ecosystem

golf course, a waterfront retreat, a seafarers' club and a new container harbour might seem unrelated. At V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority (VOCPA), Tuticorin, are becoming parts of the same development story. Tuticorin is expanding not only the infrastructure through which cargo moves, but also the environment in which maritime businesses, professionals, workers and their families live and operate. DEVELOPMENT PROJECT꞉

The Rs.17,167‑crore Outer Harbour project, approved by the central cabinet in September 2026, is the most visible expression of that ambition. Designed to accommodate much larger container vessels, it could alter the Port's and the 78 autotrack.ind.in OCTOBER 2026

country's role in international trade. Yet a bigger harbour does not automatically create a stronger maritime centre. Shipping lines need dependable services; industrial investors need connectivity and skilled workers; professionals and visiting business delegations need facilities that make sustained engagement with a city pragmatic.

VOCPA, Tuticorin's investments beyond shipping berths and terminals suggest an appreciation of these less visible requirements.

Consider the Korkai Retreat, an eco‑resort project within the port area that is nearing completion. Named after the ancient maritime settlement associated with the region, it connects hospitality and

SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT꞉ A planned nine‑hole golf course and driving range introduce another dimension. Golf courses in established commercial centres often function as places for recreation and informal professional engagements. Alongside the course, proposed yoga and children's parks, landscaped public‑facing spaces and an indoor auditorium with conference facilities point towards a more varied institutional landscape. These facilities should not be measured by cargo throughput. Their value lies in the quality of the working and community environment they help create.

The Seafarers' Club, under development at VOC Wharf, serves a different and more direct purpose. Seafarers spend months between ports, often with limited opportunities for rest or recreation ashore.

The VOC Maritime Heritage Museum, inaugurated in February 2026, adds a cultural layer. By making the region's maritime history accessible, it connects contemporary port development with an older seafaring tradition. Such institutions help ensure that the port is understood not merely as a fenced industrial facility, but as part of the city's identity.

Providing dedicated welfare amenities recognises that those who enable global shipping are not merely an operational input. For a port seeking a greater international role, how visiting crews are treated also matters.

VOCPA Tuticorin is not starting from an empty social landscape. The port hospital, schools, sports and employee welfare facilities already support its community. The Kendriya Vidyalaya established for the 2026–27 academic year strengthens this foundation. Educational access and reliable healthcare matter to families considering long‑term careers in a maritime‑industrial city, and to institutions looking to retain experienced staff.

Skills development extends the logic beyond the port estate. Maritime and shipbuilding training initiatives, together with work towards specialized education in logistics and port management, can connect regional employment to the opportunities created by port expansion. This is where an infrastructure project begins to acquire a wider economic multiplier꞉ when young people in its surrounding region gain the capabilities to participate in the growth it generates.

The emerging green‑fuel economy adds a further dimension. VOCPA has commissioned a green‑

hydrogen pilot and is developing clean‑fuel infrastructure while pursuing partnerships around green ammonia and shipping corridors. These initiatives extend its relevance beyond moving conventional cargo to helping shape new maritime supply chains. They also bring fresh demands for technical skills, utilities, specialist services and sustained collaboration between the port and private industry.

Underpinning these amenities are less photogenic investments꞉ better railway and road links, cargo‑handling support areas, water security through a planned desalination plant, renewable energy and more efﬁcient

VOCPA‑INFRASTRUCTURE

encourage the development of local suppliers illustrates how industrial investment can create opportunities beyond the factory ﬂoor.

buildings. Without such systems, leisure and welfare facilities would remain isolated improvements rather than elements of a functioning ecosystem.

This is ultimately the strategic distinction. Berths and terminals determine what a port can handle; the surrounding ecosystem inﬂuences what a port can attract, sustain and become. Tutocorin's long‑term competitiveness will depend on both. When its physical expansion is matched by improvements in skills, services, livability, and civic identity, VOCPA, Tuticorin's transform‑ ation would be measured not only in vessels and tonnes, but in the depth and breadth of social and economic life taking shape around the harbour

MANUFACTURING HUB꞉ Industrial investment offers a tangible proof of this growing appeal. VinFast's decision to establish its electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Thoothukudi reﬂects the advantages the port city pro‑ mises and offers to businesses seeking connectivity, infra‑ structure and access to wider markets. The Vietnamese automaker considered multiple locations before selecting the site, with proximity to the seaport and airport, Tamil Nadu's supportive industrial policies, workforce availability, and competitive project and construction costs among the factors strengthening its proposition. The facility, inaugurated in August 2025, began with an annual assembly capacity of 50,000 vehicles, with scope to scale up to 150,000. Its potential to generate direct and indirect employment and

OCTOBER 2026 autotrack.ind.in 79

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