National 4W Racing: Double for Bengaluru teenager Ishaan Madesh; triple delight for Ritesh Rai; Deepak Ravikumar
Chennai’s Madras International Circuit buzzed with excitement on Sunday as the second round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2025 wrapped up. Young talents and seasoned drivers delivered thrilling action across various categories, with standout performances stealing the show.
Local hero Ritesh Rai from Chennai, racing for Buzzing Hornet in a Volkswagen Polo, dominated the Indian Touring Cars (ITC) category. He clinched all three races, fending off tough competition from Coimbatore’s veteran Arjun Balu in a Honda V-tec. Balu made a strong comeback after a year’s break, while defending champion Biren Pithawalla from Mumbai faced turbo troubles in his VW Polo, managing a second-place finish in one race before retiring from another.
In the premier Formula 2000 class, 16-year-old Ishaan Madesh from Bengaluru bounced back from a tough Saturday. A speed limiter had held him back in Race-1, where he finished third, but he powered to victory in both Sunday races. This moved him just two points behind championship leader Arjun Chheda from Pune. Chheda, who won Saturday’s opener, took second in both of Madesh’s wins, with Bengaluru’s Tarun MB rounding out the podium. Race-3 saw a brief safety car after a three-car crash, adding to the drama.
The MRF Formula 1600 category, run on a combined grid with Formula 2000, saw Pune’s Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran and Mumbai’s Zahan Commissariat each grab a win. Sankaran’s victory propelled him to the top of the standings, leading Bengaluru’s Arjun Nair by four points.
Chennai’s Deepak Ravikumar inspired everyone with his return to the track. After a serious Superbike crash at Buddh International Circuit last year and a 10-month recovery, he swept both races in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class for Team Performance Racing. Thrissur’s Diljith TS matched that feat, winning twice in the Super Stock category for DTS Racing.
Close battles defined the Formula LGB 1300 races, where Navi Mumbai’s Aditya Patnaik for Momentum Motorsports and Tirupur’s Vinith Kumar for DTS Racing split the top spots. In the Volkswagen Polo Cup, shared with the Saloons grid, Navi Mumbai’s Ojas Surve and Noida’s Aman Nagdev each took a win. Coimbatore’s Akshay Muralidharan shone in MRF Saloons, securing both Sunday victories.
Here’s a quick look at the provisional results (all races 10 laps unless noted):
Formula 2000
Race-2: 1. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru, 16:12.454); 2. Arjun Chheda (Pune, 16:27.955); 3. Tarun MB (Bengaluru, 16:46.254).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Ishaan Madesh (18:24.837); 2. Arjun Chheda (18:43.416); 3. Tarun MB (18:43.653).
MRF Formula 1600
Race-2: 1. Zahan Commissariat (Mumbai, 17:47.271); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (Pune, 17:54.772); 3. Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru, 17:57.811).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (19:07.963); 2. Arjun S Nair (Bengaluru, 19:09.784); 3. Gyan S (Chennai, 19:26.454).
Indian Touring Cars
Race-2: 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Buzzing Hornet, 19:07.412); 2. Biren Pithawalla (Mumbai, N1 Racing, 19:12.580); 3. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts, 19:47.483).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (15:15.368); 2. Arjun Balu (15:15.857); 3. Ananth Pithawalla (Mumbai, N1 Racing, 15:35.559).
ITC 1625
Race-2: 1. Vidyaprakash Damodaran (Coimbatore, Team Performance Racing, 19:49.245); 2. Mohammed Fahad Kutty (Mumbai, Team GameOver, 20:13.234); 3. Nikanth Rambalu (Coimbatore, Team Performance Racing, 20:57.035).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Nikanth Rambalu (15:59.539); 2. Vidyaprakash Damodaran (16:09.724); 3. Mohammed Fahad Kutty (16:21.657).
Indian Junior Touring Cars
Race-2: 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Team Performance Racing, 19:52.992); 2. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, Team Performance Racing, 19:56.348); 3. Rithvik Thomas (Bengaluru, Race Concepts, 20:22.308).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (15:51.755); 2. Hattim Shabir (Chennai, Team Performance Racing, 15:51.986); 3. Viswas Vijayaraj (16:08.827).
Super Stock
Race-2: 1. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing, 20:50.848); 2. Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, Red Line Racing, 19:12.044 +1 lap); 3. Balaprasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing, 19:13.327 +1 lap).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Diljith TS (16:43.953); 2. Kesara Godage (17:04.575); 3. Balaprasath (17:06.509).
Formula LGB 1300
Race-2 (Open): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai, Momentum Motorsports, 20:52.069); 2. Mehul Agarwal (Kolkata, Delta Speeds, 20:53.826); 3. Neythan McPherson (Pune, Momentum Motorsports, 20:54.088).
Junior: 1. Aditya Patnaik (20:52.069); 2. Neythan McPherson (20:54.088); 3. Vinith Kumar (Tirupur, DTS Racing, 20:54.270).
Race-3 (8 laps, Open/Junior): 1. Vinith Kumar (15:11.731); 2. Neythan McPherson (15:29.024); 3. Bhuvan Bonu (Bengaluru, MSPORT, 15:29.485).
Volkswagen Polo Cup
Race-2: 1. Ojas Surve (Navi Mumbai, 15:49.297); 2. Aman Nagdev (Noida, 19:50.069); 3. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai, 19:50.381).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Aman Nagdev (15:43.639); 2. Aditya Patnaik (15:44.035); 3. Ojas Surve (15:46.227).
MRF Saloons
Race-2: 1. Akshay Muralidharan (Coimbatore, 21:41.170); 2. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru, 21:41.531); 3. Siddhanth Koundinya (Bengaluru, 21:55.203).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Akshay Muralidharan (17:27.655); 2. Mohammed Arfath (Chennai, 17:29.533); 3. Tarushi Vikram (17:29.950).
The championship heads to its next round with drivers like Madesh and Rai building momentum in this high-stakes Indian car racing season.
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in world News on Latest NewsX. Follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter(X), Gettr and subscribe our Youtube Channel.
