CHENNAI: Bengaluru’s Ishaan Madesh found his form for his first win of the season in the MRF Formula 2000 class as the second round of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 4W – 2026 concluded at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.
In the MRF Formula 1600 class, Visakhapatnam’s Bhuvan Bonu won two of the three races and finished second to Gyan S from Chennai in the other.
Ishaan, who last drove the F2000 several months ago when he won the championship, and missed the first round last month, finished second and third in the two earlier races this weekend, but came into his own in Race-3 to end Pune teenager Saishiva Sanakran’s streak of five consecutive victories across two rounds.
“Yes, I salvaged my weekend with this win. I went out on new tyres which gave me better grip than the others who were on old tyres. So, I could push and take the lead at Turn-1, passing Saishiva (the pole-sitter) on the outside. Thereafter, I had the pace to extend the lead for this win. I came here on Saturday without enough seat time, so I am happy with my performance in the last race,” said Ishaan.
Meanwhile, Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj who spearheaded DTS Racing’s dominance in the Formula LGB 1300 (Open) won all three races this weekend. In the Junior section, Bengaluru’s Shatveer Shetty won Race-2, while three Sri Lankans from Colombo, Aadam Junaid, Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksa and Saurika Livindu completed a podium sweep for Momentum Motorsports in Race-3.
Chennai’s Alisha Abdulla marked her return to racing after a five-year break due to marriage and motherhood, with two podium finishes, including a win, in the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) category. However, she was stripped of her victory following a disqualification for an infringement. Hemachandran R from Puducherry, winner of the previous race, was promoted to P1 for a double. Coimbatore’s S Gokula Rathinam had won the first race.
The results (Final, all 8 laps unless mentioned):
MRF F2000 (Race-2, 10 laps): Saishiva Sankaran (Pune) (16:06.547); Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (16:13.734); Swarnav Das (Pune) (16:23.293). Race-3: Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (12:54.597); Saishiva Sankaran (Pune) (13:03.529); Krishay Gutte (Mumbai) (13:06.041)
MRF F1600 (Race-2, 10 laps): Gyan S (Chennai) (17:35.235); Bhuvan Bonu (Visakhapatnam) (17:35.549); Shivansh Bejoy (New Delhi) (17:39.506). Race-3: Bhuvan Bonu (Visakhapatnam) (13:57.878); Gyan S (Chennai) (14:10.759); Shivansh Bejoy (New Delhi) (14:17.501)
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2, 10 laps) (Open): Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (18:56.086); Liron Jaden Samuels (Tirunelveli, DTS Racing) (18:57.614); Vinith Kumar (Tirupur, DTS Racing) (18:58.572). Race-3 (6 laps): Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (11:37.984); Liron Jaden Samuels (Tirunelveli, DTS Racing) (11:38.576); Dhruvh Goswami (Bengaluru, Meco Racing) (11:40.965)
Junior (Race-2, 10 laps): Shatveer Shetty (Bengaluru, Meco Racing) (19:21.666); Aadam Junaid (Colombo, Momentum Motorsports) (19:36.677); Dhrihan Dagha (Mumbai, Meco Racing) (19:39.313). Race-3 (6 laps): Aadam Junaid (Colombo, Momentum Motorsports) (11:51.860); Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksa (Colombo, Momentum Motorsports) (11:57.336); Saurika Livindu (Colombo, Momentum Motorsports) (12:08.053)