Chennai, August 22: The Indian National Racing Challenge 4W – 2026 kicked off with excitement at the Madras International Circuit in Chennai on Saturday. Sai Shiv Shankaran from Pune and S. Gyaan from Chennai clinched victories in the Formula 2000 and Formula 1600 classes, respectively, in the final moments of their races.
In contrast, Vishwa Vijayraj from Nellore delivered an impressive performance, securing a podium finish in the Formula LGB 1300 race for DTS Racing. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Kaveen Diyan Rajapaksa from Momentum Motorsports led the junior category.
Pole-sitter Sai Shiv faced a rocky start. During the 10-lap race, with just two laps remaining, he found himself in second place behind Navi Mumbai’s Aditya Patnaik. A backmarker slowed Aditya down, allowing Sai Shiv to close the gap. In the final lap, another backmarker hindered Aditya again, giving Sai Shiv the opportunity to overtake and claim victory. Aditya settled for second place, while Pune’s Swarnav Das finished third.
In the ongoing Formula 1600 class, Gyaan maintained second place for most of the race, trailing Vishakhapatnam’s Bhuvan Bonu. Bengaluru’s Priyanka Vijay held third. In the closing stages, Bhuvan’s car lost power, allowing both Gyaan and Priyanka to pass him, leaving Bhuvan to finish in third.
After gaining the lead at Turn 1, Vijayraj faced no challenges. He steadily increased his lead, securing a remarkable victory. The race became one-sided after the initial tussle settled down. Following Vijayraj were his DTS Racing teammates Vinit Kumar from Tirupur and Liron Zedan Samuels from Tirunelveli, who finished second and third, respectively.
Earlier, former national champion Arjun Narendran from Coimbatore qualified for pole position in the Indian Super Touring Car class, clocking a hot lap time of 01:49.033 seconds. In Sunday’s race, he will be followed by three drivers from Buzzing Hornet Motorsports: Ritesh Rai from Chennai, Aman Nagdev from Noida, and Jeet Jhabakh from Hyderabad.
Experienced driver Diljeet TS from Thrissur swept the top three qualifying spots in the DTS Racing Super Stock class, achieving a best lap time of 02:02.678.
Mumbai’s Neil Shah was the fastest in the Volkswagen Polo Cup qualifying session, recording a best lap time of 01:55.377. He was followed by his Buzzing Hornet Motorsports teammates Pratik Sonawane from Mumbai, Hitarth Bhat from Ahmedabad, Siddharth Desai from Mumbai, and Dushyant Nagesh from Bengaluru.
Provisional Results (All 10 Laps):
Formula 2000 (Race-1, 9 Laps): 1. Sai Shiv Shankaran (Pune) (14:47.457); 2. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai) (14:48.121); 3. Swarnav Das (Pune) (14:53.134).
Formula 1600 (Race-1, 9 Laps): 1. Gyaan S (Chennai) (16:28.952); 2. Priyanka Vijay (Bengaluru) (14:52.355 +1 Lap); 3. Bhuvan Bonu (Vishakhapatnam) (14:59.959 +1 Lap).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1) Open: 1. Vishwa Vijayraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (18:53.431); 2. Vinit Kumar (Tirupur, DTS Racing) (18:58.267); 3. Liron Zedan Samuels (Tirunelveli) (19:03.051).
Junior: 1. Kaveen Diyan Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka, Momentum Motorsports) (19:21.510); 2. Abhijit Wadawalli (Bengaluru, Momentum Motorsports) (19:39.205); 3. Yash Vikram Singh (Agra, Delta Speed) (19:39.596).
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