Nigel abraham thomas

Indian National Car Racing Championship: Pune teenagers Arjun Chheda and Sai Shiva Sankaran held off their rivals from Bengaluru to win the MRF Formula 2000 and Formula 1600 races, respectively, to kick-start their campaign in the third round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2025, at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.

17-year-old Arjun Chheda fully captailised on a poor start by pole-sitter Ishaan Madesh from Bengaluru and took the honours in the MRF F2000 races. Finishing third behind the pair was another Bengalurean, Tarun MB who briefly was in P2 before yielding ground to Ishaan Madesh in the first lap. “It was my signature start, but hopefully, I will do better tomorrow,” said Ishaan, the recently crowned National karting champion, reflecting on his tendency to botch starts from pole position. Arjun was happy to score his fourth win of the season, but said: “I had my moments, but managed to keep it all together.”

In the MRF F1600 race, Sai Shiva Sankaran, also 17 from Pune, started from pole position and held off two Bengalureans, Arjun S Nair and Nigel Abraham Thomas to consolidate his position at the top of the points standings. “I made a lot of mistakes in the first part of the race but got into my rhythm in the last three laps. Hopefully, I will not repeat the mistakes tomorrow,” said Sai Shiva Sakaran.