Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 26 (ANI): The final day of Round 1 of the CTR-JK Tyre Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) Indian National Car Racing Championship 2026 delivered eight more races at the Kari Motor Speedway on Sunday, with a final-corner collision in the touring cars, a 0.004-second photo finish for fourth place in the Novice F1300 race and a rain-hit LGB Formula 4 finale that had to be red-flagged.
With several early leaders extending their advantage and the chasing pack hitting back in others, the weekend leaves the title fights wide open.
-LGB Formula 4: Meco Racing’s Dhruvh Goswami emerged as the standout driver on Sunday, holding his nerve through multiple safety-car interruptions and a frantic final-lap skirmish to win the first race by 0.356 seconds. After an extra formation lap and early mechanical setbacks for Ahura Racing, Goswami battled the Dark Don drivers and executed a sweeping outside overtake on Mehul Agarwal to regain the lead, with Arya Singh taking third. In the rookie ranks, Ashwin Kumar KP finished an exceptional eighth overall. Torrential rain and poor visibility then hit the second race, which started behind the safety car and was red-flagged and classified at the end of lap nine. Balaprasath converted pole position into victory, crossing the line 0.392 seconds clear of teammate Agarwal, with Meco Racing’s Raghul Rangasamy third, 1.056 seconds behind the winner. Heavy attrition claimed six drivers, including Deepak Ravikumar and Ashwin Kumar KP. Goswami and Balaprasath share the wins, with Agarwal, Singh and Rangasamy the ones to watch.
-Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup: In the Pro class, Bangalore’s Anish Shetty carved his way from fifth on the grid to win by 4.091 seconds over Navaneeth Kumar, setting the fastest lap of 1:15.648, while Senthil Kumar recovered from a sluggish start to take third. In the Amateurs, Vadodara’s Kabir Sahoch completed a weekend hat-trick, fending off early chaos and a collision between Shyamal Das and Akash Boro to win by 1.793 seconds with a fastest lap of 1:19.452. Srivilliputtur’s Harish Yodhin surged from fifth to second, ahead of Saurav Sanjay Dey. Shetty and Sahoch are the men to beat, with Navaneeth Kumar, Yodhin and Dey the ones to watch.
-JK Tyre Levitas Cup: Mumbai’s Pratik Sonawane completed a weekend sweep in the Gentleman class with a flawless pole-to-flag win by 5.053 seconds over Sidharth Balasundaram, setting the fastest lap of 1:24.681. Behind them, Vinith Kumar snatched third from Mira Erda on the penultimate lap, with Erda settling for fourth. In the Rookie class, Sri Lanka’s Aadam Junaid made it two wins in two starts, finishing fifth overall ahead of Shreyans Mittal and Ajay Sankar. Sonawane is the man to beat, with Balasundaram, Vinith Kumar and Junaid the ones to watch.
-Super Saloon Categories: Team N1 Intervalve’s Biren Pithawalla won a chaotic, rain-hit Indian Super Touring Cars finale by 2.480 seconds, snatching victory from Arjun Narendran in a multi-class collision at the final corner. The chaos allowed Aman Nagdev to thread through and take back-to-back wins in the Indian Touring Cars, 18.137 seconds clear of Vidyaprakash Damodaran. In the Indian Junior Touring Cars, Team Performance Racing’s Deepak Ravikumar completed a weekend double, holding off stablemate Srinivas Teja in a drag race to the line to win by 0.115 seconds. In Super Stock, DTS Racing’s Diljith T S made it a clean sweep, finishing 10.635 seconds clear of Krishanu Dutta Bhuyan. Nagdev, Ravikumar and Diljith are the men to beat, with Pithawalla, Narendran and Teja the ones to watch.
-F1300 Novice Cup: Meco Racing’s Shatveer Shetty completed a clinical weekend double, converting pole position into an 8.866-second win. The race was interrupted early when Kek Qian Jun hit the inside tyre barrier, bringing out the safety car, and a subsequent three-car concertina collision ended the races of Hardik L Lakiphangal and Kaveen Rajapaksa. On the restart, Augustine Boby held off Aadam Junaid by 0.458 seconds for second, while Momentum Motorsports’ Ruthvik Reddy snatched fourth from teammate Yash Vikram Singh by 0.004 seconds on the final lap. Shetty is the man to beat, with Boby, Junaid and Reddy the ones to watch.
The action resumes with Round 2 from November 13 to 15 at the Kari Motor Speedway, where the early leaders will look to defend their margins and the chasing pack will aim to capitalise on any mistakes. (ANI)
Last-corner chaos, a 0.004-second photo finish and a rain-called finale close Round 1 of FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2026
