Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 24 (ANI): The season-opener of CTR-JK Tyre FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2026 roared into life at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Saturday.
Nine races across eleven categories produced photo finishes, spectacular comebacks and a rainy finale that brought a red flag and a safety-car start. By the end of an eventful opening day, early leaders had emerged in every class, with plenty of challengers close behind.
LGB Formula 4: Arya Singh is the man to beat after winning an eventful LGB Formula 4 race. The contest was cut to 11 laps after four laps behind the safety car, and when the green flag fell, front-row rivals Mehul Agarwal and Arya Singh went to war while Meco Racing's Raghul Rangasamy barged his way into second. Agarwal snatched the lead back but spun through 360 degrees just laps from home, handing Singh the lead and Rangasamy second place. Singh splashed home to win by 2.456 seconds, with Dark Don rookie Aditya Patnaik pipping the recovering Agarwal by 0.120 seconds for third. Rangasamy, Patnaik and Agarwal are the ones to watch, along with Dhruv Goswami, who fought back from 19th on the grid to sixth.
Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup: In the Amateurs, Kabir Sahoch is the undisputed leader after back-to-back lights-to-flag wins, taking Race 1 by 2.298 seconds with the day's quickest lap of 1:19.880 and Race 2 by 3.218 seconds. Mumbai's Saurav Sanjay Dey is the rider to watch, having climbed from tenth to fifth in Race 1 and from fifth on the grid to second in Race 2, while Brandon Dsouza and Johnson Xavier Saldanha, separated by just 0.184 seconds in Race 2, keep the podium fight alive. In the Pro class, Coimbatore's Senthil Kumar won Race 1 from pole by 0.025 seconds over Anish Shetty, who set the fastest lap of 1:15.546. Navaneeth Kumar then mastered a red-flag restart to win Race 2 by 1.245 seconds over Senthil, with Vivek Satyanarayan Pillai third and Shetty slipping to fifth. Senthil and Navaneeth have a win each, with Shetty and Pillai the ones to watch.
JK Tyre Levitas Cup: Mumbai's Pratik Sonawane leads the Gentleman class after an imperious pole-to-flag win by 8.574 seconds over Sidharth Balasundaram. The drama came behind them, where Mira Erda climbed from eighth on the grid to third overall as rivals ran wide, while a collision between Vinith Kumar and Ashwin Pugalagiri ended Ashwin's race on lap six. Erda held off Aadam Junaid, who romped to the Rookie class win ahead of Ajay Sankar and Vikram A B. Balasundaram, Erda and Junaid are the ones to watch.
Super Saloon Categories: Arka Motorsports' Arjun Narendran leads the Indian Super Touring Cars after a flawless pole-to-flag win by 10.042 seconds, while Arjun Balu and Biren Pithawalla traded paint for second, with Balu taking it back by 0.343 seconds at the flag. In the Indian Touring Cars, Noida's Aman Nagdev stormed home 20.631 seconds clear from fourth on the combined grid, ahead of Yug Jagdishkumar Italiya and Ramcharan Chandran. In the Indian Junior Touring Cars, Team Performance Racing's Deepak Ravikumar went from 12th on the combined grid to win by 5.043 seconds over teammate and pole-sitter Srinivas Teja, with Ramcharan Chandran third. In Super Stock, DTS Racing's Diljith T S won by 15.8 seconds from seventh overall, with stablemates Lal Kattikulam Bharathan and Deepa S John 0.412 seconds apart behind him. Balu, Pithawalla and Teja are the ones to watch.
F1300 Novice Cup: Meco Racing's Shatveer Shetty leads the class after a crushing 10.865-second win from pole, with opening-lap tangles ending the races of Avishek Datta, Sanjay Balakrishnan, Geetvika Rajni Patsamatla and Amanjeet Singh Gilard. Pranav Ramasamy chased in second before retiring on lap nine, one lap from the flag, which handed second to DTS Racing's Augustine Boby, who held his third-on-grid position through the order. Sri Lanka's Aadam Junaid charged from sixth to third for Momentum Motorsports, with Yash Vikram Singh moving from tenth to fourth. Nine drivers failed to finish. Boby, Junaid and Yash Vikram Singh are the ones to watch.
The action resumes tomorrow at the Kari Motor Speedway with the final day of Round 1, which is being run over two days, where the early leaders will look to extend their advantage and the challengers will aim to hit back. (ANI)
Rain, red flags and razor-thin finishes light up opening day of CTR-JK Tyre FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2026
