Sarthak Chavan takes pole with record lap at Madras International Circuit

Pune’s Sarthak Chavan qualified on pole with a record lap in the Super Sport 301-400cc Open class at round 3 of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 2W 2026 at the Madras International Circuit in Chennai on Friday (October 31, 2026). He marked his 20th birthday with that qualifying performance.

Qualifying at round 3 produced front-row starters across several categories at the Madras International Circuit. Pole positions were decided in Super Sport, Super Stock, Stock and Pro-Stock classes, and the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship held its qualifying sessions alongside the national classes. Riders from Chennai and other regions topped sessions in both novice and open categories.

Chennai’s Ann Jennifer, riding for Motul Sparks Racing, secured pole in the Super Stock 165cc Intermediate class with a late burst in qualifying. Her late effort put her fastest in that category for round 3 at Madras International Circuit.

Veteran rider Mathana Kumar, returning to racing after a lengthy layoff, took P1 in the Super Stock 301-400cc Open category. The qualifying result marked his return to the front of the grid in that class for this round.

Kavicholaiarasan from Trichy, representing Speed Up Racing, topped the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) qualifying session. Vijayawada’s Akarsh Jangam, riding for MAI Racing, was fastest in the Stock 165cc (Novice) category.

Rajender Beedani from Hyderabad, of Maxperience Racing, claimed pole in the Pro-Stock 200cc class. In the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship, Beedani, the points leader in the Expert class (Apache RR 310), took pole and Bengaluru’s Poojitha Anil Kumar was quickest in the Women category.

Rajender Beedani will start the Pro-Stock 200cc race on Saturday from pole.