Indian National Car Racing Championship kicks off amid drama

Text Size:

 The opening day of the Indian National Car Racing Championship 2026 at the Kari Motor Speedway witnessed fascinating action across the different categories as thrilling finishes, rain and red flags dominated the season opener here on Saturday. 

Nine of the 11 races produced photo-finishes, and some witnessed spectacular comebacks, rain-laden finales and lots of gripping action. 

Arya Singh won the LGB Formula 4 race, which was curtailed to 11 laps after four were run behind the safety car. Mehul Agarwal and Arya Singh battled it out on the front row, while Meco Racing's Raghul Rangasamy stormed into second place. 

Agarwal was leading but spun 360 degrees to hand the lead to Singh, who took the chequered flag with Rangasamy coming second. Dark Don rookie Aditya Patnaik was third ahead of the recovering Agarwal.

In the amateurs Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, Kabir Sahoch won both the races to stamp his authority. He clinched the lights-to-flag win in 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 has turned out to be a contender to watch out for as he climbed from tenth to fifth in Race 1 and from fifth on the grid to second in Race 2.

In the Pro class, Senthil Kumar won Race 1 from pole over Anish Shetty to start strong. However, Navaneeth Kumar won the next race by 1.245 seconds over Senthil.

In the JK Tyre Levitas Cup, Pratik Sonawane of Mumbai won the race over Sidharth Balasundaram as he leads the Gentleman class. However, drama was seen behind him as Mira Erda jumped from eighth on the grid to third overall. A collision between Vinith Kumar and Ashwin Pugalagiri ended the latter's race as Erda held off Aadam Junaid.

In the Super Saloon Categories, Arjun Narendran of Arka Motorsports won a flawless pole-to-flag win by 10.042 seconds. Meanwhile, Noida's Aman Nagdev stormed home 20.631 seconds clear from fourth on the combined grid in the Indian Touring Cars, as Yug Jagdishkumar Italiya and Ramcharan Chandran were behind the Noida man.

The Super Stock saw DTS Racing's Diljith T S win by 15.8 seconds from seventh overall, with Lal Kattikulam Bharathan and Deepa S John 0.412 seconds behind him.

In the F1300 Novice Cup, Shatveer Shetty of Meco Racing has emerged as the leader after registering a 10.865-second win from pole. His opening lap tangles saw the end of the races of Avishek Datta, Sanjay Balakrishnan, Geetvika Rajni Patsamatla and Amanjeet Singh Gilard.

The action will resume on Sunday with the final day of Round 1 as the early leaders look to extend their advantage and the challengers will aim to hit back.

More in Sports Arena