Madesh Breaks Through as MRF Round 2 Closes in Chennai
Ishaan Madesh ended Saishiva Sankaran’s five-race winning run with the final MRF Formula 2000 victory. Bhuvan Bonu, Viswas Vijayaraj and a broad supporting field shaped Sunday’s final classifications.
Photograph: event media- Event
- MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 4W · Round 2
- Race day
- Sunday, 27 September 2026
- Venue
- Madras International Circuit · Chennai
- MRF Formula 2000
- Ishaan Madesh won Race 3 · Saishiva Sankaran won Race 2
- MRF Formula 1600
- Bhuvan Bonu and Gyan S shared the Sunday wins
- Formula LGB 1300 Open
- Viswas Vijayaraj won all three races
- Formula LGB 1300 Junior
- Shatveer Shetty and Aadam Junaid won on Sunday
- Classification
- Final MMSC timing sheets supplied to ViPeople
Ishaan Madesh saved his strongest move for the final race of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 4W Round 2. The Bengaluru driver won Sunday’s last MRF Formula 2000 contest at Madras International Circuit, ending Saishiva Sankaran’s five-race winning streak and giving the Chennai weekend a fresh final chapter.
The 27 September programme completed the round across the Formula categories, the Volkswagen Polo Cup, Super Stock and MRF Saloons. This is the separate Sunday report. ViPeople’s Saturday story remains on its own page, while the final MMSC timing sheets supplied to ViPeople provide the classified order used here.
Madesh takes the final word in Formula 2000
Sankaran carried his Saturday form into Sunday and won the ten-lap second race in 16:06.547. Madesh finished second, with Swarnav Das third. The last race changed the direction of the weekend. Madesh moved into the lead at Turn 1 and converted the move into an 8.932-second victory. Sankaran crossed the line second and Krishay Gutte took third.
The result ended a run of five consecutive wins for Sankaran across the opening round and the first race of Round 2. Madesh had returned to the series after missing the first round, so the final victory was a direct reminder of how quickly a championship pattern can change when a leading driver gets a clean start and the grip to attack.
| Race | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 · 10 laps | Saishiva Sankaran · 16:06.547 | Ishaan Madesh · 16:13.734 | Swarnav Das · 16:23.293 |
| Race 3 · 8 laps | Ishaan Madesh · 12:54.597 | Saishiva Sankaran · 13:03.529 | Krishay Gutte · 13:06.041 |
Bonu and Gyan share the Formula 1600 wins
Formula 1600 gave the day one of its closest fights. Gyan S edged Bonu by 0.314 seconds in Race 2, with Shivansh Bejoy third. Bonu returned to win the final race, finishing ahead of Gyan and Bejoy. Their exchange gave both drivers a Sunday victory and left Bonu with two wins across the full weekend.
| Race | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 · 10 laps | Gyan S · 17:35.235 | Bhuvan Bonu · 17:35.549 | Shivansh Bejoy · 17:39.506 |
| Race 3 · 8 laps | Bhuvan Bonu · 13:57.878 | Gyan S · 14:10.759 | Shivansh Bejoy · 14:17.501 |
Vijayaraj completes a perfect Open-class weekend
Viswas Vijayaraj won all three Formula LGB 1300 Open races. The final two added a ten-lap contest and a six-lap sprint to the opening victory. Liron Jaden Samuels finished second in both Sunday races for DTS Racing. Their closest finish came in the last race, where 0.592 seconds separated the pair.
| Race | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 · 10 laps | Viswas Vijayaraj · 18:56.086 | Liron Jaden Samuels · 18:57.614 | Vinith Kumar · 18:58.572 |
| Race 3 · 6 laps | Viswas Vijayaraj · 11:37.984 | Liron Jaden Samuels · 11:38.576 | Dhruvh Goswami · 11:40.965 |
A changing order in the Junior class
Shatveer Shetty took the ten-lap Junior race after a restart. Aadam Junaid won the six-lap final, then shared the podium with Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksa and Saurika Livindu. The three Momentum Motorsports drivers from Colombo completed a team sweep in the closing race.
| Race | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 · 10 laps | Shatveer Shetty · 19:21.666 | Aadam Junaid · 19:36.677 | Dhrihan Dagha · 19:39.313 |
| Race 3 · 6 laps | Aadam Junaid · 11:51.860 | Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksa · 11:57.336 | Saurika Livindu · 12:08.053 |
The supporting classes keep the weekend open
MRF Saloons produced another close chapter. S Gokula Rathinam won Race 2, with Alisha Abdulla second and Hemachandran R third. Hemachandran then won the final race by 0.326 seconds from Aakash Vivek. Rathinam completed that podium in third.
The Volkswagen Polo Cup split its Sunday wins between Aman Nagdev and Pratik Sonawane. Nagdev won Race 2, while Sonawane took the last race. The Super Stock category added a finish separated by 0.128 seconds, with Lal Kattikulam Bharathan ahead of Diljith TS. Those narrow margins gave the final programme its own drama beyond the headline Formula 2000 result.
| Category | Race 2 | Final race |
|---|---|---|
| MRF Saloons | S Gokula Rathinam | Hemachandran R |
| Volkswagen Polo Cup | Aman Nagdev | Pratik Sonawane |
| Super Stock | Lal Kattikulam Bharathan | No third race listed |
A separate report for each day
Round 2 is easier to follow when its two race days are read separately. Saturday’s report records the opening winners and provisional release. This Sunday report records the closing races and final classifications. Together, the stories show Sankaran’s early control, Madesh’s late response, Bonu’s double, Vijayaraj’s clean sweep and the depth of the six-category programme.
The official sheets also preserve the details that a headline cannot carry: race distances, close margins, penalties and classification changes. The weekend ends with the final MMSC order on record and a clear next question for the championship. Can Madesh turn his closing win into a sustained challenge when the series returns?
