National 4W Challenge: Sankaran, Gyan Win Thrillers in Formula 2000 and 1600; Vijayaraj, Rajapaksa Dominate

Chennai, August 22, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)

Saishiva Sankaran of Pune and Chennai’s S. Gyan produced dramatic late victories in the Formula 2000 and Formula 1600 categories respectively as the opening round of the Indian National Racing Challenge 4W – 2026 got underway at the Madras International Circuit on Saturday.

While Sankaran and Gyan prevailed in closely fought Formula races, Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj delivered a dominant performance in the Formula LGB 1300 category, leading a DTS Racing 1-2-3. Sri Lankan Kaveen Diyyan Rajapaksa of Momentum Motorsports won the Junior category.

Sankaran, who started from pole position and won the F1600 title last year, endured a difficult opening and spent much of the race behind Navi Mumbai’s Aditya Patnaik. With two of the nine laps remaining, the pair encountered a backmarker, allowing Sankaran to close the gap after Patnaik lost time negotiating traffic.

Patnaik was delayed again by a backmarker on the final lap, giving Sankaran the opportunity he needed. The Pune driver overtook him to take victory in 14 minutes, 47.457 seconds. Patnaik finished second in 14:48.121, while Pune’s Swarnav Das was third in 14:53.134.

Gyan was similarly forced to fight from second place for much of the F1600 race, trailing Visakhapatnam’s Bhuvan Bonu, with Bengaluru’s Priyanka Vijay in third. Bonu suffered a power drop towards the finish, allowing both Gyan and Vijay to move ahead. Gyan won, while Vijay finished second and Bonu third.

In Formula LGB 1300, Vijayaraj took control at Turn 1 and steadily extended his advantage for a comfortable victory. His DTS Racing teammates Vinith Kumar of Tirupur and Liron Jaden Samuels of Tirunelveli completed the podium.

Rajapaksa won the Junior race for Momentum Motorsports, finishing ahead of teammate Abhijit Vadavalli of Bengaluru and Agra’s Yash Vikram Singh of Delta Speeds.

In qualifying for the Indian Super Touring Cars, former National champion Arjun Narendran of Coimbatore returned to active racing after several years and took pole in an Arka Motorsports-prepared Volkswagen Polo with a fastest lap of 1 minute, 49.033 seconds. Ritesh Rai, Aman Nagdev and Jeet Jhabakh of Buzzing Hornet Motorsports qualified second, third and fourth respectively.

Thrissur veteran Diljith T.S. topped Super Stock qualifying with a 2:02.678 lap, leading a DTS Racing 1-2-3.

Mumbai’s Neel Shah was fastest in Volkswagen Polo Cup qualifying with a 1:55.377 lap, followed by teammates Pratik Sonawane, Hitrath Bhat, Sidharth Desai and Dushyant Nagesh.