Jagathishree Kumaresan Scripts Fairytale Victory

Chennai’s Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) scripted a fairytale victory starting from last on the grid in the Girls (Stock 165cc) to overshadow a commanding win by Rahil Pillarisetty (RACR Castrol Power1) in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category as the duo lit up the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2025 at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

Having crashed on the out-lap during the qualifying session this morning, defending champion Jagathishree could not set a time and started the race last on the 13-bike grid. But the 21-year-old put in a sensational ride that saw her cut through the field and move into the lead in just three laps and then hold position over the next two for a superb win, her fifth in a row. To top it, she earned a bonus point for the fastest lap of the five-lap race to consolidate her position on top of the leaderboard. 

Following her across the finish line were two other Chennai riders, former champion Ann Jennifer (Motul Sparks Racing) who had started from pole position and Rakshitha Dave (RACR Castrol Power1). “Though I started last, I was confident of getting on the podium. I had a good bike, but the credit goes to our mechanics who repaired the bike and made it ready for the race in just a couple of hours after this morning’s crash,” said Jagathishree.

Earlier, 27-year-old Rahil Pillarisetty from Hyderabad had a surprisingly comfortable victory in a race that was red flagged after four of the scheduled six laps were completed following a big crash involving Bengaluru’s Chiranth Vishwanath (Petronas TVS Racing) who, though, walked away unhurt.

It was a significant win for Rahil as he pulled away from his nearest rival, 18-year-old Sarthak Chavan (Petronas TVS Racing) from Pune in the championship standings. Sarthak was forced to run wide to avoid a contact with veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1) when running second. Though he recovered to regain P2 spot, Rahil had opened a huge lead. Worse still for Sarthak, his airbag got deployed, forcing him on the grass and kicking up mud on the track. Chiranth, following him, skidded on the dirt and crashed, leading to the stoppage. Sarthak finished second, ahead of Rajini Krishnan who was later disqualified for a “technical infringement”, thus elevating Rakshith Dave (Petronas TVS Racing) to P3.

The day’s other winners in the National Championship included Chennai’s Kamal Navas, a privateer, who took the honours in the Super Stock Intermediate 165cc race for his second win of the season and Mohamed Mikail (Mad Rabbit Racing) moved up one spot to P1 after race winner Shyam Sundar (KYT Helmet ISBK Racing) was disqualified for “technical infringement” in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category.

In the day’s last race, Coimbatore’s Senthilkumar (Rockers Racing) recorded his first win of the season in the Pro-Stock 200cc Open race. It was a close finish as the lead kept changing hands through the six laps before Senthil yet again moved ahead to clinch a fine win.

It was heartbreak for Aizawl’s Lal Nunsanga (Motul Sparks Racing) in the Stock 165cc (Novice) race when he ran wide exiting the last corner on the last lap when looking set to win and finished second behind Hyderabad’s Rajender Beedani (MAI Racing).

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Mohan Babu from Chennai posted his third win of the season in the Expert category (Apache RR 310) while Hari Haran R from Coimbatore notched his fifth win in the Rookie (Apache RTR 200) class as both consolidated their top spots on the leaderboard. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai) scored her third consecutive win in the Women category to consolidate her position at the top of the points standings.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (Honda CB 300F): Jammu’s Raivat Dhar upstaged championship leader Solomon R (Chennai) while securing his third win of the season in the Honda CB 300F category. While Solomon had to settle for P2, Tumakuru’s Tejash BA finished third.

The results (Provisional – all 6 laps unless mentioned, all Race-1):

National Championship:

Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (4 laps): 1. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad, RACR Castrol Power 1) (07mins, 23.397secs); 2. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (07:28.675); 3. Rakshith Dave (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (07:30.927).

Pro-Stock 200cc Open: 1. Senthilkumar (Coimbatore, RDX Torque Racing) (11:52.899); 2. Soorya PM (Chennai, LGE Racing) (11:54.246); 3. Mohan Babu (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (11:54.364).

Super Stock Intermediate 165cc: 1. Kamal Navas (Chennai, pvt) (12:43.102); 2. Raj Kumar (Coimbatore, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:43.176); 3. G Balaji (Chennai, pvt) (12:43.385).

Stock 301-400cc (Novice): 1. Mohamed Mikail (Thiuvallur, Mad Rabbit Racing) (12:11.479); 2. Kamal Navas (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (12:15.310); 3. Varun Patil (Bengaluru, Mad Rabbit Racing) (12:16.600).

Stock 165cc (Novice): 1. Rajender Beedani (Hyderabad, MAI Racing) (13:01.172); 2. Lal Nunsanga (Aizawl, Motul Sparks Racing) (13:01.838); 3. Akarsh Jangam (Vijayawada, MAI Racing) (13:06.690).

Girls (Stock 165cc) (5 laps): 1. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing) (11:01.438); 2. Ann Jenniffer AS (Chennai, Motul Sparks Racing) (11:01.768); 3. Rakshitha Dave (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power 1) (11:02.536).

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship:

Expert (Apache RR 310): 1. Mohan Babu P (Chennai) (11:44.469); 2. G Balaji (Chennai) (11:48.625); 3. Md Samrul Zubair (Hyderabad) (11:48.644).

Rookie (Apache RTR 200): 1. Hari Haran R (Coimbatore) (13:16.211); 2. Joshua A (Bengaluru) (13:28.398); 3. Akarsh Jangam (Vijayawada) (13:28.421).

Women (Apache RTR 200) (5 laps): 1. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai) (11:08.465); 2. Kolamba Patabandige Hes (Sri Lanka) (11:12.931); 3. Ananya Awasthi (Pune) (11:17.284).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (Honda CB 300F): 1. Raivat Dhar (Jammu) (12:37.237); 2. Solomon R (Chennai) (12:38.014); 3. Tejash BA (Tumakuru) (12:38.331).