Rivaan Dev Preetham and Arshi Gupta Dominate Round 2 of 2026 Indian National Karting Championship at MIKA

Chennai, India, July 13, 2026: Chennai’s Rivaan Dev Preetham and Faridabad’s Arshi Gupta continued their dominant form by sweeping the Junior Max and Mini Max categories, respectively, in Round 2 of the MECO-FMSCI Indian National Karting Championship RMC India 2026, held at the Madras International Karting Arena (MIKA) on Sunday.

The defending champions stamped their authority on the championship by winning both the Pre-Finals and Finals in commanding fashion. Mumbai’s Krish Gupta emerged victorious in the fiercely contested Senior Max class, while Bengaluru’s Zidaan Arshaan Anees claimed top honours in the Micro Max category.

The second round attracted 75 entries, including a record 32 competitors in the Senior Max class, underlining the growing popularity of India’s premier karting championship. The event is being held with SIDVIN Energy Engineering as the Presenting Sponsor and MRF Tyres as the partner sponsor.

Krish Gupta Charges Through the Field to Win Senior Max

The Senior Max Final produced the closest contest of the weekend as Krish Gupta of Leapfrog Racing fought his way from the middle of the grid to secure victory after an action-packed 18-lap race.

Pole-sitter and Pre-Finals winner Arafath Sheikh of Crest Motorsports initially controlled proceedings before losing track position during the race. Several drivers exchanged the lead in the opening laps before Krish Gupta surged ahead in the closing stages to seal an impressive victory.

Mumbai’s Kiaan Shah of Rayo Racing finished second, while Leapfrog Racing’s Laksh Manish Bafna completed the podium in third.

Earlier, Arafath Sheikh had produced one of the drives of the weekend in the Senior Max Pre-Final, overtaking Laksh Manish Bafna on the final lap to snatch victory. Team-mate Arjun Chheda crossed the line in third, with less than a second separating the leading trio.

Rivaan Dev Preetham Completes Perfect Weekend

After topping qualifying and both heat races on Saturday, local favourite Rivaan Dev Preetham delivered another flawless performance in the Junior Max category.

The MSPORT driver comfortably won the Pre-Final by over five seconds ahead of Hridaan Sanadhya, with Swarnav Das finishing third.

Rivaan repeated the feat in the Final, leading from start to finish to secure maximum points. Swarnav Das improved to second place, while Hridaan Sanadhya completed the podium once again.

The Chennai youngster also earned the Best Rookie award after another commanding display on home soil.

Arshi Gupta Continues Mini Max Dominance

Defending champion Arshi Gupta was equally impressive in the Mini Max category as the Leapfrog Racing driver dominated both races.

The Faridabad racer enjoyed clean starts in both the Pre-Final and Final before steadily extending her advantage, leaving the chasing pack with little opportunity to challenge.

Jishnu Seralathan finished second in the Final, while Arshi’s Leapfrog Racing team-mate Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat produced one of the standout drives of the day by climbing from the back of the grid to finish third.

Arshi also claimed the Best Rookie award in her category.

Zidaan Arshaan Anees Triumphs in Micro Max

Bengaluru’s Zidaan Arshaan Anees secured victory in the Micro Max Final for Peregrine Racing after an entertaining contest.

Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat added another podium to his tally with second place, while Ayansh Patil finished a close third. Earlier, Patil had won the Pre-Final ahead of Shekhawat and Anees.

Provisional results:

Senior Max – Finals (18 laps): 1. Krish Gupta (Mumbai, Leapfrog Racing) (15mins, 31.039secs); 2. Kiaan Shah (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (15:33.430); 3. Laksh Manish Bafna (Kochi, Leapfrog Racing) (15:34.227). Best Rookie: Kairav Roberson (Chennai, MSPORT). Pre-Finals (14 laps): 1. Arafath Sheikh (Pune, Crest Motorsports) (11:55.927); 2. Laksh Manish Bafna (Kochi, Leapfrog Racing) (11:56.234); 3. Arjun Chheda (Pune, Crest Motorsports) (11:56.790).

Junior Max – Finals (16 laps): 1. Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai, MSPORT) (13:37.426); 2. Swarnav Das (Pune, Crest Motorsports) (13:43.916); 3. Hridaan Sanadhya (Pune, Crest Motorsports) (13:44.795). Best Rookie: Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chenna, MSPORT). Pre-Finals (14 laps): 1. Rivaan Dev Preetham (11:52.991); 2. Hridaan Sanadhya (11:58.096); 3. Swarnav Das (11:59.479).

Mini Max – Finals (14 laps): 1. Arshi Gupta (Faridabad, Leapfrog Racing) (12:20.548); 2. Jishnu Seralathan (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (12:30.136); 3. Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (Gurugram, Leapfrog Racing) (12:32.191). Best Rookie: Arshi Gupta (Faridabad, Leapfrog Racing). Pre-Finals (12 laps): 1. Arshi Gupta (10:33.095); 2. Shiv Tummala (Hyderabad, Peregrine Racing) (10:36.393); 3. Ridhaan Anil Kumar (Bengaluru, Red Rabbit Racing) (10:40.227).

Micro Max – Finals (11 laps): 1. Zidaan Arshaan Anees (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (10:14.386); 2. Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (Gurugram, Leapfrog Racing) (10:21.935); 3. Ayansh Patil (Kolhapur, MSPORT) (10:21.970). Best Rookie: Nirthik Veera Karthi (Chennai, Birel Art India). Pre-Finals (11 laps): 1. Ayansh Patil (10:12.904); 2. Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (10:15.038); 3. Zidaan Arshaan Anees (10:17.588).