Chennai, India, September 11, 2026: Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty set the pace on the opening day of the second round of the MRF Indian National Racing Challenge 2W – 2026, taking pole position in the premier Super Sport 301-400cc Open class at the Madras International Circuit on Friday.

Riding for RACR Castrol Power1, the 28-year-old clocked a fastest lap of 1 minute 48.806 seconds to secure the top spot on the grid. Chennai teenager Rakshith Dave of Petronas TVS Racing qualified second, while Bengaluru’s Savion Sabu of Mad Rabbit Racing completed the front row in third.

Pillarisetty will start Saturday’s race from pole with an important advantage, particularly with two of his major championship rivals missing Friday’s sessions.

Sarthak Chavan of Pune and Bengaluru’s Chiranth Vishwanath, both riding for Petronas TVS Racing, missed practice and qualifying as they were away in Europe. Chavan is currently flying back from Europe, with both riders expected to reach Chennai on Saturday in time for the race.

However, their late arrival means they will have to start from the back of the grid, setting up a major challenge for the Petronas TVS Racing duo.

In the other classes, Chennai’s KK Anandhu of Veedol C2 Racing took pole in the Stock 301-400cc Novice category, while Coimbatore’s R Hari Haran of RACR Castrol Power1 topped qualifying in Stock 165cc Novice.

Chennai rider Venkatesan Iyyappan of M3 Torque Motorsports secured pole position in the Pro-Stock 200cc class.

Petronas TVS Racing One-Make Championship

The Petronas TVS Racing One-Make Championship also produced competitive qualifying sessions, with Chennai’s Kamal Navas claiming pole in the Expert class for Apache RR310 riders.

Bengaluru’s AS James qualified second, while another Chennai rider, Manoj Yesuadian, completed the front row.

In the Women’s category, Bengaluru’s Poojita Anil Kumar continued her strong form by securing pole aboard the Apache RTR 200.

Poojita heads into Round 2 full of confidence after winning the opening round last month. Hyderabad’s Hannah Akkineni Joshitha qualified second, while Bengaluru’s Dhrishya Nair secured third on the grid.

The results (Qualifying – top 3 best laps):

Super Sport 301-400cc Open: 1. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad, RACR Castrol Power1) (01min, 48.806secs); 2. Rakshith Dave (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (01:49.071); 3. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru, Mad Rabbit Racing) (01:50.162).

Pro-Stock 200cc Open: 1. Venkatesan Iyyappan (Chennai, M3 Torque Motorsports) (01:56.070); 2. Mohamed Mikail (Thiruvallur, Team MRA) (01:56.562); 3. Raj Kumar (Coimbatore, M3 Torque Motorsports) (01:56.826).

Stock 301-400cc Novice: 1. Anandhu KK (Chennai, Veedol C2 Raing) (02:02.528); 2. Kavicholaiarasan (Pvt., Tiruchirapalli) (02:02.539); 3. Rehbar Islam Baktoo (Srinagar, Motul Gusto Racing) (02:02.586).

Stock 165cc Novice: 1. R Hari Haran (Coimbatore, RACR Castrol Power1) (02:09.210); 2. Yashwant Varma (Visakhapatnam, Motul Sparks Racing) (02:09.452); 3. Farouk Ali Sohtun (East Khasi, Motul Sparks Racing) (02:09.955).

Petronas TVS Racing One-Make Championship:

Expert (Apache RR 310): 1. Kamal Navas (Chennai) (01:54.962); 2. AS James (Bengaluru) (01:55.778); 3. Manoj Yesuadian (Chennai) (01:56.008).

Women (Apache RTR 200): 1. Poojitha Anil Kumar (Bengaluru) (02:14.923); 2. Hannah Akkineni Joshitha (Hyderabad) (02:16.301); 3. Drishya Nair (Pune) (02:16.939).