Top honours for Rohaan Madesh, Rivaan Dev PreethamJishnu Seralathan, Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat notch wins

Bengaluru’s Rohaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing) claimed top honours in the Senior Max Final as the first round of the MECO-FMSCI National Karting Championship RMC 2026 with SIDVIN Energy Engineering as the Presenting Sponsor and MRF Tyres as the partner sponsor, concluded at the CoASTT circuit here on Sunday.

Equally impressive in Round-1 which attracted 75 entries, was Chennai’s Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSPORT) who extended his domination in the Junior class by winning both Final and Pre-Final races, though in contrasting styles, to launch his defence of the National title he won last year.

Bengaluru’s Jishnu Seralathan (Peregrine Racing) delivered a stunning finish to win the Final in the Mini Max category while Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (Leapfrog Racing) from Gurugram topped the Micro Max Final.

In the Senior Max final, Arjun Chheda (Crest Motorsport) from Pune enjoyed a great start and once he opened a sizeable lead, he was virtually unchallenged while behind him, Bengaluru’s Rohaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing) broke away from a closely bunched chasing pack to eventually finish second, ahead of Eshanth Vengatesan (MSPORT) from Chennai. However, Chheda dropped to fifth after receiving a 10-second penalty for jump start, while Madesh and Vengatesan moved up to first and second while Mumbai’s Krish Gupta (Leapfrog Racing) was placed third.

The Pre-Final race winner, Akshat Misra (Peregrine Racing) from Bengaluru lost his track position early in the Final and finished eighth.

Rivaan Dev Preetham, the reigning champion, had to absorb a lot of pressure in the final with Mumbai’s Hamza Balasinorwala (Crest Motorsport) shadowing him almost throughout the 14-lap Junior Max Final race that was red flagged following an on-track incident and restarted. Behind the pair, the battles raged on for minor placings before Bengaluru’s Rishik Rohit Reddy (MSPORT) hung on to complete the podium. Rivaan Dev, in fact, enjoyed a fruitful outing today as he topped the Pre-Final race too without much ado after having topped the qualifying and the two Heats earlier in the day.

In the Mini Max final, Jishnu Seralathan came up with a brilliant move on the last lap to snatch a dramatic win, slipping past race leader Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat, a couple of corners before the finish. In heart-stopping final laps of this race, Jishnu, Rudrapratap and defending champion Faridabad’s Arshi Gupta (Leapfrog Racing) were involved in a three-way battle for the podium spots. 

Approaching the finish line, the trio went wheel-to-wheel before Jishnu edged in front at the finish line, closely followed by Rudrapratap who had won the Pre-Final comfortably earlier in the day, and Arshi who, however, dropped two spots on receiving three-second penalty for jump start. Hyderabad’s Shiv Tummala (Peregrine Racing) moved up to third in the final classification.

Earlier, Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat came up with eye-catching performances in the Micro Max class which he dominated, winning both the Pre-Final and Final with aplomb. He displayed impressive pace and race craft to steer clear of the chasing pack for deserving wins. He also delivered two podium finishes in the Mini Max category, winning the Pre-Final and clinching a second-place finish in the Final.

The Championship comprises six rounds and the four National champions in the Senior Max, Junior Max, Mini Max and Micro Max categories, identified on conclusion of the Championship, will represent India in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portimão, Portugal, from November 7 to 14, 2026.

Provisional results:

Senior Max – Finals (18 laps): 1. Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (13mins, 44.845secs); 2. Eshanth Vengatesan (Chennai, MSPORT) (13:45.266); 3. Krish Gupta (Mumbai, Leapfrog Racing) (13:46.883). Pre-Finals (14 laps): 1. Akshat Misra (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (10:41.859); 2. Arjun Chheda (Pune, Crest Motorsport) (10:44.756); 3. Rohaan Madesh (10:50.703).

Junior Max – Finals (10 laps): 1. Rivaan Dev Preetham (Chennai, MSPORT) (07:35.631); 2. Hamza Murtuza Balasinorwala (Mumbai, Crest Motorsport) (07:39.073); 3. Rehan Khan Rasheed (Chennai, Momentum Motorsports) (07:40.016). Pre-Finals (14 laps): 1. Rivaan Dev Preetham (10:38.658); 2. Rishik Rohit Reddy (10:42.472); 3. Rehan Khan Rasheed (Chennai, Momentum Motorsports) (10:42.997).

Mini Max – Finals (14 laps): 1. Jishnu Seralathan (Bengaluru, Peregrine Racing) (11:01.908); 2. Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (Gurugram, Leapfrog Racing) (11:02.197); 3. Shiv Tummala (Hyderabad, Peregrine Racing) (11:05.058). Pre-Finals (12 laps): 1. Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (09:28.203); 2. Eeshan Swaroop (Bengaluru, Kartkrew Racing) (09:29.347); 3. Shiv Tummala (09:31.057).

Micro Max – Finals (12 laps): 1. Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (Gurugram, Leapfrog Racing) (09:46.771); 2. Ayansh Patil (Kolhapur, MSPORT) (09:56.042); 3. Aarav Sureka (Mumbai, Rayo Racing) (09:56.264). Pre-Finals (12 laps): 1. Rudrapratap Singh Shekhawat (09:44.3); 2. Ayansh Patil (09:56.0); 3. Zidaan Arshaan Anees (Begaluru, Peregrine Racing) (09:56.2).