Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty of RACR Castrol Power1 strengthened his title bid by grabbing pole position in the premier Pro-Stock 301–400cc Open category as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2025 began at the Madras International Circuit here on Friday.
Riding confidently despite cold weather and low grip levels, the 28-year-old clocked a best lap of 1 minute 48.775 seconds to edge past team-mate Rajini Krishnan of Chennai and Pune challenger Sarthak Chavan of Petronas TVS Racing. Leading the championship by 21 points, Rahil said the low track temperature prevented faster lap times but added that he felt relaxed heading into Saturday’s decisive race.
Sarthak Chavan, fresh from a training stint in Spain where he finished third and fourth in two races, admitted to struggling with grip and limited laps during qualifying but said he would push hard in the race to support his team’s championship hopes.
In the Women category of the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship, Chennai’s Jagathishree Kumaresan sealed the title despite finishing second in the five-lap race behind Elakiya Ravi. Jagathishree had already secured an unassailable lead in the standings with three consecutive victories earlier in the season. Pune rider Ananya Awasthi finished third.
Hyderabad’s Rajender Beedani of MAI Racing claimed pole in the Stock 165cc (Novice) class ahead of Hari Haran R of Coimbatore and Vignesh Pothu of Mancherial. In the Stock 301–400cc (Novice) category, Bengaluru’s Jagadeesh Nagaraj of Motul Sparks Racing topped the charts, followed by Kamal Navas of Chennai and Shyam Sundar of Tiruvallur.
Kamal Navas also qualified fastest in the SuperStock Intermediate (165cc) class, ahead of Raj Kumar of Coimbatore and Mohammed Samrul Zubair of Hyderabad, both representing Motul Sparks Racing.
In the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup, Raivat Dhar of Jammu led the qualifiers ahead of Tejash BA of Tumakuru and Chennai’s Solomon R. The Petronas TVS One-Make Championship Expert class saw Chennai riders Mohan Babu P, G. Balaji and Abdul Basim RS take the top three spots in qualifying.
With multiple categories still wide open, the championship is set for a thrilling conclusion on Saturday.
