Hyderabad racers set Chennai track on fire

City boys Rahil, Zubair and Rajender showcase their skills at the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2025

Chennai: The Round-3 of of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2025 was back at the majestic Madras International Circuit with 162 entries across various categories from September 5 to 7.

Hyderabad Racer Rahil Pillarisetty of Team RACR Castrol Power1 team competing in the Pro-stock 301-400cc category (premier class) started the race weekend with a bang by securing 1st position in the qualifying session on Friday with a lap time of 1min 47.975sec around the 4km Madras International Circuit giving him a strong hold over the 2 upcoming races over the weekend.

In Race-1, Rahil with all the confidence he gained from Coimbatore round, had an amazing launch from the starting grid and quickly got into a strong battle with the defending champion Sarthak Chavan (Pune) from the Petronas TVS Racing team. The duo soon separated from the rest of the pack with their searing pace and were in a race of their own league. Sarthak was right on the tail of Rahil, showing his front tyre on multiple occasions, but Rahil was rock solid, without any stutters whatsoever, exhibiting his brilliant racecraft and composure. Rahil had a clear vision of where Sarthak could attack him and defended him extremely well in an intense battle that went till the finish line and Rahil secured 1st position in Race-1.

In Race-2, Rahil had an intense battle with Sarthak Chavan (Pune), Anish Shetty (Bangalore) & Johan Reeves Emmanuel (Chennai). Riders were battling to the brim where they were exchanging their positions multiple times. At one point Rahil dropped back to 7th position trying to keep his rhythm with the heat of the race and fought back all the way to continue his firm grip on the championship and finished Race-2 in 2nd position.

Rahil said, It was not an easy race with such extremely hot temperatures over the weekend. “Race-1, I had a really good launch and used it to my advantage. Myself and Sarthak quickly broke up with the rest of the pack with some intense race pace. Sarthak was right behind me till the chequered flag showing me his front wheel wherever possible. I kept my head down and focused on my racing line rather than worrying about my opponent. I knew where exactly Sarthak could make an overtake and I was riding defensive. Finished the race in 1st position and I am extremely happy.”

“Race-2 was altogether a different story, my launch wasn’t as on-point as in Race-1 due to which Sarthak took the lead into turn-1. I pushed really hard to keep up with him and waited for the right time to make my move over him. At one point, the race was so intense from everyone that I dropped back to 7th position. I was determined to bag some precious points for the championship and gave my best to regain top spot but Sarthak was really strong in few sections of the track. I’m happy to finish the race in 2nd place and most importantly collected 45 precious points, keeping me firmly in 1st position in overall Championship.

Another Racer from Hyderabad, Mohammed Samrul Zubair of Motul Sparks Racing Team, competing in the Super Stock 165cc Intermediate category had a very good qualifying session securing 2nd position on the grid with a lap time of 2min 5.910sec. Zubair had a good fight with pole man Kamal Navas (Chennai) & Vaisakh Shobhan (Chennai) but unfortunately, due to a few technical issues with his bike, Zubair had to settle for 4th position in Race-1. In Race-2 Zubair made a huge comeback with a great launch off the line and had a clean battle with his teammate Raj Kumar (Chennai). The duo exchanged their positions a few times over the course of the race and Zubair made a few clean passes towards the final part of the race and finished Race-2 in 1st position.

Zubair also took part in the TVS Apache RR310 Expert category where he qualified in 5th place with a lap time of 1min 57.075sec. In Race-1, Zubair had a breathtaking fight with local boys Manoj Yesudian & Mohan Babu till the last lap and secured 3rd place. In Race-2, Zubair continued his battle with Manoj and Mohan Babu but he crashed unfortunately in the last lap due to another rider’s mistake.

Another Racer from Hyderabad, Rajender Beedani of Motorsports Academy of India (formerly known as Race’ists Motorcycle Club), competing in the Stock 165cc Novice category clocked in a stunning lap time of 2min 8.217sec in the qualifying session on Friday and took the pole position for the upcoming races. Rajender had a brilliant and clean race with Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal) and CS Kedarnath (Tirupathi) in both Race-1 & Race-2. The trio exchanged clinical passes over the course of two races, exhibiting great racecraft at such a young age. Rajender emerged victorious in Race-1 finishing in 1st position and settled for 3rd place in Race-2 but most importantly, collected some valuable points to keep his Championship dreams alive. Rajender currently stands in 1st position in the overall Championship.

By Praharsha Majeti