Coimbatore, Oct 25 Defending champion Dhruvh Goswami bounced back in style on the final day of Round 1 of the CTR-JK Tyre FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2026, winning the first of two LGB Formula 4 races at the Kari Motor Speedway, here on Sunday.
After a difficult opening day, Goswami showed his composure through multiple safety-car interruptions before producing a decisive outside overtake on Mehul Agarwal to reclaim the lead and seal victory by 0.356 seconds in a tense finish.
The Meco Racing driver had to negotiate an extra formation lap and a chaotic final lap, but held his nerve to finish ahead of the chasing pack, with Arya Singh taking third place.
Goswami’s recovery was the highlight of a rain-hit final day that saw eight races across categories, including a 0.004-second photo finish for fourth place in the F1300 Novice Cup and a last-corner collision in the Indian Super Touring Cars.
The second LGB Formula 4 race, however, was curtailed by torrential rain and poor visibility. Started behind the safety car, the race was red-flagged and classified after nine laps, with Balaprasath converting pole position into victory, 0.392 seconds ahead of teammate Agarwal.
Meco Racing’s Raghul Rangasamy finished third, 1.056 seconds behind the winner. Goswami and Balaprasath thus shared the two wins on Sunday, while Agarwal also made a strong impression with a second-place finish in the rain-shortened race.
In the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, Bangalore’s Anish Shetty charged from fifth on the grid to win the Pro class by 4.091 seconds over Navaneeth Kumar, setting the fastest lap of 1:15.648. Senthil Kumar finished third.
Vadodara’s Kabir Sahoch completed a hat-trick of wins in the Amateur class, holding off the challengers to finish 1.793 seconds clear. Harish Yodhin and Saurav Sanjay Dey completed the podium.
Mumbai’s Pratik Sonawane made it a clean sweep in the Gentleman class of the JK Tyre Levitas Cup, winning by 5.053 seconds over Sidharth Balasundaram. Vinith Kumar finished third after overtaking Mira Erda on the penultimate lap.
Sri Lanka’s Aadam Junaid claimed his second successive win in the Rookie class. The Super Saloon races produced plenty of drama, with Team N1 Intervalve’s Biren Pithawalla winning the Indian Super Touring Cars race by 2.480 seconds after a multi-class collision at the final corner involving early leader Arjun Narendran.
The incident also opened the door for Aman Nagdev to claim back-to-back wins in the Indian Touring Cars, finishing 18.137 seconds ahead of Vidyaprakash Damodaran. Deepak Ravikumar completed a weekend double in the Indian Junior Touring Cars, edging teammate Srinivas Teja by 0.115 seconds in a close finish.
DTS Racing’s Diljith T S also completed a clean sweep in Super Stock, winning by 10.635 seconds over Krishanu Dutta Bhuyan.
In the F1300 Novice Cup, Meco Racing’s Shatveer Shetty completed a weekend double with an 8.866-second victory. Augustine Boby finished second, 0.458 seconds ahead of Aadam Junaid, while Ruthvik Reddy snatched fourth from teammate Yash Vikram Singh by just 0.004 seconds on the final lap.
The championship moves to Round 2 at the Kari Motor Speedway from November 13-15.
(PTI News)
