Arshi Gupta and Ayansh Patil lit up the fourth round of the MECO FMSCI Indian National Karting Championship 2026 RMC India with brilliant victories in the Mini Max and Micro Max categories, respectively, at the Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru on Friday.

Equally impressive winners were Krish Gupta (Rayo Racing), who made a brilliant overtake in the latter half of the race to win the Final in the Senior Max class which boasted a 25-kart grid while 13-year-old Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSPORT) was in a league of his own while topping the Final in the Junior Max category.

The results (Provisional): Senior Max — Finals (17 laps): 1. Krish Gupta (Rayo Racing) (15m, 52.825s); 2. Akshat Misra (Peregrine Racing) (15:54.466); 3. Arjun Chheda (Crest Motorsports) (15:55.168).

Pre-Finals (14 laps): 1. Arafath S. Sheikh (Crest Motorsports) (13:07.777); 2. Krish (13:08.091); 3. Akshat (13:08.806). Best Rookie: Kiaan Shah.

Junior Max — Finals (15 laps): 1. Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSPORT) (14:07.068); 2. Abhiskhit Barse (Crest Motorsports) (14:15.343); 3. Hamza Balasinorwala (Crest Motorsports) (14:15.433).

Pre-Finals (14 laps): 1. Rivaan (13:08.542); 2. Rishik Rohit Reddy (MSPORT) (13:09.058); 3. Rehan Khan Rasheed (Momentum Motorsports) (13:12.617). Best Rookie: Rivaan.

Mini Max — Finals (14 laps): 1. Arshi Gupta (Leapfrog Racing) (13:34.215); 2. Micah Hayden Andrews (Peregrine Racing) (13:38.484); 3. Shiv Tummala (Peregrine Racing) (13:38.566).

Pre-Finals (12 laps): 1. Arshi (11:36.804); 2. Shiv (11:42.345); 3. Micah Hayden (11:43.952). Best Rookie: Arshi Gupta.

Micro Max — Finals (12 laps): 1. Ayansh Patil (MSPORT) (12:14.386); 2. Yeshwin Vinay Kishore (Peregrine Racing) (12:16.982); 3. Aarav Sureka (Rayo Racing) (12:18.420).

Pre-Finals (12 laps): 1. Ayansh (12:09.839); 2. Yeshwin (12:18.317); 3. Shriyan Rao Thakkalapelly (Peregrine Racing) (12:18.526). Best Rookie: Yeshwin.

The third round of the RA Motorsports-promoted IAME Series India karting will be held at the Madras International Karting Arena (MIKA) from Saturday.

The grassroots programme has attracted 34 entries for the double header which will be organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club. The previous two rounds were held in Coimbatore’s CoASTT circuit. Among the most consistent performers is young Shiv Neel (NIKRA with Momentum) from Coimbatore, the son of India’s first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan and leader in the Mini class with 90 points.

Kumaraburam’s Aarthrun Prabhu (Kartkrew Motorsports), a gold medallist at last year’s FIA Asia-Pacific Championships in Sri Lanka, has a six-point advantage in the under-10 category. Chennai’s talented Rehan Khan Rasheed of Momentum Motorsports is another youngster to keep an eye on. He leads the Junior class with 97 points after a string of dominating performances in the last two rounds.

Sanjay Sharma, head of Motorsport and Corporate Communications of JK Tyres, passed away on Wednesday (February 11, 2026). He was 61.

Sanjay, fondly known as ‘Hardy’, was one of the most influential persons in Indian motorsport and played a key role in advancing the careers of India’s only two Formula One drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok, apart from a host of other prominent Indian drivers including rallyist Gaurav Gill.

“Today is one of the blackest days in the history of Indian Motorsport,” said Narain Karthikeyan in a social media post.

Karun Chandhok too paid rich tributes, saying, “Heartbreaking news about Hardy’s passing…outside of my family, nobody did more for my career or taught me more. So many great memories going back to my childhood.”