The fourth and penultimate round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM will get underway at the Madras International Circuit here on Friday.

The three-day event, with 18 races (besides official practice and qualifying sessions) and over 100 entries, promises to be a humdinger given that the leading title contenders across all categories are closely bunched and can ill-afford to drop any points.

The ongoing season has heralded the emergence of two 17-year-old protagonists in TVS Racing team-mates, Sarthak Chavan (Pune) and Bengaluru’s Chiranth Vishwanath. Their fierce, no-holds-barred rivalry in the two premier classes, the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open and Pro-Stock 165cc Open, has lit up the championship, having also greatly benefitted from their exposure at the Asian level.

Sarthak is placed third behind team-mates Jagan Kumar and K.Y. Ahamed, while Chiranth is fifth behind Deepak Ravikumar, the other TVS Racing rider. Just 40 points separate the five.

Another 17-year-old, Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) leads in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class on the back of six consecutive wins, while in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category, schoolgirl Rakshitha Dave (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) is ahead of fellow-Chennai racer Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) only by one point.