Author: David Bodapati

Vadodara (Gujarat), 24 May 2025: Five-time Indian National champion Rugved Barguje of TVS Racing made a valiant comeback to take the Overall victory in the premier class and the Best Rider Trophy in the first round of the MRF MoGrip fmsci National Supercross Championship which kicked off the 2025 season here on Saturday.

The championship was promoted by GodSpeed Racing led by seven-time National champion Shyam Kothari. The 750-m track with sections of loose soil had seven jumps, a section of whoops, one table top, many bermed corners and was run in very hard and dry conditions.

Pune’s Barguje, lost the first moto to an aggressive teammate, Ikshan Shanbag, but showed his resilience to take the second moto, where Shanbag could only finish third. That pushed the 2022 and 2023 back-to-back Overall Indian champion, to an Overall victory in the first round, as he begins the season with a bang after an injury-marred 2024, where he made a valiant effort to defend the title in vain. Defending champion Shlok Ghorpade missed the first round due to an injury he suffered last month in practice.

Earlier in Race 4, the first moto of Class 1: Group A, SX1 upto 500cc, Ikshan took the hole shot and stoutly defended Barguje till the third lap. But the Pune champ overtook him after a stunning manoeuvre and led all the way till the last lap and appeared to have the ‘win’ in his bag. But Ikshan, the Satara rider astride a TVS TR300X, made a huge jump, that was long enough to hoodwink Barguje, and took back the lead in the last lap. He held on to it, for the next two corners or so, and the double jumps, to emerge triumphant. The dramatic last lap saw the TVS teammates in a close finish at the chequered flag and Prajwal took the final spot on the podium for a TVS sweep.

On Saturday, the Motos began with Jinendra Sangave, taking the hole shot of the season and easily winning the Junior SX1 Moto 1. But Kochi’s Ector Ezak of Team Bandidos Motorsports won the second moto while Fayaz Sayyad of Pune took a second and third place, respectively. And soon Chaitanya Joshi and Vismay Ram, too won their motos in the Junior SX2 and SX3 classes, respectively.  Both Chaitanya and Vismay, made it a double today winning the second moto too. Competing on equal footing with boys, Aleena M Shaikh hoisted the women in motorsports flag with two creditable podiums including a second, where she stubbornly kept her position till the flag. Vismay, who trained in US, said: “I had a fall but I am happy to win both the motos. I want to do well this season.”

TVS’ Banteilang Jyrwa of Shillong won the first moto of the Group B, Indian Experts upto 260cc class to begin the season on a positive note. “It is all glory to God and my thanks are to TVS Racing for giving me a wonderful bike,” he said. However, his teammate Imran Pasha from Mysore, the defending champion, took the victory in the second moto. Bengaluru’s Sachin Ignatius, another TVS star, won a double podium including a second in the second moto while Hero MotoSports Arun T of Hassan, who could only finish fourth in the first moto took the third place in the second.

Vismay Ram YR, Chaithanya Joshi and Amal Varghese won both the motos in their respective classes. Other winners include Meghalaya’s Jayden W Nongkhlaw and Jinendra Sanghave. Youngest girl in the fray, Rida F Sayyed, sister of Fayaz, won two third places in the Junior SX3 class.

Provisional Results (Round 1 Baroda):

Moto1: Class 1: Group A, SX1 upto 500cc:

1. #46 Ikshaan Shanbagh, Satara;

2. #9Rugved Barguje, Pune;

3. #32 Prajwal Vishwanath, Bengaluru; (All TVS, on TVS TR300X)

Moto2: Class 1: Group A, SX1 upto 500cc:

1. #9 Rugved Barguje;

2. #32 Prajwal Vishwanath;

3. #46 Ikshaan Shanbagh;

Moto1: Class 2:  Group A, SX2 upto 500cc:

1. #65 Amal Varghese, Ernakulam; Kawasaki

2. #7 Basil Sunny, Ernakulam; Kawasaki

3. #52 Abdul Latheef, Pattambi; Suzuki 450

Moto2: Class 2:  Group A, SX2 upto 500cc:

1. #65 Amal Varghese, Ernakulam; Kawasaki

2. #7 Basil Sunny, Ernakulam; Kawasaki

3. #85 Nithyan L, Coimbatore; Kawasaki

Class 3: Indian Novice:

1. #92 Jayden W Nongkhlaw, Shillong; TVS TR 200X

2. #100 Shailesh Kumar, ; TVS TR 200X

3. #69 Abhi S. Nath, Adat PO, Thrissur; Hero Impulse; Team Bandidos Motorsports

Moto1: Class 4:  Group B, Indian Experts upto 260cc:

1. #27 Banteilang Jyrwa, Shillong;

2. #72 Imran Pasha, Mysore;

3. #40 Sachin D, Bengaluru; (All TVS on TVS TR 200X)

Moto2: Class 4:  Group B, Indian Experts upto 260cc:

1. #72 Imran Pasha (TVS); TVS TR 200X

2. #40 Sachin D (TVS); TVS TR 200X

3. #37 Arun T (Hero MotoSports), Hassan;

Class 5: Indian Experts:

1. #69 Abhi S Nath, Adat PO; Hero Impulse; Team Bandidos Motorsports

2. #71 Arfaz Ahmed, Chamarajnagar (Karnataka); Hero Impulse

3. #16 Abishek J, Coimbatore; Hero Impulse

Moto 1: Class 6: Group A, Junior SX1 150 to 250cc:

1. #97 Jinendra K Sangave, Khalkaranji; Kawasaki

2. #38 Fayaz F Sayyad, Pune; KTM SX250

3.#23 Ector Ezak, Kochi; Kawasaki; Team Bandidos Motorsports

Moto 2: Class 6: Group A, Junior SX1 150 to 250cc:

1.#23 Ector Ezak, Kochi; Kawasaki; Team Bandidos Motorsports

2. #97 Jinendra K Sangave, Khalkaranji; Kawasaki

3. #38 Fayaz F Sayyad, Pune; KTM SX250

Moto1: Class 7: Group A, Junior SX2 Upto 85cc:

1. #74 Chaitanya Joshi; Gas Gas 85

2. #29 Sujan; KTM SX 85

3. #17 Aleena M Shaikh; Husqvarna

Moto2: Class 7: Group A, Junior SX2 Upto 85cc:

1. #74 Chaitanya Joshi; Gas Gas 85

2. #17 Aleena M Shaikh; Husqvarna

3. #29 Sujan; Chaitanya. KTM SX 85

Moto1: Class 8: Group A, Junior SX3 Upto 65cc:

1. 39 Vismay Ram YR; KTM SX 65

2. #82 Armaan Khan; Gas Gas 65

3. #3 Rida F Sayyed; KTM SX 65

Moto2: Class 8: Group A, Junior SX3 Upto 65cc:

1. #39 Vismay Ram YR, Bengaluru; KTM SX 65

2. #82 Armaan Khan, Mysore; Gas Gas 65

3. #3 Rida F Sayyed, Pune; KTM SX 65

(Competition/bike #number is given before the name)