MAM
Full throttle thrills at JK Tyre Round 2 in Coimbatore
MUMBAI: Engines sang, tyres squealed and the clouds conspired to make Round 2 of the JK Tyre Racing Season 2025 at Kari Motor Speedway an intoxicating cocktail of speed, suspense and sheer stamina. On the outskirts of Coimbatore, India’s motorsport faithful were treated to a weekend where lap times fell, tempers rose and the next generation of racers announced themselves with panache.
The newest kid on the grid, the JK Tyre Levitas Cup, lived up to its billing. For local favourite Jai Prashanth Venkat, Sunday was a coming-of-age as he steered his Maruti Ignis with poise to clock 14:38.490 over 10 laps, edging past guest driver and seasoned campaigner Mira Erda by a whisker. His best lap of 1:26.100 capped a weekend that began cautiously on Saturday but ended with a flourish. Mira, with 15 years in the sport, remained the constant thorn in the side of the men, finishing on the podium in all four races and clocking 15:04.056 in Race 2 and a close 14:38.750 in the finale. For the rookies, 10th-standard student Nihal Singh was the revelation, winning Saturday’s opener in 15:28.013 with raw pace before mechanical gremlins denied him a Sunday repeat. Balaji Raju, Ashwin Pugalagiri and Dipayan Dutta each had their moments, posting times like 15:32.923, 15:14.501 and 15:11.024 to underline the depth of young talent. The Levitas Cup, run as a single-make series, proved a sturdy launchpad for rookies while offering professionals a stern workout under rain and wind.
If the cars delivered drama, the bikes supplied theatre. The Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup turned into a heavyweight slugfest as regulars Anish D Shetty and Navaneeth Kumar traded blows on the stopwatch. Anish drew first blood with a 13:21.374 in Race 1 and improved to 13:10.550 in Race 2, but the climax came in the third race when Navaneeth snatched victory by a scarcely believable 0.002 seconds, his 13:21.934 just ahead of Anish’s 13:21.936. Both riders clocked best laps under 1:17, showing the Continental GT’s ability to hustle despite its heft. Among the amateurs, the “Street to Circuit” ethos paid dividends as Bryan Nicholas, Kabir Sahoch and Assam’s Johring Warisa made their presence felt. Warisa’s steady climb culminated in a 13:30.058 win in Race 3, proof that scouting raw street talent into circuit racing can bear fruit.
The JK Tyre Novice Cup kept the buzz alive, pitting fledglings against each other in three tight races. Msport’s Bhuvan Bonu dominated the weekend, winning Race 1 in 16:06.951 and Race 3 in 16:26.624, but not before Abhijit Vadavalli of Momentum Motorsports muscled his way to a Race 2 victory with a commanding 14:23.860. Bonu was never far behind, chasing home in 14:25.946, while DTS Racing’s Lokithlingeash Ravi consistently hovered near the sharp end, clocking 14:27.820 and 16:27.943 to bag podiums. Vinith Kumar M and Avi Malavalli also kept the field honest, ensuring that every chequered flag was earned, not gifted.
For JK Tyre, the weekend was more than just a collection of winners and losers; it was a reaffirmation of its three-decade-long crusade to democratise Indian motorsport. The Levitas Cup showed that grassroots talent can flourish when given the right machine and platform, the Continental GT Cup reminded fans that bikes can thrill as much as cars, and the Novice Cup underlined that the pipeline of future stars is brimming. Rain, wind and close calls could not dampen the spirit. Instead, they added edge to a round where victories were measured in milliseconds, rookies raced like veterans, and veterans proved why their fire still burns.
By the time engines fell silent on Sunday evening, Kari Motor Speedway had done what it does best: transform promise into performance, rivals into legends and ordinary weekends into extraordinary tales of speed. If Round 2 was a glimpse of the future, the rest of the JK Tyre Racing Season promises to be a rollercoaster on wheels.
Brands
Yes Madam taps Rajpal Yadav’s Chota Don nostalgia to power new digital campaign
Home salon platform ropes in Tanya Mittal as it bets on humour and pop culture to showcase trust and convenience
NOIDA: India’s fast-growing home salon platform Yes Madam is leaning on nostalgia and a dose of comic chaos to pitch its services. The brand has launched a new digital campaign starring Rajpal Yadav and influencer Tanya Mittal, reviving Yadav’s much-loved Chota Don character to underline the reliability of at-home beauty services.
The campaign marks Yes Madam’s first collaboration with Rajpal Yadav and revisits the quirky Chota Don persona made famous in the 2007 film Partner. Produced with Footloose Films, the film blends slapstick humour with a nostalgic callback to spotlight the platform’s promise of dependable, quality services delivered at home.
The storyline plays out like a miniature action comedy. Tanya Mittal finds herself surrounded by goons and calls for help, only for Rajpal Yadav to appear in full Chota Don mode, dispatching the attackers in his trademark comic style as Mittal cheers him on. The drama then flips abruptly to a calmer scene, with Mittal relaxing at home while enjoying a Yes Madam service and insisting the heroic episode really happened, even as posters of Chota Don decorate her house. The film ends with Yadav’s voiceover declaring that the incident may or may not have happened, but the trust and quality of Yes Madam’s services certainly have.
The collaboration also follows a broader show of support for Rajpal Yadav within the industry. In the growing wave of backing for the veteran actor, Mayank Arya, co-founder and chief executive of Yes Madam, publicly supported actor-producer Sonu Sood’s call for concrete help from the film industry and corporate brands. Arya took to the social media platform X urging companies to move beyond expressions of sympathy and instead offer tangible opportunities to the actor amid his ongoing legal and financial challenges.
He wrote, “Seconded @SonuSood. Even brands should come forward to help the great talent. @Rajpalofficial will also be a part of an ad film @_yesmadam! Have already aligned the team on it. #ComeBackStronger.”
Seconded @SonuSood. Even brands should come forward to help the the great talent.@Rajpalofficial will also be a part of an ad film @_yesmadam !
Have already aligned the team on it.#ComeBackStronger https://t.co/Q7qpJttLTs— Mayank Arya (@iammayankarya) February 11, 2026
Rajpal Yadav recently surrendered at Tihar Jail after the Delhi High Court rejected his plea seeking additional time to repay dues in a long-running cheque-bounce case. The actor had been accused in the case in 2018 after he was unable to repay a loan taken for a film project that failed at the box office. The court later ordered him to surrender after the dues remained unpaid.
The situation triggered a wave of support from several high-profile figures. Sonu Sood emerged as one of the most prominent voices, expressing solidarity and promising Yadav a role in his next film. Sood emphasised that industry support should be about dignity and real job opportunities rather than charity. Celebrities including Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Gurmeet Choudhary and Guru Randhawa have also publicly extended financial and professional support.
Before surrendering, Rajpal Yadav shared an emotional statement in which he spoke about feeling alone and unsupported, a remark that struck a chord with many in the industry. However, his brother later clarified that the actor would never have intended to suggest that he lacked support from colleagues or well-wishers.
Reflecting on the campaign, Mayank Arya said the film was designed to entertain while strengthening the brand’s message. “At Yes Madam, we have always believed in creating campaigns that connect with audiences in an engaging and memorable way. I had earlier spoken about the importance of extending meaningful opportunities to Rajpal Yadav, and we are glad to be the first brand to take that step forward with this collaboration. Through this film, we wanted to create a compelling narrative while also reinforcing the trust and reliability that customers associate with Yes Madam’s services,” Arya said.
Akanksha Vishnoi, co-founder, said the campaign leans on nostalgia to strike a chord with digital audiences. “Consumers today engage deeply with content that blends entertainment with relatability. With this campaign, we wanted to revisit a nostalgic moment while subtly reinforcing the convenience and reliability of at-home services. Rajpal Yadav’s Chota Don is an iconic character that instantly evokes nostalgia and humour, making it the perfect fit for this campaign. Tanya Mittal’s presence added a vibrant energy and helped us bring the vision of the campaign to life,” Vishnoi said.
Founded in 2016, Yes Madam offers salon and spa services at home through trained professionals using hygienic, single-use product formats. The platform now operates in more than 55 cities across India, pitching convenience, transparency and quality to a growing base of urban consumers.
The new campaign, rolling out across social media and video platforms, makes its pitch with a wink. The Chota Don rescue might be fiction, but the promise of a salon at your doorstep, the brand suggests, is the real deal.
