INDIA in F1

Tag: Jagathishree Kumaresan

  • Despite a serious injury, Jagathishree wins National title with grit and gumption

    Despite a serious injury, Jagathishree wins National title with grit and gumption

    Chennai, 14 November 2024: In a dramatic final race of the year that decided the championship, she crashed. As scores of hearts skipped their beat both in the pits and the stands, she rose like a phoenix and finished the race to be crowned the Indian National champion in the Stock 165cc girls’ category of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 at the Madras International Circuit recently.

    It was Jagathishree Kumaresan, a professional circuit racer and an Archaeology student, who rides for Team Oneracing India, taking part in various categories, apart from the Ladies class.

    The oft-repeated adage goes, ‘One has to first finish (the race) to finish first’! Yes, one has to finish the race, to be counted. She did not finish first that day, but she finished last. But ‘FINISH’, she did, and that’s what mattered the most. By then, she garnered enough points to race to the title edging out two champions, Rakshitha Dave and Rehana Bee, who clashed in the penultimate race and failed to finish the race that cost them dear. Rehana, a former champion and an aggressive rider, came back roaring into the title fight midway through the championship and what appeared like a sure shot at the title, vanished into the thin air when she made contact with Rakshitha, another former champ, and both the riders crashed out. Not just out of the race, but virtually out of the championship. Rehana injured her fingers and could not take part in the final race which was won by Rakshitha. But it was a bit late for her championship battle. Thus, Jagathishree, who wears a smile all the time, win or lose, powered her way to glory winning her maiden National Championship title. In fact, after limping back and jumping on to the bike, she crossed the chequered flag twice, counting her laps wrong, but escaped with a cash penalty and retained her points as she completed 75 per cent of the race distance.

    A visit to the karting track

    Jagathishree with one of her trophies, sporting her trademark smile. Currently, Jagathishree is leading the Drag Nationals table in Stock 165 Girls’ category. INDIAinF1 image by Karan Ravi

    A chance visit to a karting track got her hooked to the sport. “One fine day, my dad took me to a karting track to show me how riders ride on tracks.  The same day, I met coach Mohamed Hanif for the first time and the very next day I joined the team,” said the girl, who looks like the normal lass next door, until she is on the track riding.  “That’s how my racing journey started in 2019,” she adds.

    Five years after it began with the experience at the karting track, the fun outing turned into a passion. “The urge to learn new things and to win more made me the person who I am now. Both failures and victories push me towards my goal and my goal is bigger than the National crown, the INMRC championship,” she said. She plans to train well and take part in international championships, before getting on to the Worlds.

    “In 2024, my goal was to win the individual Championship and team Championship in the stock category in both circuit and Drag Nationals,” she added. She started her practice early for the 2024 season and injured her right ankle. But the Chennai rider, braved her injury throughout the season and compiled her points race by race to come out triumphant. In fact, she needs a surgery to be done. But with a goal to win the Drag Nationals title later in December, she delayed the surgery.

    She began the season on a positive note making it to the podium in both the races in Round 1 of the Racing Nationals. After the races she said: “Definitely not the result we wanted. We want to dominate this season but because of my mistakes I could not achieve.” She was frank to accept her mistakes. And she bounced back with a double win and maintained her grip on the championship staying in the top-three thereafter. The victories are admirable and all the more sweet as she suffered a bad crash in the practice session during that weekend, where she broke her helmet and aggravated her injury.

    The injury troubled her, and one could witness that she was struggling on all the right corners, but with grit and determination, she endured the pain and managed to get a podium in all the four races of the third and fourth rounds.

    In between, she got a shot in the arm as she won both the second and third rounds of the Drag National Championship, and that boosted her confidence.

    And then came the last round of National Motorcycle Racing Championship that was the decider and after she won the first race of the last round, the final race became a winner-take-all event. She had a comfortable 13-point lead over her main rivals and just needed to finish the final race.

    But the crash in the second lap notwithstanding, she achieved her goal with aplomb. “I got incredible support from my team, Oneracing India and my coach Mr Mohamed Hanif. But for whom I would not have been a champion. The team worked day in and day out and put in extra hours to work on my bike and to support my sessions. I want to make a special mention of our team boss Mr Praveen Kumar for all his support and guidance. Also my thanks are also due to all my wonderful teammates, who made the season a time for fun and frolic, apart from the serious action. I want to give my special thanks to our technical crew SDZ Garage for the technical support on the bike,” said Jagathishree remembering those who stood with her during the successful journey. Not to forget the sponsors, she thanked from the bottom of her heart mentioning Bikerzmodule, Team Farooq Warriors, Revnitro and Evtron motorsports for their outstanding support.  I also want to remember the important feedback and guidance from DDRS (Data  Driven Racing Solutions) for the support on data side, which improved my work. In the end, I am very grateful to Mahendran uncle, Anil sir, Ananth sir for all their help and suggestions. Last but not the least, my love and affection to my family whose support and encouragement keeps me in good stead as I move forward.

    Jagathishree of OneRacing India, receiving trophy from Vicky Chandhok of MMSC.

    However, the season without a proper sponsor, which has been the story for all the last five years, has been causing serious financial issues as she has to think twice while doing budgets for a proper bike and other necessary equipment, leave alone the nitty-gritty like entry fees and transportation costs. She promises to bring mileage and enough returns to any prospective sponsor.

    After the struggle and the pain, “It feels good to be a champion and the feeling one experiences being called a champion by the team members is so sweet,” she concluded.

    But it’s just a first step as she races towards her ultimate goal!

    The Journey

    2020: Debut in the National Championship – 2nd runner-up champion in the TVS One Make Championship (OMC).

    2021: Only girl to get podium places in the TVS OMC rookie category. She also took part in the Stock Novice category,  again the only girl to finish in the top-five among 40 boys on the gird.

    2022: Podiums in women dirt championship, a first time private event for her.

    2023: National drag champion in Ladies class, a clean sweep winning all the rounds.

    2024: The only girl in the top-18 in the Castrol presents India’s Ultimate Motostar on Mtv. Many other podiums in the various  categories. National Champion in the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 – Girls’ category…

  • Jagan bids adieu winning 11 Nationals; Maiden National title for Jagathishree

    Jagan bids adieu winning 11 Nationals; Maiden National title for Jagathishree

    Chennai, 6 October 2024: Veteran Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing), the “King of 165”, bid adieu to his illustrious racing career after clinching his 11th National title to provide an emotional finish to the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.

    Joining him on the National Championship rostrum were Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) in Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open; Abdul Basim (Chennai, Rockers Racing), Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing), an archaeologist in the making, in the Girls, Stock 165cc, and Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category.

    Jagan, the 36-year-old from Chennai, rolled back the years with a stunning last-corner overtake while winning the concluding Pro-Stock 165cc Open race that also saw his old mates, KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar following him home, leaving the two next generation riders and team-mates, Sarthak Chavan and Chiranth Vishwanath to scrap for minor positions. The win, his third of the season, put him five points clear of Ahamed in the final championship standings.

    “I am finished with my racing career. I have two young daughters, and they need all my attention now. I started this season with a dream of ending my career with a championship win and I am happy I was able to accomplish that. Now, it is time for the new generation, Sarthak and Chiranth, to step up,” said Jagan, who won the first of his 11 National titles in 2009.

    Meanwhile, Sarthak lent credence to Jagan’s words by becoming only the second rider after Rajini Krishnan (2007) to win two titles in the same season – the Pro-Stock 301-400cc and the TVS RTE Electric. “It’s been a great year for me, and I look forward to more success in the coming seasons,” said the 17-year-old from Pune who scored an astonishing nine wins from 10 starts in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category.

    Among the performances of the day was that of Chennai’s Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) who started last and finished third in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc race, behind team-mates Sarthak Chavan, who thus notched his ninth win in 10 starts, and Chiranth Vishwanath. Ravikumar, who missed Saturday’s race owing to the demise of his grandmother, roared through the high-quality grid today for a well-deserved podium finish.

    Jagathishree (One Racing), the 20-year-old from Chennai who has chosen archaeology as a profession, and who scored a fortuitous win yesterday after two title contenders, Ryhana Bee and Rakshitha Dave, crashed. She too suffered a similar fate in Race-2 today but picked herself up to complete the race in sixth place and picked up 10 points that fetched her the championship.

    Sarthak Chavan, at MIC on Sunday

    In front of her, Chennai school girl Rakshitha Dave (Castrol Power1 Ultimate) won the race untroubled with Bengaluru’s Shuria SP (One Racing) and Aisvariya V (One Racing) from Coimbatore finishing second and third, respectively. Ryhana Bee, nursing a wrist injury from yesterday’s crash, did not start the race. Jagathishree copped a Rs 2,000/- fine for crossing the cheqeuered flag twice, but retained her sixth spot that helped her win the title.

    Mysuru’s Tasmai Cariappa (Motul Sparks Racing) won his second race of the season in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category after a tough fight. The result put him in second spot on the leaderboard behind Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) who suffered a crash and finished 17th.

    Later, Chennai’s 24-year-old Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan, who has roots in Kodagu, Karnataka, was content to finish third in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) race which was sufficient for him to clinch the championship in this category. Bengaluru’s 17-year-old Savion Sabu (Mad Rabbit Racing) won a close race from experienced Raj Kumar (RDX Torque Racing).

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup

    Bengaluru teenager Savion Sabu finished the season in the NSF 250R category with his maiden win and occupied second in the championship behind Malappuram’s Mohsin Paramban. The eight-lap race saw Savion, studying online in 11th standard, take an early lead which he nursed to the finish while Mohsin came in second ahead of Hyderabad’s Rajender Beedani.

    TVS India One-Make Championship

    Senthilkumar C from Coimbatore snatched the title in the Open (Apache RR 310) category with a second-place finish in the concluding race which Chennai’s Manoj Yesuadian won. Another Chennai rider, Jayanth P took the third spot.

    Bengaluru’s Harshith V Bogar took the title in the Rookie category though he finished second behind Akarsh Jangam. CS Kedarnath completed the podium.

    Sarthak Chavan wrote another piece of history by becoming the first-ever Electric motorcycle racing champion as he finished unbeaten across five races in the TVS RTE Electric category.

    The results (Provisional – all 6 laps unless mentioned):

    National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-2): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11mins, 06.720secs); 2. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, TVS Racing) (11:08.130); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:08.848). Rider Champion: Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing). Champion Team: TVS Racing

    Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-2): 1. Jagan Kumar (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:40.405); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:40.508); 3. KY Ahamad (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:40.667). Rider Champion: Jagan Kumar (Chennai, TVS Racing). Champion Team: TVS Racing.

    Stock 301-400cc (Novice) Race-2: 1. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru, Mad Rabbit Racing) (12:13.970); 2. Raj Kumar C (Coimbatore, RDX Torque Racing) (12:14.003); 3. Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (12:15.905). Rider Champion: Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate). Champion Team: RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate.

    Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-2: 1. Tasmai Cariappa (Mysuru, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:59.465); 2. Kamal Navas (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (13:00.752); 3. CS Kedarnath (Tirupati, Alpha Racing) (13:03.426). Rider Champion: Abdul Basim (Chennai, Rockers Racing). Champion Team: Rockers Racing.

    Girls (Stock 165cc) Race-2 (5 laps): 1. Rakshitha Dave (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (11:05.170); 2. Shuria SP (Bengaluru, One Racing) (11:17.947); 3. Aisvariya V (Coimbatore, Motul Sparks Racing) (11:20.239). Rider Champion: Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing). Champion team: One Racing

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250R) Race-2 (8 laps): 1. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru) (15:03.809); 2. Mohsin Paramban (Malappuram) (15:10.876); 3. Beedani Rajender (Hyderabad) (15:17.258). Rider Champion: Mohsin Paramban (Malappuram).

    TVS Racing One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR 310) Race-2: 1. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:42.927); 2. Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore) (11:47.034); 3. Jayanth P (Chennai) (11:51.216). Rider Champion: Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore).

    Rookie (Apache RTR 200) Race-2: 1. Akarsh Jangam (Vijayawada) (13:17.500); 2. Harshith V Bogar (Bengaluru) (13:17.929); 3. CS Kedarnadh (Tirupati) (13:18.113). Rider Champion: Harshith V Bogar (Bengaluru).

    TVS RTE Electric (3 laps): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune) (05:22.071); 2. Alwin Sundar A (Chennai) (05:27.526); 3. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) (05:34.935). Rider Champion: Sarthak Chavan (Pune).

    Media (Apache RTR 200, 5 laps): 1. Praveen Kumar (Chennai) (11:22.005); 2. Charan Karthik G (Pune).

  • Sarthak wins maiden National title; Jagathishree in line for title as Ryhana, Rakshitha log DNF

    Sarthak wins maiden National title; Jagathishree in line for title as Ryhana, Rakshitha log DNF

    Chennai, October 5: Pune’s Sarthak Chavan (TVS Racing), enjoying the best season of his fledgling career yet, scripted history when he became the youngest ever at 17 years of age to seal the title in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open class as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM headed towards a grand climax at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

    Sarthak, who will turn 18 at the end of October, clinched the crown by winning Race-1 which put him beyond reach of his rivals in the points tally. Riding with great maturity, Sarthak tucked himself behind race leader and team-mate Chiranth Vishwanath, the 17-year-old from Bengaluru before making a move late in the six-lapper to notch his eighth win in nine races. Veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) was placed third. The result put Sarthak 57 points ahead of Chiranth on the leaderboard.

    Minutes after the victory, the team decked up Sarthak in champion livery at MIC on Saturday. Photo By Anand Philar.

    “It feels great to win my maiden National title. I have had a good season this year with five podium finishes at the Asian level. At the start of the season, I was focused on my riding and wanting to do well,” said Sarthak.

    Later, Chiranth Vishwanath, the 17-year-old from Bengaluru, won the other premier class race, Pro-Stock 165cc Open, which went down to the wire after a few heart-stopping moments, as TVS Racing swept the podium spots with KY Ahamed and Sarthak Chavan finishing second and third, respectively. The six-lap race had three different leaders until Chiranth went past Sarthak and Ahamed with a daring move at the last corner as the trio finished within a second of each other.

    The victory, though, kept Chiranth anchored in fourth spot on the leaderboard while Ahamed and his mentor and multiple National champion Jagan Kumar, who finished fourth today, and Sarthak are separated by only three points ahead of Sunday’s concluding race.

    Meanwhile, the Girls (Stock 165cc) race threw up an unexpected result as the two championship contenders Ryhana Bee (One Racing) and Rakshitha Dave (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) made contact and crashed in the third lap. Their retirement saw Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) notch an easy win ahead of team-mate SP Shuria and Saimah Ajaz Baig (Motul Sparks Racing). With today’s win, Jagathishree moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 22-point advantage over Ryhana, going into Sunday’s concluding race.

    Chennai’s Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) picked up crucial points after finishing third in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) race behind Raj Kumar C (RDX Torque Racing) and Savion Sabu (Mad Rabbit Racing) to keep his top spot on the points table. He leads Raj Kumar by 17 points ahead of Sunday’s final race.

    Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) maintained his form and scored his eighth win in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category, having already sealed the championship in the previous round. He held off his close rival, Tasmai Cariappa (Motul Sparks Racing).

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup

    Scoring his sixth win in nine starts, Malappuram’s Mohsin Paramban only confirmed his title in the NSF 250R category. He had to fight hard for his today’s success as he crossed the finish line in a close formation with second-placed Siddesh Sawant (Kolhapur) and Bengaluru’s Savion Sabu.

    TVS India One-Make Championship

    Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore) chalked up his sixth win in the Open (RR 310) category to move 13 points clear of second-placed Manoj Yesuadian (Chennai) on the leaderboard to set up an exciting battle for the title on Sunday when Race-2 will be run. Senthil’s elder brother Raj Kumar came in third but is not in contention for the title.

    Bengaluru’s 20-year-old Harshith V Bogar provisionally clinched the championship in the Rookie (Apache RTR 200) category despite finishing third behind Akarsh Jangam from Vijayawada and CS Kedarnath (Tirupati) in the six-lap race. Going into the concluding race to be run on Sunday, Harshith enjoys an insurmountable 44-point lead over Kedarnath.

    Pune’s Saimah Ajaz Baig took the title in the Girls (Apache RTR 200) category by finishing second behind Sarah Khan (Mumbai) and ahead of Aisvariya V (Coimbatore). The 21 points that Saimah earned put her on top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of the championship in this category.

    The results (Provisional – all 6 laps unless mentioned):

    National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-1): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11mins, 04.916secs); 2. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, TVS Racing) (11:05.126); 3. Rajini Krishnan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (11:05.903).

    Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-1): 1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, TVS Racing) (11:42.136); 2. KY Ahamed (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:42.256); 3. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11:42.581).

    Stock 301-400cc (Novice) Race-1: 1. Raj Kumar (Coimbatore, RDX Torque Racing) (12:18.326); 2. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru, Mad Rabbit Racing) (12:18.504); 3. Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (12:18.668).

    Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-1: 1. Abdul Basim RS (Chennai, Team Rockers Racing) (12:55.636); 2. Tasmai Cariappa (Mysuru, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:58.727); 3. Lal Nunsanga (Mizoram, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:59.713).

    Girls (Stock 165cc) Race-1 (5 laps): 1. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing) (11:03.823); 2. SP Shuria (Bengaluru, One Racing) (11:29.946); 3. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune, Motul Sparks Racing) (11:39.598).

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250R) Race-1: 1. Mohsin Paramban (Malappuram) (11:22.331); 2. Siddesh Sawant (Kolhapur) (11:22.425); 3. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru) (11:22.568).

    TVS Racing One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR 310) Race-1: 1. Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore) (11:44.902); 2. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:47.405); 3. Raj Kumar C (Coimbatore) (11:48.223).

    Rookie (Apache RTR 200) Race-1: 1. Akarsh Jangam (Vijayawada) (13:14.266); 2. CS Kedarnadh (Tirupati) (13:14.285); 3. Harshith V Bogar (Bengaluru) (13:14.662).

    Girls (Apache RTR 200): 1. Sarah Khan (Mumbai) (13:24.959); 2. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune) (13:25.639); 3. Aisvariya V (Coimbatore) (13:27.976).