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Tag: National Drag Racing Championship
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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…
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Md Arfath, fastest rider on Day 1; Jagathishree wins girls’ race
Chennai, Sept. 16: Mohammed Arfath became the fastest rider on Day 1 in the second round of the MMSC FMSCI Indian National Drag Championship at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) here on Saturday.
Arfath, won the Super Sport 2-stroke 131cc to 165cc class and also bagged two more podium places on Saturday. Mohammed Fazil won the Super Sport Indian 4-stroke upto 165cc class and Abdul Shaik claimed the Super Sport 2-stroke upto 130cc class. All the three riders are from Team G1Racing and their bikes are tuned by Waseem Akram.
Mohammed Arfath, fastest rider In the Girls 4-stroke upto 165cc event, Jagathishree beat defending champion Lani Zena Fernandes to win the class.
“I am happy with the race. It is a big confidence booster for the upcoming Nationals. Want to come back stronger after a forgettable Round 2 and 3. I was recovering after a bad chicken pox attack. But having finished in the top-5 among 36 male riders in Nationals stock category as the only girl, I am looking forward to the next Sunday,” said Jagathishree.
Muddappa raring to go
Ten-time Indian National champion, Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing will begin his campaign on Muddappa holds both the National records in ‘851 to 1050cc class’ and the ‘1051cc and above class’ which he bettered last season. Apart from these two classes, he will take part in the 550-850cc class, and re-introduced Unrestricted Open category. The 851 to 1050cc class is now a support category and will not count for the National championship.
On Sunday, the top four classes will be held. “We started well in the first round and we are well prepared as we aim to go for three National titles this year,” said a confident Muddappa of Mantra Racing team.
Saturday’s Provisional Results (Roud 2):
Girls 4-stroke upto 165cc: 1 Jagthishree 16.650 seconds; 2. Lani Zena Fernandes16.920; 3. Soundari A 16.949;
Super Sport 2-stroke upto 130cc: 1. Abdul Shaik 13.438; 2. Mohammed Arfath13.715; 3. R Sirajuddin 14.140;
Super Sport 2-stroke 131 to 165cc: 1. Mohammed Arfath 13.187; 2. Mustafa Siraj Khan 13.268; 3. Abdul Shaik 13.283;
Super Sport Indian 4-stroke upto 165cc: 1. Mohammed Fazil 14.327;2. Aravind Ganesh 14.335; 3. Mohammed Arfath 14.482.
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Hemanth Muddappa begins campaign with a triple; Alimon bags Unrestricted class
Chennai, 24 July 2022: Multiple Indian National champion Bengaluru’s Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing) continued his domination in the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship with a triple crown in the season-opener which concluded at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.
Muddappa, the nine-times National champion, participating in four different categories, emerged triumphant in three (one of them a support race), but his exploits notwithstanding, it was Alimon Saidalvi (Bengaluru) who was the quickest rider over the weekend as he topped the Unrestricted category, clocking a blistering 07.775 seconds for the 302-metre dash on a Kawasaki Ninja.
Muddappa, astride a Suzuki Hayabusa, topped in the Super Sport 1051-1650cc category in which he has remained unbeaten over the past few years. Earlier, riding a BMW S1000RR, Muddappa was the quickest in the Super Sport 551-850cc category after winning in the Super Sport 851-1050cc support race atop a Kawasaki ZX6R machine.
Mumbai’s Hussain Khan won in the Super Sport Indian 361-550cc category ahead of Aiyaz from Bengaluru and local rider Bharath Raj.
The results (all 4-Stroke):
National Championship – Unrestricted: 1. Alimon Saidalvi (Bengaluru) (07.775secs); 2. Attaullah Baig (Bengaluru) (08.090s); 3. Siddharth Ratan Parmar (Mumbai) (08.254s).
Super Sport 1051-1650cc: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (08.228s); 2. Vignesh Purushotham (Bengaluru) (08.309s); 3. Hafizullah Khan (Bengaluru) (08.398s).
Super Sport 551-850cc: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (08.614s); 2. Siddharth Ratan Parmar (Mumbai) (08.788s); 3. Saurabh Parab (Mumbai) (09.086s).
Super Sport Indian 361-550cc: 1. Hussain Khan (Mumbai) (12.247s); 2. Aiyaz (Bengaluru) (12.350s); 3. Bharath Raj (Chennai) (12.691s).
Support race – Super Sport 851-1050cc: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (08.013s); 2. Khaja Awais Ahmed (Hyderabad) (08.281s); 3. Saurabh Parab (Mumbai) (08.325).
Support race – Super Sport 166-225cc: 1. Badhusha M (Chennai) (13.639s); 2. Srikkanth P (Bengaluru) (14.054s); 3. Karthik M (Chennai) (15.324s).
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9-time drag champ Hemanth Muddappa gunning for a dozen: Drag Nationals
Bengaluru, 21 July 2022: The fastest Indian rider and a nine-time Indian National champion, Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing, is hungry for more National titles, as he begins campaign in the 2022 season of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Championship that begins at the rechristened Madras International Circuit (MIC), about 30 km, from Chennai, on Saturday.
In an unprecedented move, the champion based in Bengaluru will be riding in four classes this season, including the above 851 to 1050cc class, which is now a supporting race. This year Hemanth will also take part in the 550-850cc class, and with the re-introduction of the Unrestricted Open category as a Championship class, the Drag Nationals will now allow Hemanth Muddappa to gun for historic 12 National titles. He is preparing hard and has tested a Kawasaki ZX6R which is the new addition to his armoury besides his Suzuki Hayabusa and BMW S1000RR, between whom he bagged a rich haul of nine National titles from 2016 in two different classes.
The combination of Mantra Racing and Hemanth Muddappa has created record after record at every circuit in India and all the top National records in the top-two classes, stand in his name making him the fastest Indian motorsports athlete. A high-performance rider, he trains hard both on physical fitness and mental conditioning with a focus on his riding skills. “We started right after the last round and put in sustained efforts. One of the classes is not there anymore but with the introduction of a new class, I will be taking part in four classes. The aim is to go for three National titles this year,” said the confident rider from Coorg, who is also a champion at the fmsci-licensed Lonavala event, that is run on a proper quarter-mile format. That track record is also in Muddappa’s name.
Known as “LightningR1”, for his superfast runs, he holds both the National records in ‘851 to 1050cc class’ and the ‘1051cc and above class’ which he bettered last season at the now rechristened Madras International Circuit.
From the original four rounds, the Promoters Madras Motor Sports Club reduced the calendar to three rounds. The second round will be on November 5 & 6 and the final round is scheduled to be held at the same venue on Dec 17 and 18. The length of MMSC Track is 302 metres (1000 feet) for vehicles above 550cc and for all other classes it is 402 metres. The “Braking Distance” is 451.2m for vehicles above 550cc and 351.2m for all other vehicles. The new class of 4-stroke unrestricted has been given National Championship status. There will be eight different classes including a Ladies class for 4Stroke stock upto 165cc bikes. Based on the total points allotted in each round, the National champion will be declared after the third round.
Hemanth Muddappa’s winning Machines:
National Championshp classes: 1. 550-850cc – Kawasaki ZX6R; 2. 1050cc & Above – Suzuki Hayabusa; 3. Unrestricted- Suzuki Hayabusa.
Non-championship category: 4. 851-1050cc – BMW S1000RR.
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Drag champ Hemanth Mudappa raring to go as Motorsport resumes in India
Chennai, 9 October 2020: Hemanth Mudappa won a hat-trick of National titles on 30 December last year. The time when Corona Virus started its havoc, but it was not until two months later, did the sporting world take a beating and Indian motorsports too came to a grinding halt. Since then it was seven months that the Indian motorsports saw no activity. But with the revised calendar announced by the Federation, MMSC Indian National Drag Championship will be the first Nationals to kick-start the motorsports calendar with a `new normal’, what with all the guidelines to tackle Corona Virus.
The first round of the fmsci MMSC Indian National Drag Championship will take place at the drag strip of the Madras Motor Race Track here on Sunday. Hemanth Mudappa, a triple champion, winning the crown in 2017, 2018 and 2019, is raring to go and the Mantra Racing rider is eagerly waiting for the action to start.
The 30-year-old Bengaluru-based rider, who set-up a new National record on way to his triple crown, will take part in the SuperSport 851-1050cc class on a BMW S1000rr and in the 1050cc and above class astride a Suzuki Hayabusa tuned by champion architect Sharan Pratap of Mantra Racing, Bengaluru.
“It is a long time and we are all eager to get back on the track. I am feeling good and look forward to another good season. My thanks to Mantra racing and all my sponsors, supporters and fans,” said Mudappa.
Off the track, the Coorgi, is primarily into civil contracts and he is also a partner in a leading sports nutrition brand, `1up Nutrition India’ and is based in Bengaluru. And not to forget, he is a fitness freak and physical fitness is his top priority, which he advocates for all.
Among the 11 National championships in the Indian Motorsports calendar, the Madras Motorsports Club promoted Drag Racing will begin this Sunday followed by Karting and Racing championship. The flag-ship Indian National Rally Championship is scheduled to start in December.
It will all Four stroke and the classes to be run will be, the upto 165cc SS Indian, 226 to 365 SS Indian, 361 TO 550 SS Indian, 851 to 1050 SS and Above 1051 Super Sport.
For girls, upto 165cc four stroke Novice class, two stroke upto 130cc Super Sport and two stroke 131 to 165cc Super Sport.
Other National champions in different class expected to take part are girls’ champion Nivetha Jessica, Bengaluru’s Aiyaz, the Nationial Champion in the 361-550cc Supersport Indian class and Chennai challenger Yogeshwaran, who became a champion gaining enough points in the 226-360 Supersport Indian category without a big win beating fellow-Chennai rider AS Alexander. Bengaluru’s Mohammed Rafiq who became champion in both the 2-Stroke categories (up to 130cc and 131-165cc) will also be there. However, it will be Hafeez Khan and Harish Naik, who are once again expected to fight it out with Mudappa for the top honours.
The current drag record stands at 7.976 seconds. Mudappa equalled the record he had set in the 2019 second round in October erasing his own earlier record.
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Kari Motor Speedway beckons 2nd Round of the Drag Nationals
Coimbatore, 22 Sept 2011: After the huge response to the successful first round of the inaugural Drag Racing Nationals, the cream of talent in the country is headed to Karimotor Speedway for the second round of the FMSCI Indian National Drag Racing Championship to be held here on Saturday and Sunday.
Spitfire Motorsport s in association with Speedway Motorsports, Hyderabad, felt the need to have an organised event for Drag Racing which has a huge following in the country and with FMSCI agreeing to streamline the most popular grass-root form of motorsport, the birth of Drag event brought the number of motorsport Nationals to seven Rajashekara Prabhu who won the inaugural event is leading the Indian Open INDRC for cars while Kaleem Pasha is the champion in bikes in both the Indian Open and Foreign Open class for two wheelers.
What is a Drag Race: A drag race is a straight 400 metre run of 2 cars or bikes alongside. There is a special starting light system which will first be amber in colour and the driver has to start as soon as the green light comes on. The timing will be recorded as soon as the vehicle crosses the 400 metre mark. The system will also record the reaction time of the driver (i.e. the time the vehicle takes to start moving after the green light has come on). In case of a tie of 2 vehicles having the same timing, the driver with a lower reaction time will be placed ahead.
“Drag racing is an extremely popular form of motor racing and attracts a large number of entrants. In order to accommodate all the entries to participate in a single day, the entries are limited to about 200 for one weekend. Drag Racing is often referred to as the most popular form of “grass roots” motorsport,’’ said Mandeep, one of the organisers.
“Unlike other forms of racing, a drag race is one where regular cars and motorcycles with no modifications also can take part under the “showroom stock” or the “street stock” category. This is an ideal form of motor racing for novices to take part,’’ he added. The results are classified based on various classes which are based on type of vehicle and cubic capacity. Entries are received at AutoZone, 22 KSM Road, RS Puram, Coimbatore.
Championship Points after Round 1:
Class M-1 Up to 130 cc – 2 Stroke Full Name Champ. Points Syed Subhan 50 Javeed Khan 44 Sundeep Singh Sokhi 38 Md. Mahmood 32 Class M-2 Above 130 cc up to 165 cc – 2 Stroke Full Name Champ. Points Kaleem Pasha 50 Syed Subhan 44 Iqbal Shaik 38 S. Abijith Shetty 32 Ismail Bin Moosa 26 Class MF-2 – above 130 upto 165 cc -4 stroke Full Name Champ. Points Syed Kursheed Ali 50 Vamsi Krishna Surapaneni 44 Hannan 38 Gopal Krishna 32 Anikh Praveen P 26 Jhangir Mirza 24 Class MF-3 – above 165cc upto 210cc – 4 stroke Full Name Champ. Points Shaik Muneem 50 Javeed Khan 44 Sharan Parekh 38 Mahesh H.G. 32 Syed Kursheed Ali 26 Bullet Class 350 cc and above Full Name Champ. Points Sundeep Singh Sokhi 50 Mohammed Munaf Taufeeq 44 Guru dev Singh Sokhi 38 Imran Khan 32 Hassan Bakaran 26 Mohd Farook 24 YEZDI CLASS Full Name Champ. Points Faheemuddin 50 Mohd Farook 44 Vamsi Krishna Surapaneni 38 Foreign Bikes 751 CC and Above Full Name Champ. Points Kaleem Pasha 50 Riyaz 44 Sunil Kumar 38 Ajay Kumar 32 Sharan Reddy 26 Faqar Ali Khan 24 Amit Sharma 22 Neeraj Kumar Sharma 20 Indian Bikes Open Full Name Champ. Points Kaleem Pasha 50 Syed Subhan 44 Syed Kursheed Ali 38 Iqbal Shaik 32 S. Abijith Shetty 26 Javeed Khan 24 Foreign Bikes Open Full Name Champ. Points Kaleem Pasha 50 Riyaz 44 Sunil Kumar 38 Sundeep Singh Sokhi 32 Neeraj Kumar Sharma 26 Faqar Ali Khan 24 Ajay Kumar 22
