Hemanth Muddappa won the National Championship in both the top-two classes, with stunning National records to boot, in third and final round of the MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship.

Swashbuckling performance by Hemanth Muddappa, aptly nicknamed ‘LightningR1’, lit up the Madras Race Track once again as he won the National Championship in both the top-two classes, with stunning National records to boot, in third and final round of the MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship 2021 which concluded at the MMRT, on Sunday.

Demolishing the competition time and again, the combination of Muddappa and Sharan Pratap, his tuner, produced a magic run that not only got them a record in both the top classes but helped the Kodava star clinch the 2021 Drag National title. The Speed Maestro from Bengaluru, thus won his fifth consecutive National title in the premier Super Sport 1051cc and above class for super bikes and also clinched the National championship in the 851 to 1050cc class with a double gold today. Overall that makes him, a nine-time Indian National Drag champion. He won the premier class in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. He also bagged four other titles in lower classes.

On Sunday, the Mantra Racing rider clipped a good one-tenth of a second to clock 7.749 seconds, astride the black Suzuki Hayabusa touching speeds of 239.58 at the 302-metre Madras Motor Sports Club’s iconic circuit. Thus, he broke his own record of 7.913 which he set in Round 2 in October 2021. In the 851cc to 1050cc class, he broke his own record today.

“I am on cloud nine. Behind my performance is a dedicated Mantra Racing who have worked day and night tirelessly. A lot of testing and development based on the collected data is a testimony to the commitment to every member of my team. Clipping two-tenths is a very, very big achievement in drag. I have worked on my fitness very hard and the visualisation I do before the race also helped me a lot. I am thrilled to have won this championship as we were tied and the competition was tough,” said Muddappa, who set a record in every round this year. He broke his own record in the 850cc class in Round 1 and then came up with record runs in the top class in the next two rounds.

“Yes, both are National records today and they are also the best circuit records at MMRT. The Hayabusa is the faster bike and this is an all-time record. It is an absolutely fantastic to do such records. Consistently, he has improved the timings this year and it is admirable,’’ said Pratap Jayaram, the drag Commission chairman of fmsci, who confirmed the records.

Provisional unaudited Results: 4 Stroke Super Sport 1051cc and above: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra racing) 7.749 seconds); 2. Hafizullah Khan (8.031); Harish Naik (8.315).

4-stroke Super Sport 851cc to 1050cc:: 1. Hemanth Muddappa 7.755; 2. Tajamul Husain 7.966; 3. Mohd. Riyaz (8.135);

source: http://www.news18.com / News18 / Home> News> Sports / by Sports Desk / February 27th, 2022