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 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

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.

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…