Hemanth Mudappa annexes drag crown for a hat-trick; Jessica wins girls title: Drag Nationals

David Bodapati December 30, 2019

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Hemanth Mudappa with the trophies at MMRT on Sunday. Photo by Team Mudappa for INDIAinF1

Chennai, 30 Dec 2019: Defending champion from Bengaluru, Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing dominated the 2019 MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship as he annexed the title for the third year in a row with a grand double while also equalling the course record at the MMRT, here last weekend.

Attributing his success to the team work by Mantra Racing, in preparing his BMW S1000RR bike in the top-end Unrestricted Supersport class, Muddappa won both the Rounds 3 and 4 for a clean sweep. He clocked 8.070 seconds in Round 3 on Saturday and then, in the next round on Sunday, he did 7.976 seconds to equal the record he had set in the second round in October erasing his own earlier record.

The 29-year old Coorgi made a clean sweep winning all the four rounds for a maximum of 100 points. Hafeez Khan and Harish Naik finished second and third in the National championship. Hemanth, currently heads the leading sports nutrition brand, `1up Nutrition India’ and is based in Bengaluru.

Also scoring a double and claiming the National title is Nivetha Jessica in the Girls category. The 22-year old rider scored her maiden National Championship scoring 93 points. The Bio-Tech engineering graduate from Chennai who made her debut as a privateer in 2017, said: “I have faced a lot of hurdles and finally to overcome all of them with hardwork and support from my team, family and friends makes me so glad.”

Another rider to score a double is Bengaluru’s Aiyaz, who is crowned Nationial Champion in the 361-550cc Supersport Indian class. Local challenger Yogeshwaran, though failing to win a race over the weekend, still garnered enough points to claim the title in the 226-360 Supersport Indian category with 67 points, just two ahead of fellow-Chennai rider AS Alexander.

Bengaluru’s Mohammed Rafiq topped both the 2-Stroke categories (up to 130cc and 131-165cc) and bagged the National title in both classes.

Round 3 of the championship was held on Saturday, Dec 28 and Round 4 on Sunday, Dec 29.

File photo of Hemanth Muddappa with his BMW S1000R and his trophy from Round 2

Sporting a T-shirt that proclaimed him as 2019 champion, with years 2017and 2018 at the bottom denoting his hat-trick, a visibly pleased Mudappa said: “Much hard work went in this year and I am thrilled to complete my hat-trick and a big thank you to my team.’’

“I can’t thank the almighty enough for all his blessings to close this perfect season and end 2019 on a high. I thank the prayers and blessings of my parents and the special lady,’’ he added.

He had a special mention for Mantra Racing and the man behind it, Sharan J Pratap but did not forget his mechs Maruti, Mueen, Manju, Omkar and Nithin. “And off course, the big daddy Pratap Jayaram. Without all of them this season would not have been possible. Big thank you to my wingmen And #1 bike transporter Appu Raj of Power Star and Mohan who are the best support crew I could ask for.

In his hour of triumph, he remembered his friends who gave him a tough fight with the top-three finishing very close. “Hearty congratulations to my great friend Hafeez Khan on securing 2nd in the championship. Congratulations to Harish Naik to get 3rd in his debut racing season,’’ he quipped adding kudos to Zubair Ali Jung for giving a great fight. There was also a special shout-out to Nihas from Colour Me Crazy Customs, who custom-made the Gold championship helmet, in MotoGP style.

“Thank you MMSC and FMSCI, the organisers and governing body of motorsports in India. Thank you all my friends and supporters for the wishes you showered me with,’’ he concluded.

Nivetha Jessica with her tropies at the MMRT on Sunday. Photo by Team Jessica for INDIAinF1

The results (All 4-Stroke unless mentioned):

Unrestricted Supersport (Round-3): 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing, Bengaluru) (08.070secs); 2. Zubair Ali Jung (Bengaluru) (08.315); 3. Harish Naik (Bengaluru) (08.676). Round-4: 1. Muddappa (07.976, equals course record); 2. Hafizulla Khan (Bengaluru) (08.411); 3. Naik (08.554). National champion: Hemant Muddappa (100 points).

361-550cc Supersport Indian (Round-3): 1. Aiyaz (Bengaluru) (12.503); 2. Attaulla Baig (Bengaluru) (12.522); 3. Anandhu KK (12.583). Round-4: 1. Aiyaz (12.230); 2. Baig (12.337); 3. Anandhu (12.443). National champion: Aiyaz (90 points).

226-360cc Supersport Indian (Round-3): 1. AS Alexander (Chennai) (13.123); 2. Bharath (Chennai) (13.192); 3. Ashish Rungta (Chennai) (13.413). Round-4: 1. Shankar Guru (Bengaluru) (12.896); 2. Rungta (12.986); 3. Alexander (13.009). National champion: Yogeshwaran (Chennai) (67 points).

166-225cc Supersport Indian (Round-3): 1. N Deepak (Chennai) (13.655); 2. Aiyaz (Bengaluru) (14.194); 3. S Ahamed Vasin (Chennai) (14.883). Round-4: Deepak (13.366); 2. Venu SMD (Bengaluru) (13.835); 3. Mohammed Imran (Bengaluru) (14.251). National champion: N Deepak (83 points).

Up to 165cc Supersport Indian (Round-3): 1. Sooriya PM (Chennai) (14.352); 2. Anand R (Chennai) (14.468); 3. Bharath (Chennai) (14.501). Round-4: 1. Anand R (14.373); 2. Sooriya (14.472); 3. Bharath (14.586). National champion: Sooriya PM (68 points).

GIRLS (Up to 165cc, Round-3): Nivetha Jessica (Chennai) (16.075); 2. Czimkhy (Kerala) (16.438); 3. Ann Jennifer (Chennai) (16.450). Round-4: 1. Nivetha Jessica (15.954); 2. Soundari Ananth Raj (Speed Up Racing, Chennai) (16.328); 3. Ann Jennifer (16.387). National champion: Nivetha Jessica (93 points).

2-Stroke Up to 130cc Supersport (Round-3): 1. Mohammed Rafiq (Bengaluru) (13.183); 2. Hussain Khan (Mumbai) (13.376); 3. Syed Nayeem (Bengaluru) (13.549). Round-4: 1. Mohammed Rafiq (12.990); 2. Hussain Khan (13.499); 3. R Madhan Kumar (Chennai) (13:590). National champion: Mohammed Rafiq (100 points).

2-Stroke 131-165cc Supersport (Round-3): 1. Aiyaz (Bengaluru) (13.042); 2. K Mohan (Chennai) (13.055); 3. Mohd Rafiq (Bengaluru) (13.059). Round-4: 1. Mohd Rafiq (12.356); 2. Salman Khan (Bengaluru) (12.815); 3. Syed Nayeem (Bengaluru) (12.918). National champion: Mohammed Rafiq (90 points).