Hemanth Muddappa fastest rider; Shahrukh bags a triple

Bengaluru, 26 Nov. 2023: Ten-time National champion Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing bagged a grand triple in the top-two premier classes of the 9th edition of the Vroom Drag meet, an fmsci-licensed event at the Taneja Aerospace strip, near here, on Sunday. The event was held for both cars and bikes but only the bike details are reported here. The 8th edition was also held here in Feb 2023.

Another Mantra rider, Shahrukh Hikmat Ali Khan of Mumbai also won a triple winning the E2, C4 and B2 classes while two lady riders, Shweta Chithrode and Sarah Khan excelled in their classes taking a podium each.

Organised by Vroom Motorsports, Speed, the High Performance Petrol by Bharat Petroleum presented Vroom Drag Meet was powered by Hero MotoCorp, Electric performance partner Ultraviolette, Safety Car Partner Lexus Bangalore, and was supported by School of India. The pulsating weekend showcased 600 entries, with more than 280 participants. A crowd of over 10,000 witnessed the high-octane event, one of top drag meets in the country.

Bengaluru’s Muddappa, the Drag King of India, also clocked the fastest time of the event winning the 1051 to 1650cc class astride a Suzuki Hayabusa beating Shweta Chithrode, a lady rider, who competed on equal footing with men and did a creditable job. Mujahid Pasha came third. Muddappa congratulated Shweta on her good run. Muddappa also won the 851 to 1050cc class beating Sugan Prasad by a huge margin. Khaja Awais Ahmed came third.

Hemanth Muddappa also won the 551cc and above class to make it a grand triple. Alimon Saidalvi from Mumbai won the 1651 and above class with a timing of 10.184sec as a lone warrior.

“By God’s grace, I am very happy that I dominated all the three classes I took part in and to top it got the fastest time of the event too. My hearty thanks are to Team Mantra Racing and all credit to Sharan Jayram and the whole team for tirelessly working as always,” said Hemanth Muddappa.

“I am thrilled to get my first podium in the D2 class. From a journey of 11.545s to 9.980s in just a year, it’s been a rollercoaster. Achieving my goal to stand on the podium among men in the Busa class exceeded my expectations,” said a visibly pleased Shweta, the fastest female rider of the event.

Zubair Ali Jung won the F2 Naked Open while Aiyaz topped the 4stroke upto 500cc beating Mubarak Pasha and Sara Khan of Mumbai, another lady rider, took a third place.

Baba Blaze, also from Mantra Racing, astride a Kawasaki Ninja 6R, won the 551 to 850cc class defeating Altaf Khan and Mirza Jahangir to second and third respectively.

“Congratulations to Hemanth and Sharan, take a bow guys! An awesome weekend of drag racing for the Mantra team with all the machines entered securing a P1,” said Pratap Jayaram, the legend and creator of many a speed machine.

Results for Quarter Mile (Taneja Airstrip, Hosur):

1. D3 1651cc and Above: 1. Alimon Saidalvi 10.184;

2. D1 851 to 1050cc: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing) 9.637; 2. Sugan Prasad SP 10.063; 3. Khaja Awais Ahmed 10.125;

3. D2 1051 to 1650cc: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing) 9.564; 2. Shweta Chithrode 9.980; 3. Mujahid Pasha 10.012;

4. F1 Wheelie Class for Indian/ Superbikes: NOT HELD due to High Winds for safety reasons.

5. F2 Naked Open: 1. Zubair Ali Jung 10.882; 2. Aamir 11.007; 3. Junaid 11.286;

6. F3 4Stroke Open upto 500cc: 1. Aiyaz 12.526; 2. Mubarak Pasha Rem 12.801; 3. Sara Khan 13.214;

7. F4 2Stroke Jawa Yezdi Open: 1. Yacoob Shafiek 15.559; 2. Suprit S Kumar 17.392; 3. Abdul Hafeez 18.611;

8. E1 Upto 395cc: 1. Salman Khan A 12.303; 2. Sumit Salvi 12.589; 3. Attaulla Baig 12/624’

9. E2 396 to 550cc: 1. Shahrukh Khan 12.028; Aymaan Baig 12.369; 3. Aiyaz 12.471;

10. E3 551cc and Above: 1. Hemanth Muddappa 9.743; 2. Sugan Prasad SP 9.974; 3. Mujahid Pasha 10.072;

11. C1 Upto 165cc: 1. Mustafa Siraj Khan 14.975; 2. Faraaz Akhter 15.287; 3. Sunil Kumar 15.473;

12. C2: 166 to 225cc: 1. Balasubramanian 14.347; 2. Badhusha 14.874; 3. Aiyaz 15.013;

13. C3 226 to 360cc: 1. Shankar Guru Arumugam 13.308; 2. Mohammed Arfath 13.399; 3. Mohammed Fazal 13.765;

14. C4 361 to 550cc: 1. Shahrukh Khan 12.286; 2. Aiyaz 12.515; 3. Ayman Baig 12.685;

15. C5 551 to 850cc: 1. Baba Blaze (Mantra Racing) 10.668; 2. Altaf Khan 11.443; 3. Mirza Jahangir Baig 11.583;

16. C6 551 to 750cc: 1.  S Nishanth 13.151; 2. Annish 14.478; 3. Mohsin Shareef 15.176;

17. C7 751cc: 1. Chiranth Kumar 11.051; 2. Tasmai PC 11.333; 3. Vishwajeet 11.899;

17. B1 Upto 130cc: 1. Aravind 14.137; 2. Mohammed Rafiq 14.242; 3. Abdul Shaikh Gi 14.300;

 18. B2 131 to 165cc: 1. Shahrukh Khan 13.490; 2. Mohammed Rafiq 13.658; 3. Shashi Kiran V 13.681;

19. B3 350cc and Above:  1. Salman Khan A 11.979; 2. Attaulla Baig 12.203; 3. Shahrukh Khan 13.210;

20. A4 161cc and Above: 1. Santosh 17.419; 2. Prashanth 17.815; 3. Sadiq Pasha 18.669;

21. EV1 Electric Vehicle Open: 1. Shuheb A 18.756; 2. Shashi Kiran V 18.937; 3. Aamir Suheal 19.125;

22. EX1 Electric Vehicle: 1. Iqhlas Ameen 15.311; 2. Mohammed Afaqh Ameen 15.467;

22. A3 111 to 160cc: 1. Aiyaz 22.247; 2. David Babu 23.256; 3. Abrar Pasha 1:20.388;

23. A2 81 to 110cc: 1. Mohsin Shareef 20.898; 2. Mohammed Hidayath 23.002; 3. Daulath Khan 25.621;

24. A1 upto 80cc: 1. Daulath Khan 31.049; 2. Javeed 35.190;