Bengaluru businessman Hemanth Muddappa from 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.
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.
Local challenger Soundari Ananthraj (AS Motorsports) took the honours in the Girls category (Stock up to 165cc) while Bengaluru’s Chandra Shekar N topped in the Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) as the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship 2022 commenced at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.
The championship has attracted a record 145 entries as the 2022 season got off to a bright start with Soundari edging out Puducherry’s Lani Zena Fernandez (RACR Castrol Power 1) in a close battle with just a tenth of a second separating the two. Mumbai’s Sarah Khan (Axor Sparks Racing) completed the podium.
Chandra Shekar was in his element in winning from Bharath Raj (Rockers Racing) from Chennai with another Bengalurean, Gowtham R finishing third fastest.
Aiyaz from Bengaluru emerged a comfortable winner in the 2-stroke Super Sport (131-165cc) category ahead of Madhan Kumar R (Chennai) and Abudul Shaikh, also from Bengaluru.
Madhan Kumar, however, came up trumps in the 2-stroke Super Sport (up to 130cc) category with local rider Aravind Ganesh (AP Motorsports) and Abdul Shaikh (Bengaluru).
The two-day event concludes tomorrow (Sunday) which will see competitions in six more categories, including the high-end Above 1000cc class.
The results:
4-Stroke – Girls (Stock Up to 165cc): 1. Soundari Ananthraj (Chennai, AS Motorsports) (16.491secs); 2. Lani Zena Fernandez (Puducherry, RACR Castrol Power 1) (16.571s); 3. Sarah Khan (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing) (17.023s).
Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc): 1. Chandra Shekar N (Bengaluru) (13.989s); 2. Bharath Raj (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (14.292s); 3. Gowtham R (Bengaluru) (14.469s).
2-Stroke – Super Sport Up to 130cc: 1. Madhan Kumar R (Chennai) (13.449s); 2. Aravind Ganesh (Chennai, AP Motorsports) (13.582s); 3. Abdul Shaikh (Bengaluru) (13.777s).
Super Sport 131-165cc: 1. Aiyaz (Bengaluru) (12.845s); 2. Madhan Kumar R (Chennai) (13.310s); 3. Abdul Shaikh (Bengaluru) (13.313s).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).