Lightning Hemanth Muddappa clinches national drag racing title again with a new record

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Bengaluru, February 28: Hemanth Muddappa lit up the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) at Irungattukottai, near Chennai, once again as he clinched the national title in both the top-two classes, with national records to boot, in third and final round of the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) - Federation of Motor Sports Club of India (FMSCI) - sanctioned Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship 2021 which concluded on Sunday (February 27).

As per a media release received here 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 also helped the Kodava star clinch the 2021 national drag racing title.

Aptly nicknamed LightningR1, Muddappa, 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 victort.

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 7.749sec, astride the black Suzuki Hayabusa touching speeds of 239.58 at the 302-metre MMSC's iconic circuit located at Irungattukottai, near Chennai.

The main circuit is 3.717 kms long with 12 turns and three straights, with the longest one being 250 m (820 ft). The iconic track is also a Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fedrration Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM)-certified 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'm on cloud nine. Behind my performance is a dedicated Mantra Racing who've 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," an elated Muddappa said after clinching the title.

"Clipping two-tenths is a very, very big achievement in drag. I've worked on my fitness very hard and the visualisation I do before the race also helped me a lot. I'm thrilled to have won this championship as we were tied and the competition was tough," added 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 and they're also the best circuit records at MMRT. The Hayabusa is the faster bike and this is an all-time record. It's an absolutely fantastic to do such records. Consistently, he has improved the timings this year and it's admirable,'' said FMSCI's Drag Race Commission chairman Pratap Jayaram, who confirmed the records set on the final day of the season.

Provisional unaudited results:

4 Stroke Super Sport 1051cc and above:

1. Hemanth Muddappa 7.749sec

2. Hafizullah Khan 8.031

3. 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.