Chennai,  Riders from Bengaluru, spearheaded by reigning champion Hemanth Muddappa, swept the honours in the first round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship which concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday amidst Covid-19 safety protocols.

Muddappa, 31, astride his Suzuki Hayabusa, was the quickest of all riders, clocking 07.882 seconds over 302-metres strip while winning the featured Super Sport Above 1051cc category ahead of fellow-Bengalureans Hafizullah Khan (08.116) and Harish Naik (08.538).

Despite the comfortable win, Muddappa said due to the high track temperature, the timing was a tad slower than he wanted. "The track temperature affected all the riders and we all posted slower timings. We were much quicker in January during the final round of the 2020 championship," said Muddappa.

Another Bengalurean, Mohd Riyaz (08.026) topped the time sheets in the Super Sport 851-1050cc class, followed by Muddappa (08.116), who was a bit slow off the mark, and debutant NV Satyanarayana Raju (08.191) from Hyderabad.

On Saturday, Chennai riders swept the podium spots in the Girls (4-stroke, up to 165cc) category with Lani Zena Fernandez, Nivetha Jessica and Soundari Sindy finishing in that order.

Results:

Super Sport (Above 1051cc): 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing, Bengaluru) (07.882secs); 2. Hafizullah Khan (Bengaluru) (08.116); 3. Harish Naik (Bengaluru) (08.538).

851-1050cc: 1. Mohd Riyaz (Bengaluru) (08.026); 2. Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing, Bengaluru) (08.116); 3. NV Satyanarayana Raju (Hyderabad) (08.191).

Super Sport Indian - 361-550cc: 1. Aiyaz Rem (Bengaluru) (12.568); 2. Zuheeb Ahmed (Bengaluru) (12.860); 3. D Annish Samson (Speed Up Racing, Bengaluru) (12.942).

226-360cc: 1. Bharath Raj (Rockers Racing, Chennai) (12.602); 2. Yogeshwaran (Speed Up Racing, Chennai) (12.798); 3. D Annish Samson (Speed Up Racing, Bengaluru) (13.050).

Up to 165cc: 1. Kevin Kannan (RACR Castro Power, Chennai) (14.573); 2. Anand R (Chennai) (14.824); 3. Chandrashekar (Bengaluru) (14.910).