The 15-time national champion, Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing, got the better of 13-time world champion Ricky Gadson at The Valley Run 2025 Summer Edition.
The Valley Run is well-known as a pilgrimage for drag-racing enthusiasts to prove their mettle at the Aamby Valley Air Strip and the 2025 Summer Edition was a similar affair with over 1,000 competitors in the Superbike category. The 15-time national champion, Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing, came out on top with a blistering 9.477-second quarter mile time.
This was a defining moment for Indian drag racing as Hemanth Muddappa managed to get the better of 13-time world champion Ricky Gadson from the USA at The Valley Run 2025 Summer Edition. During the event, Ricky Gadson set an ominous quarter-mile run of 9.756 seconds, riding onboard a third-gen Suzuki Hayabusa. In the end, it was Hemanth Muddappa who clocked the fastest time of the event, riding a BMW S 1000 RR.
Commenting after the event, Muddappa said, “There’s a lot to learn from a 13-time world champion. Ricky is a legend of the sport. But it’s a very happy and humbling moment for me and my team, Mantra Racing as we beat him today. And yes, these are our home tracks and we know them inside out. The infrastructure in the US and here is very different but that’s racing. Today’s a happy day for India.”
This triumph, from Hemanth Muddappa at The Valley Run 2025 Summer Edition is further confirmation why he is the dominant force on Indian soil in the drag racing scene. It also confirms he can very much go toe-to-toe against challengers from abroad with credentials as high as Ricky Gadson; a proud feather in the cap for India in the motor sport arena.
