They say one of the things which makes a Champion is the quality to repeat success at will. But doing it seven times in a row, takes more than that. Apart from some seriously rare individual talent, it takes the backing of a relentless and passionate team, its mechanics, and of course, a race-winning machine. Astride the mad sounding TVS Racing GP 165 R, which is the machine which the road-going TVS Apache RTR 160 4V takes inspiration from, a juggernaut called Jagan Kumar, made it seven on a trot by winning the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2018 for the 7th consecutive year.
With consistent performances all through the year, Jagan retained the championship title with a total of 158 points in the Group B Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class. TVS Racing bagged the Team & Manufacturers’ Championship trophy with the team picking up points thanks to a strong showing by Jagan Kumar, KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar.
An extremely mild-mannered 30 year old who turns into a devil on the track, Jagan Kumar began his journey with TVS Racing in 2009 and participated in the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship for the first time in 2011. Since his first participation, he has been the undisputed national champion till date.
Commenting on his 7th championship win, Jagan said, “It is every racer’s dream to win as many championships as possible and I am thrilled to win this for the 7th consecutive time. This season was the toughest for me personally as the competition was tough but I am happy I was able to use my experience to defend my title. I am grateful to the team engineers and mechanics who have been with me for the past 7 years. They deserve a huge applause for my victory as they have an equal contribution. It takes a lot of hard work each day year on year and many sacrifices to get here but what matters is the result and I am very happy for that.”
On the team’s success, Team Manager, TVS Racing, B. Selvaraj said, “We are very proud of Jagan’s achievement as every year we have to work hard to ensure he defends his title. I am also happy with the performances of our racers KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar who have helped us win the manufacturers’ championship for 2018. Also credit to our experienced and talented group of engineers who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the race motorcycles are in best shape. This has been a memorable championship but we will not rest of our laurels. We will continue to improve our performance in 2019 and ensure we remains champions.”