It was “all-out” for the riders of the Underbone 150cc race category as they went on their final round for the season at the Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. Md Shafiq Rasol of ONEXOX TKKR Racing Team concluded the day as the fastest in the practice sessions, combined at Chang International Circuit.
In FP1 earlier this morning, Hafiza Rofa of ONEXOX TKKR Racing Team made his mark with his best lap time at 2’00:519s followed by April King of UMA Racing MMR YAMAHA Philippines at 2’00:724s and Akid Aziz of CARDINALS FACTORY RACING TEAM ARRC at 2’01:161s. In FP2, teammates, Shafiq Rasol and Hafiza Rofa took the top two fastest spots in the chart with their best lap time at 2’00:098s and 2’00:665s respectively. Nazirul Izzat of UMA Racing YAMAHA Maju Motor ASEAN made it third fastest at 2’00:061s.
Shafiq who will be fighting for the championship title this weekend alongside Nazirul Izzat seemed to have come full prepared and went on with his best moves to familiarise the circuit grounds today. Shafiq definitely has what it takes to make it with flying colours, even more so with his win in Race 1 of the season opener at the very same circuit. He currently takes the second spot in the overall standings and is 44 points away from his contender. But again, anything is possible in the UB150 race category.
Commenting on the earlier sessions, Shafiq said, “During FP1 earlier, the team and I were still looking out for the right setup and we managed to get an enhanced performance with some changes. Hence, the better lap time. For tomorrow’s qualifying session, I will continue to do better for sure. For the race, we do not have any team order or strategy in place. It is not going to be easy to get the championship title because of the point difference. I will try to do it but my goal is to maximise my points in whichever way possible. For me, I find the last corner tough. The space is quite limited around that area and I foresee a competitive battle there.”
Taking the second fastest spot was his teammate Md Hafiza Rofa with his best lap time for the day at 2’00:519s.
April King Mascardo took third fastest with his best lap time at 2’00:724s.
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