Hiroki Nakamura has officially etched his name on the Asia Dream Cup trophy as the fifth champion for the Honda talent development platform. Nakamura arrived at the Buddh International Circuit for Round 5 needing only 12 championship points to seal the deal. Starting the race from second on the grid, Nakamura stormed to the finish line 3.584s in front of the competition.
Pole sitter Broc Pearson enjoyed a good run in the opening laps of the race, but was soon swallowed up by the horde of the riders fighting for track space. By Lap 2, Nakamura had begun to edge away from the mayhem. Even as he ran away to the finish line, behind him, nine riders were jostling for P2.
“It wasn’t an easy win. The weather was hot and very humid so we were racing under tough conditions,” said Nakamura who has amassed 183 points to win the crown.
Meanwhile, Indonesian rider Yaassiin Gabriel Sonma would have missed out on the podium due to a fallen transponder. However, Yaassiin was awarded his rightful position on the podium when further investigations by timekeeping determined that he had finished second with 17’05.258s. Muhd Febriansyah completed the podium trio in third place.