The Asia Superbike 1000cc witnessed the beat of rivalry once again today at the Chang International Circuit as riders geared up for Race 1, Round 6 of the Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. Taking the grand stand on the podium was Andi Farid Izdihar of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA who concluded today’s session with his very first win for the season.
Earlier today in the qualifying session, Andi Farid of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA made the fastest at 1’34:971s which placed him as the pole-man for the weekend. Second on the grid was his teammate, Zaqhwan who made his fastest lap time at 1’35:053s. Markus of ONEXOX BMW TKKR Team made it third fastest at 1’35:059s.
Zaqhwan was quick to take lead but Andi barged from the inside at turn 1 and moved ahead. Seconds into the lap, Azlan and Markus found their footing at P2 and P3 while Zaqhwan trailed at P4. Into lap 2, Markus was quick to take the opportunity to slide ahead of Azlan from the inside before going for Andi and before the lap ended, Markus made it ahead smoothly. Meanwhile, Andi began losing momentum and Azlan grabbed the opportunity to strike. Markus went on to pick up speed and drew a wider gap with his teammate at P2. By mid-race, he was about 1.4s ahead.
Behind him, teammates Andi and Zaqhwan went on to pressure Azlan. With six laps to go, Andi overtook Azlan on the long-straight but Azlan quickly recovered his position. Andi did not give up and went at him again. As Azlan began losing speed, Honda teammates grabbed the opportunity to strike and moved into P2 and P3 respectively. Both teammates who are in contention for 1st runner up went on to challenge each other. By then, Markus had already freed himself of the pressure behind him and was way ahead with a 2.6s gap. On the last lap, once again, German rider was on his way towards victory but Andi caught up out of nowhere. At the last turn, Markus who was not aware of Andi’s presence from the inside, was taken aback and lost control for a moment. Markus went off track limit. He regained control but lost to Andi who logged in at 20’53:239s.
Commenting on the race, first time ASB1000 winner, Andi said, “It feels amazing. Thanks to the team and their unending hard work. This success is definitely not possible without them. There is another race tomorrow and for now, that would be my ultimate focus. So, keeping my fingers crossed that all will go well tomorrow.”
Markus Reiterberger took second at 20’53:151s.
Md Zaqhwan Zaidi took third at 20’54:070s.
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