The SS600 class lit up the opening day of Round 4 in the IDEMITSU FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at Mandalika International Circuit, Indonesia, as the region’s top contenders traded blows across three practice sessions. At the end of the combined times, it was Anupab Sarmoon of YAMAHA THAILAND RACING TEAM who emerged as the fastest rider of the day.
The Thai ace stamped his authority in Practice 2 with a blistering 1’37.885s, edging out the rest of the highly competitive field. Close behind was Rocco Sessler of ONE FOR ALL, who set a strong 1’37.901s in Practice 3 before he crashed. Indonesia’s home favourite, Herjun Atna Firdaus of the ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM, delighted the local fans by slotting into third with 1’37.941s.
Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin of HONG LEONG YAMAHA RACING trailed narrowly in fourth at 1’37.962s, while Wahyu Nugroho of YAMAHA RACING INDONESIA ensured the home crowd had more to cheer by completing the top five with 1’37.979s.
Anupab said, “Today I felt good with my bike because my team, my mechanic, and my crew made some changes to the setting. This is only my second time in Mandalika with the R6, but now with different tyres. I felt comfortable with the front setting, though the rear gave me a little problem when I first opened the throttle in the smaller corners.I also tried to pick up some new skills from the Indonesian riders. For today, the main homework is to fine-tune the bike setup. Tomorrow, I will focus on finding a better racing line to improve my lap time, because in some corners I still feel the front losing grip. My goal is to make the best out of tomorrow with the new settings and push hard in qualifying. I want to start from the first row, so I can fight strongly in the race.”
With less than a tenth separating the leading pack, the stage is set for a fiercely contested battle in tomorrow’s qualifying session.
TOP 5 FASTEST – PRACTICE (COMBINED)
- ANUPAB SARMOON – YAMAHA THAILAND RACING TEAM (1’37.885s)
- ROCCO SESSLER – ONE FOR ALL (1’37.901s)
- HERJUN ATNA FIRDAUS – ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM (1’37.941s)
- KASMA DANIEL KASMAYUDIN – HONG LEONG YAMAHA RACING (1’37.962s)
- WAHYU NUGROHO – YAMAHA RACING INDONESIA (1’37.979s)