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Musashi Boon Siew Honda Racing’s Yuki Takahashi wrapped up the penultimate round of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship on a high note as he bagged his fifth consecutive win in Race 2 of the SuperSports 600cc category at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. The poleman eased to victory after closest challenger, Yudhistira (Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki) lost pace due to worn out tyres and excessive chatter with five laps remaining while title contender, Tomoyoshi Koyama (T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS) struggled with a shoulder injury sustained in yesterday’s race. Yuki rounded up the gruelling 15-lap battle in 31’18.704s, a whopping 9.196 seconds gap ahead of Yudhistira in second place with 31’27.900s. Koyama who could only put out a strong pace in the first five laps rode through his pain and finished third with 31’38.809s to keep his championship hopes alive. With this win, Yuki extended his point tally to 177 points, 44 points ahead of Tomoyoshi Koyama (T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS) followed by Yudhistira third with 123 points. Yuki’s victory at the 5.380 kilometre circuit also meant that Musashi Boon Siew Honda Racing have successfully retain the Best SuperSports 600cc Team Award for a fourth consecutive year with 193 points. “Race 2 was very difficult. I wanted to take advantage of my pole position to steal the holeshot and pull away as quickly possible but Koyama had an amazing start. It was only in the second lap that I managed to get in front but even so, everybody was still quite close. I didn’t want to take any risk so I kept a steady pace and tried my best to hold off Yudhistira,” commented Yuki on the race. “I am proud to take another double win and I am very happy that we succeeded to defend the Best Team Award four years running. It‘s been an unbelievable year from the results to the performance of the bike and this victory is well deserved,” he added.

The 2015 season finale of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship will see an expanded race programme as the Asian series head to Buriram, Thailand for the second time this year. Scheduled to be held from December 3 to 6, 2015, the high level of local interest in the sport has encouraged the race organisers to incrase the number of days in the programme from the usual three day weekend to four. Apart from the five Asia Road Racing classes (SuperSports 600cc, Asia Production 250cc, Underbone 130cc, Asia Draem Cup and Suzuki Asian Challenge), the race programme for the final round in Thailand will be supplemented by three national-level races. These are the Thailand Honda Dream Cup (Groups 1 and 2) as well as the Yamaha R3 Thailand Challenge Cup. “The motorsports industry in Thailand underwent an overnight boom the moment the Chang International Circuit opened in late 2014. The Thais have always had a love for motorcycles and all that racing passion simmering under the surface erupted into a vibrant motorsports industry,” said Ron Hogg, Promotions Director of Two Wheels Motor Racing, the race promoters of the ARRC. Spectator attendance and media interest at Chang are consistently high. Added with a professional management team, the circuit has become the latest must-go destination for many of the world’s top motorsports events. The upcoming final leg of the 2015 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship will be the first time in 20 seasons in which the race weekend is extended into a 4-day event. “More than 200 riders will be racing at the Chang Circuit this weekend and we expect the racing to be competitive and exciting in all the race classes,” Ron added. In the SuperSports 600cc class, MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda’s Yuki Takahashi is but one point away from the title while Gupita Kresna has got the Underbone crown in the bag. But there is still plenty to fight for with riders still contending for points to boost their ranking.

Yuki Takahashi continued his excellent form as he secured pole position in the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship happening at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar this weekend. The Musashi Boon Siew Honda Racing rider left it late into the session to post the fastest lap in 2’04.729s with Ratthapong Wilairot (AP Honda Racing Thailand) and Tomoyoshi Koyama (T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS) locking out front row with 2’04.912s and 2’05.513s. Ahmad Yudhistira (Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki) is set to mount his podium challenge from second row having clock a personal best of 2’05.558s ahead of Makoto Inagaki (YELLOWCORN Akeno Speed Racing) and Yuki Ito (PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha) who timed 2’05.578s and 2’05.868s respectively. Ratthapong’s teammate, Jakkrit Swangswat will start the 15-lap race from third row alongside Taiga Hada (T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS) and reigning SuperSports 600cc champion, Zaqhwan Zaidi.

The four day finale of the 2015 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship revs off with two free practice sessions for the open-make SuperSports 600cc, Asia Production 250cc, and Underbone 130cc classes. From the results of the first day of practice, the weekend is shaping up to a Thai-Japanese confrontation especially in the premiere SuperSports 600cc class. MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing’s Yuki Takahashi is in strong form, clocking in fastest of the day with 1’39.820s. Behind Takahashi, Kawasaki rider Ahmad Yudhistira was the only Indonesian to make it into the top-10 when he posted the second fastest time of 1’40.086s. Returning former ARRC protege and current Moto2 rider Thitipong Warokorn was third fastest with 1’40.223s followed by Ratthapong Wilairot who was fourth fastest and wildcard rider Ryuiji Yokoe, fifth. “The Thai riders seem to be in top form this weekend, even the wildcard riders are posting amazing results. We tried out a bunch of different settings during the morning session where I was second fastest. But ultimately, we decided to revert back to our Round 4 configurations as it had yielded the best results for this track. The surface of the tarmac is a little slippery, mainly due to the high number of car races that had been held at this popular circuit. Thanks to the expanded race programme, we now have one extra day in which to fine-tune the machine for the final battle,” said Takahashi. Other Thai and Japanese riders in the top-10 during the free practice results included Anucha Narkcharoensri, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Decha Kraisart, Hikari Okubo, and Suhathai Chaemsup. The fastest Malaysian rider was Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi who posted 11the fastest with 1’40.999s. In the Asia Production 250cc class, a similar Thai-Japanese battle seem to be on the cards as Takehiro Yamamoto and Apiwat Wongthananon take their title chase right down the wire to the final round. Needing to overcome the 24-point lead held by Yamamoto, Apiwat shot to the top of the timesheets during the second free practice session with 1’57.637s. Yamamoto was second fastest with 1’57.737s while Vorapong Malahuan and Nakarin Atiratphuvapat were third and fourth fastest respectively. Finally, Indonesian riders Wahyu Aji Trilaksana and Ferlando Herdian tag-teamed their way to the leadership position during the second free practice session. Wahyu was fastest with 2’08.763s while Ferlando trailed with 2’09.451s. Malaysian rider Mohd Adib Rosley was third fastest with 2’09.471s. Anggi Permana Putera and Elly Idzlianizar Ilias made up the rest of the top-5.