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ARRC RACE DIRECTION CRACKS DOWN ON UNRULY RIDING

2019, 2019 Round5, Latest News, Underbone 150 /

The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship Race Direction has recently begun cracking down hard on unruly riding in the four classes of the championship. As the level of competition rises in the second half of the 2019 season, the trend of riders pushing the limits of safety has also increased correspondingly. For example, Mohd Akid Aziz was fined during the qualifying session at Suzuka. His dangerous riding had caused another rider to crash. In the same leg, Gupita Kresna Wardhana was found to have been riding dangerously in Race 1. He was penalized with a ride-through penalty in Race 2. Similarly in Round 3 at Buriram, Mohd Adib Rosley was also penalized with a ride-through penalty for dangerous riding. The Race Direction team is taking this matter seriously and will not hesitate to hand out severe penalties in order to deter future incidents.

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AZLAN, ONEXOX TKKR SAG TEAM IS NOW OFFICIALLY BACKED BY BMW MOTORRAD

2019, 2019 Round5, Asia Superbike 1000, Latest News /

Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman’s impressive run at the top of the ASB1000 has brought home BMW Motorrad’s official support for the ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team. This factory support is expected to elevate Azlan and team’s competitiveness as they head into the second half of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. “The support from BMW Motorrad is certainly good news for us. After running the first three rounds as a private team without factory support, we believe that this can only make us even more competitive,” said Azlan who is currently second overall in the ASB1000 class. “The start of the season was very tough for us. Our bikes had arrived in Malaysia just in time for the pre-season test at the Sepang Circuit, which preceded the season opener by only a few days. In spite of the short lead time we had for preparation, our engineers had been able to produce a race winning bike for me,” he elaborated. Azlan created history in Round 1 as the first winner of the ASB1000. Azlan’s results continued to stay consistent as the 2019 season unfolded. He picked up a double win in Round 3 at the Chang International Circuit. The ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team has been successfully competing against a number of factory outfits in the ASB1000 class of the ARRC. These include two Yamaha factory teams (Yamaha Racing Team ASEAN and Yamaha Thailand Racing Team); one official Honda entry (Honda Asia Dream Racing with SHOWA); and one Kawasaki team (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team). Ducati’s presence is also maintained in the ASB1000 through the Access Plus Racing Ducati Philippines Essenza Team. The ASB1000 class has been steadily gaining momentum, generating immense interest from Asian teams and riders who compete for the limited wildcard slots at every stop.

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THITIPONG BACK IN ACTION

2019, 2019 Round5, Asia Superbike 1000, Latest News /

Thai Superbike rider Thitipong Warokorn is finally back in action and is set to re-join the ASB1000 at Round 5 of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in Zhuhai, China. The Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team rider who started the inaugural ASB1000 campaign with a double podium at Round 1, had been out of commission for the better part of the year. Soon after the ARRC 2019 season opener in Sepang, Thitipong put in a wildcard stint at the Thai round of the WSBK. A high side crash resulted in back injuries. Thitipong was expected to be out for the rest of the season, but the Thai rider was determined to beat the odds. Months of intense physical therapy has Thitipong back in racing form again. He has missed three rounds of the ARRC this year, and has dropped to 10th overall in the rankings. As Thitipong resumes his partnership with Chaiwichit Nisakul, Australian rider Bryan Staring will not be heading to China for Round 5. Bryan has done a sterling job playing stopgap for Thitipong. Thanks to the Aussie’s efforts, the Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team is still in the running for the ASB1000 Team Awards, currently standings third overall with 120 points. Meanwhile, up at the top of the standings, four of the top ASB1000 contenders will be flying to China amped up after a stint in the iconic Suzuka 8 Hours. Yamaha Racing Team ASEAN’s Broc Parkes, who also races for YART Yamaha in the World Endurance Championships, looks to be well on his way to becoming the first Australian rider to win the Asian title. Broc has netted 150 points after four rounds, and leads the ASB1000 by 27 points. Malaysian riders Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Zaqhwan Zaidi are second and third on the ladder with 123 points and 115 points respectively. The two Malaysians are expected to be strong contenders for the Zhuhai podium. Apiwat Wongthananon, fourth overall in the ASB1000, had also completed his first ride in the Suzuka 8 Hours. The Zhuhai leg of the season will have 19 bikes on the ASB1000 grid. Six wildcards have been confirmed including Canadian Robert Daniel Kruger with Titanic Kawasaki; Chinese riders Li Zheng Peng (Yamaha Man Lee Tat Racing Team), Huang Shi Zao (China Yamaha Maxpeedingrods Racing Team) and Chen Peng Yuan (DML 97 Racing Team); Japanese Masahiro Shinjo from Speedmaster Racing & RS-Itoh; as well as Australian Mark Aitchison from team YSS China.

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NO STOPPING PEERAPONG AS THE ARRC HEADS TO CHINA

2019, 2019 Round5, Latest News, Supersports 600 /

Yamaha Thailand Racing Team’s Peerapong Boonlert continues to reign supreme in the SuperSports 600cc class. Peerapong’s unfettered rampage this season has netted an unbroken string of podium finishes with 7 wins out of 8 races and one third-placed finish. However, even with 191 points in the bag and a 93-point lead over second placed Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin, the title chase is not likely to end at the upcoming round. For the first time this season, Peerapong and the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team are being presented with an unknown variable – the 4.3km Zhuhai International Circuit. With no existing data available to the team, the engineers will be racing against the clock to prepare Peerapong as he chases after his eighth and ninth wins this season. The tough racing conditions in the previous Suzuka round had prevented Peerapong from breaking Toshiyuki Hamaguchi’s record of seven wins in a row. But Peerapong is still in good form to score a new record of his own – the highest number of 600cc wins in a single season. The burden of checking Peerapong’s ambitions will mainly fall on Malaysian rider Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin, still viewed as Peerapong’s biggest rival this season. The young Malaysian, currently second overall on the standings with 98 points, has picked up four podium finishes to date, but has yet to claim a race win. Meanwhile, Indonesian rider Andi Farid Izdihar will be bracing for a tough weekend. Currently third on the standings with 83 points, Andi recently dislocated his finger in a crash during the previous Suzuka 8 Hours a few weeks ago. The Astra Honda Racing Team rider is in danger of losing his top three position against former Moto3 rider, Adam Norrodin from Malaysia. The return of the ARRC to the Zhuhai International Circuit has sparked a strong interest among Chinese riders and teams, eager to prove themselves against their Asian peers. Six wildcards have been confirmed for the upcoming race. Ma Sai from the China Yamaha Maxpeedingrods Racing Team will lead the Chinese contingent. Ma will know exactly what they are up against, having raced as a wildcard in Round 3 and Round 4.  Ma was able to finish 13th and 11th in his 600cc debut at the Chang International Circuit, but the strong competition at Suzuka saw him finishing out of the points in both races. Other wildcards confirmed for the weekend include Ou Jin Bin from FS.D Racing, Chen Hong Yan from JIM777Y Racing Team, Chan Yan Hang from the Wuyang-Honda Racing Team, Sha Juntong from the TS Kawasaki Racing Team and Macau’s Au Leong Fu also from the TS Kawasaki Racing Team.

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COULD THE ZHUHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT BE THE SECOND EQUALIZER IN THE AP250?

2019, 2019 Round5, Asia Production 250, Latest News /

The return of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship to the Zhuhai international Circuit may present a twist in the tale in the AP250 title chase. With the possible exception of wildcard Zhou Sheng Jun Jie, most of the existing riders in the class have yet to learn the intricacies of the 4.3km race track located in the southern tip of China. As it stands, Andy Muhammad Fadly is defying the odds of the equalizer rule. The Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing rider has been able to maintain a strong presence at the top of the championship table. With 23 points margin under his belt, Fadly will be relying heavily on personal coach Katsuaki Fujiwara’s expertise to eke out a headstart in Round 5. Fujiwara, the rider-turned-team director, was one of the last ARRC riders to have won races at the Zhuhai International Circuit. Fadly will be wary of the potential challenge posed by his Indonesian compatriots – Irfan Ardiansyah and Awhin Sanjaya. In the previous round at the Suzuka Circuit, the two Astra Honda Racing Team riders have managed to overcome a slow start to their title campaign. Solid podium finishes from Suzuka has the two team mates tied in second overall with 104 points each. After a disappointing outing at the Suzuka 4 Hours two weeks ago, the Astra Honda Racing Team riders can be expected to go all out for the top step of the podium. Of the five riders in the top-five, only Irfan and Awhin are not yet hampered by the 500rpm cut. Fadly’s first line of defence, ironically, could come in the form of Thailand’s Muklada Sarapuech. Fired up from her recent record-breaking stint when she became the first female rider to win the Suzuka 4 Hours, Muklada will be looking to get past the two Astra Honda Racing Team riders to get her title chase back on track.

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ZHOU SHENG JUN JIE RETURNS FOR AN AP250 WILDCARD

2019, 2019 Round5, Asia Production 250, Latest News /

As the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship marks its return to Zhuhai this weekend, Chinese rider Zhou Sheng Jun Jie will also be staging a comeback into the series. Zhou has confirmed his AP250 wildcard through the Wuyang-Honda Racing Team. Zhou Sheng Jun Jie is an alumni of the Asia Dream Cup (ADC) series initiated by the ARRC as part of its talent development platform from 2012 to 2016. The Chinese rider completed two full seasons in the ADC, finishing 10th overall in 2015 and 7th overall in 2016. Zhou’s best results in the ADC came in 2016 with a double podium at the super-challenging Sentul Circuit in Indonesia. On the AP250 grid, Zhou will find himself reunited with a few familiar faces. Muklada Sarapuech, currently in the chase for the 2019 crown, was the Asia Dream Cup champion in 2015 along with Idemitsu Honda Racing India’s Sethu Rajiv.

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CHINA MOTORSPORTS FANS! GET READY TO FALL IN LOVE WITH UNDERBONE RACING ALL OVER AGAIN

2019, 2019 Round5, Latest News, Underbone 150 /

The upcoming ARRC Round 5 will also mark the first time the Underbone 150cc class will be racing at the Zhuhai International Circuit. This special South East Asian heritage class, has been gaining fans everywhere the series is hosted. Small in stature but certainly not in speed, the Underbone 150cc presents a tough, gritty, close-contact racing that is rarely seen in bigger full-frame classes. Complete with ECUs and kitted out with Dunlop Moto3 tyres, the UB150 class of the Asia Road Racing Championship is the pinnacle of Underbone racing. 29 bikes will take to the grid at the Zhuhai International Circuit with riders coming from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. After a wet and wild outing at the Suzuka Circuit in Round 4, Indonesian rider Wawan Wello has taken provisional control over the UB150 title chase. In a race category characterized by its sheer unpredictability, Wawan’s performance has remained relatively consistent with two back-to-back second place finishes. The SND Factory Racing Rapido rider takes over the top of the championship standings with 79 points, 12 points ahead of previous leader, McKinley Kyle Paz. Despite a blazing start to his full-season debut in the Underbone 150cc class, Filipino rider McKinley now finds himself tied on points with his Uma Racing team mate, Mohd Akid Aziz. Both riders will be looking to break the tie in Zhuhai. Meanwhile, Team One For All’s seasoned campaigner, Mohd Affendi Rosli has dropped to fourth overall after finishing out of the points at Race 1 in Suzuka. Of the 29 riders on the Zhuhai grid this weekend, only a few senior riders have had experience on the 4.319km track. Affendi Rosli is one of them, along with Rozaiman Said from the Cardinals Racing Team and Mohd Adib Rosley from the RCB Accentwire Yamaha YY Pang Racing Team. Other interesting riders to look out for include Yamaha Racing Indonesia’s Aldi Satya Mahendra. In the previous round, 13-year-old Aldi set a championship record as the youngest UB150 winner.

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MUKLADA – PIYAWAT COMBO ACES 2019 SUZUKA 4 HOURS; MUKLADA MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE RIDER TO WIN THE SUZUKA 4 HOURS

2019, Latest News /

AP Honda Racing Thailand’s Muklada Sarapuech and Piyawat Patoomyos emerged as the strongest team to beat as the 2019 edition of the Suzuka 4 Hours Endurance flagged off under wet and windy weather at the Suzuka Circuit on July 27, 2019. The team’s success marked another record-breaking feat by Muklada as the first female rider to win the Suzuka 4 Hours.   1 Hour The Thai duo started the race from second on the grid, having been overshadowed by young Indonesian rider Muhammad Faerozi’s dazzlingly fast laps during the free practice sessions and qualifiers. A flying start by Faerozi put the 16-year-old Yamaha Indonesia rider in the lead. However, the slippery track conditions made it hard for the youngster to keep his position. By Lap 3, Muklada, first rider for the AP Honda Racing Thailand outfit, had made it to the front of the 50-rider group. Muklada was soon engrossed in a battle for P1 against Japanese rival team Blue Max Katosensetsu + Speed heart. Behind them, a long pitstop between Faerozi and team mate Maiku pushed them further down the pack. Meanwhile, Astra Honda Racing Team had a big scare when Irfan Ardiansyah highsided on Lap 17. Irfan was able to nurse his damaged bike back into the pits, where the Astra Honda Racing Team mechanics raced against time to get the bike back out on track.   2 Hour As the clock ticked down to the end of the first hour, Piyawat took over from Muklada. The upcoming Thai rider showed tremendous maturity as he put in consistent laps to keep their position at the front of the pack. By Lap 36, Piyawat held a 50-second lead at the front. The weather worsened as the race continued. Team Yamaha & Ito Racing who had dropped to P31 at the end of the first hour, had managed to recoup of some of their losses. With two hours down and two hours to go, the team’s Japanese rider Maiku Watanuki had brought them up to P14. Meanwhile, the heroic effort by the Astra Honda Racing Team mechanics had succeeded in putting Lucky Hendriansya back on the grid. The determined Indonesian team is gamely fighting on, determined to at least finish the race.   2 Hour 39 Minutes 27 Seconds By the time Muklada went out on track for her second stint, the team had extended their lead by 2 laps. Similarly, Faerozi had clawed his way up to P5 with the podium finish in sight. However, the rain progressively became heavier, prompting Race Direction to bring out the red flag at 2 hours 39 minutes and 27 minutes and subsequently declared the race as finished. This brought an anticipated exciting final hour to an anti-climatic end. Team AP Honda Racing Thailand was declared the winners with 62 laps clocked at 2:39:27.577s, followed by team Green Club Nozuka in second (60 laps at 2:38:36.764s. In third place, professional amateurs Auto Life HANO & A-PLAN + RANRAN team realized a dream of a lifetime when they rode their 10-year-old CBR 600 to a podium finish. Faerozi and Maiku netted a P9 finish for team Yamaha Indonesia & ITO Racing. Astra Honda Racing Team received a DNF as they must have finished at least 75% of the leader’s laps to be classified as a finisher. The Suzuka Circuit has since confirmed that Muklada Sarapuech will enter the championship’s history as the first female rider to win the Suzuka 4 Hour. “This is our third attempt at the Suzuka 4 Hour and we are very happy to have finally achieved our goal,” said Muklada at the post-race press conference. Both Muklada and Piyawat also paid due credit to the AP Honda Racing Thailand mechanics, stressing that their smooth and short pitstops were critical to help them stay in the lead.

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ASB1000 TOP RIDERS TO FEATURE IN 2019 SUZUKA 8 HOURS

2019, Asia Superbike 1000, Latest News /

Seven of the top ASB1000 riders have been confirmed for the 2019 edition of the iconic Suzuka 8 Hours. Championship leader Broc Parkes will reunite with the formidable YART-Yamaha team along with Marvin Fritz and Niccolo Canepa. Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, now second overall in the ASB1000 rankings, will also feature in this year’s edition. This time, Azlan will race astride the Suzuki GSX-R1000. Azlan has been roped in to join Takuya Tsuda and Gregory LeBlanc in team TK Suzuki Blue Max. Another Malaysian, Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi, will be making his fourth consecutive Suzuka 8 Hour appearance. Competing under Honda Asia Dream Racing with Showa colours, Zaqhwan will helm a 3-man line-up alongside Indonesian Andi Farid Izdihar and Japanese rider Teppei Nagoe. Thai duo, Ratthapong Wilairot and Apiwat Wongthananon will join Suzuka expert Shinichi Nakatomi in team RCKoshen Yamaha Asian Endurance. They will be competing in the stock (SST) class.  This will be a first Suzuka 8 Hour ride for Apiwat Wongthananon. It will be Ratthapong’s third, having in the past, done two stints with the Honda Team Asia. Indonesian top gun, Ahmad Yudhistira, will also be taking part in the SST class. He will join former ARRC riders Makoto Inagaki and Soichiro Minamimoto in the Akeno Speed outfit.

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WILDCARD NAKATOMI WINS WET RACE TWO

2019, 2019 Round4, Asia Superbike 1000, Latest News /

On an afternoon interrupted by torrential rain, Shinichi Nakatomi, no stranger to ARRC and especially to Suzuka, scored a brilliant win in race two on a wet track. Nakatomi had been unable to find the right set-up for the dry race one on Saturday, but revelled in the conditions that Suzuka served up on Sunday. From the start Zaqhwan got away well, but was quickly passed by Yamaha Thailand’s Ratthapong Wilairot, then Nakatomi, who shot through after starting from ninth on the grid, Broc Parkes and Yuki Ito. Azlan Shah got a poor start, and finished lap one in eighth.  Apiwat Wongthananon, who had started from the outside of the front row, also fell back from the start. Ratthapong held the lead until lap three, when Nakatomi got through. Yuki Ito, riding with a strapped up broken ankle from a crash on Friday, displaced the Thai for third. At mid distance Broc was four bike lengths back in fourth, but gradually reeled in and passed Ratthapong. Meanwhile Nakatomi was passed briefly by Ito, but regained his place and stretched his lead by a few tenths a lap, displaying confidence in his bike and his tyres by sliding through some of the turns.  With two laps left, Broc closed on his injured team-mate, who resisted until turn 15 on final time around, when the Australian got good drive out of the spoon curve and went past. Ito stayed close, but was unable to stop Broc from taking second, two seconds behind a jubilant Nakatomi. Ratthapong came through in fourth, five seconds further back and with a similar margin between himself and fifth-placed Zaqhwan. Azlan got past Apiwat and Yudhistira to finish sixth. Apiwat won a four way battle for eighth ahead of Kazuma Tsuda, Chaiwichit Nisakul and Bryan Staring. With 45 points from his weekend’s work, Broc Parkes extends his points total to 150, now 27 clear of Azlan Shah, who earned himself 26 points in Suzuka. Zaqhwan lies third on 115.

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