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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.

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

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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PEERAPONG BOUNCES BACK IN THE RAIN

2019, 2019 Round4, Latest News, Supersports 600 /

Peerapong Boonlert put the disappointment of having his unbroken run of wins interrupted in race one by Soichiro Minamimoto with a convincing performance in a wet race at Suzuka. The contest was shortened to five laps after a long delay while race control waited for a severe weather system to pass. Peerapong led from the re-start, chased by Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin, Minamimoto, Yuto Sano and Kyusuke Okuda. Kasma lost touch with the leader on lap two as Minamimoto and Okuda disputed second place. That allowed Peerapong to extend his lead, but Okuda managed to get away from Minamimoto and the leader’s advantage quickly disappeared as the Kawasaki closed on the Supersport championship leader. Peerapong and Okuda, lapping two seconds quicker than the rest of the field engaged in a nail-biting fight for the front, which the Thai refused to relinquish, crossing the line one tenth ahead of the wildcard and five seconds clear of Minamimoto, who sealed his second podium finish of the weekend. Kasma held on to take fourth in front of Andi Farid Izdihar, Yuto Sano, Passawit Thitivararak, Katsuto Sano, Kota Arakawa and Helmi Azman, who finished tenth. Peerapong’s points tally now stands at 191, 93 points clear of second placed Kasma, who is 15 points ahead of Andi Farid.

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WET WIN FOR AWHIN, AS FADLY EXTENDS TITLE LEAD

2019, 2019 Round4, Asia Production 250, Latest News /

Astra Honda’s Awhin Sanjaya was a class apart in a wet race two, keeping his head while many of those around him were losing theirs, to win by a comfortable margin. It was a good day for the Indonesian team, as Irfan Ardiansyah took another second place and a good day for Andy Fadly, as he finished third and benefited from a DNF by championship rival, Muklada Sarapuech. Rafid Topan Sucipto made the most of his pole position to take the lead at the start from Muklada, Irfan, Piyawat Patoomyos, Rey Ratukore and Fadly. AP Honda’s Muklada crashed on lap two after grabbing the front brake too hard, which left Fadly just needing a reasonable to complete his weekend’s work. Ratukore began to fall back at half distance, as Awhin got past Irfan for second and Fadly got ahead of Piyawat for fourth, while Yamaha Thailand’s class rookie, Sawapol Lillabong, moved up to join the fight for second and third. Topan fell out of the lead on lap seven and Awhin pulled clear, leaving the fight behind him and stroked his CBR250RR home four seconds clear of Irfan who took second from Fadly, Piyawat and Suwapol. Aiki Iyoshi stormed through from last on the grid to finish sixth, well ahead of Izam Ikmal, Ratukore and wildcards, Tanimoto and Mori. Fadly’s 41 points from Suzuka bring his total to 127, which is 23 clear of Irfan and Awhin, who are level on 104. Muklada, who went to Suzuka level on points with Fadly, now finds herself fourth on 97 and 30 points from the top.

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ALDI BECOMES YOUNGEST EVER ARRC RACE WINNER IN WET THRILLER

2019, 2019 Round4, Latest News, Underbone 150 /

An inspired performance from 13-year-old Aldi Satya Mahendra at a rain-soaked Suzuka saw him become the youngest ever winner of an ARRC race in the championship’s 23-year history. After the scheduled start was delayed while oil dropped on the track on the sighting lap by Gupita Kresna was cleared up, Aldi made his presence felt from the start, staying within the top half of a group of eight bikes that broke away at the front. By the end of lap two, it was clear that Aldi and YY Pang’s Adib Rosley were making the best of the conditions, while Akid Aziz and Fazli Sham moved up the order ahead of Team One for All’s Peerapong Luiboonpeng and Affendi Rosley. Meanwhile, half the 30 starters fell by the wayside. Gupita’s mechanical problem at the start prevented him from reaching the start line. Adib spent most of the race at the front, but Aldi kept the pressure on and moved ahead on the last lap and held his advantage through the final chicane and on to the chequered flag to win by 0.297 from the red Yamaha, with Fazli close behind in third, just beating Akid to the final podium spot. Five seconds back, Affendi was fifth just ahead of Said, while Peerapong, Richie Taroreh, Haziq Fairues and Fitri Ashraff Razali completed the top ten. Despite being among the non-finishers, SND’s Wawan Wello still leads the standings with 71 points to the 59 held by both McKinley Kyle Paz and Akid Aziz.

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BROC PARKES DIGS IN TO TAKE RACE ONE AT SUZUKA

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

Yamaha Racing ASEAN’s Broc Parkes had to overcome Suzuka Circuit as well as his rivals to win ASB 1000 race one today. The Australian had crashed at the long, left hand Spoon curve while on a fast qualifying lap, wrecking his R1 and leaving him fourth on the starting grid behind Zaqhwan Zaidi, Ratthapong Wilairot and Apiwat Wongthananon. The team got his bike ready minutes before pit lane opened for the sighting lap. Broc got away well for the 11 lap race from row two, slotting into second place behind Zaqhwan and just ahead of Apiwat and Azlan Shah, as Ratthapong slipped back from his front row starting position. As Apiwat moved up to challenge for second on lap three, Broc appeared to find a false neutral under braking the Spoon and ran wide to drop back, way behind Apiwat and Azlan. Zaqhwan, riding at his imperious best, initially withstood the pressure from Azlan and Apiwat, but as Broc Parkes clambered back up into contention, it was the Asia Dream Honda riders turn to make a mistake and dropped back to fourth, handing the lead to Azlan, whose BMW was beginning to slide on the soft compound Dunlops he had selected against the medium-hard consensus. In what was the move of the race, Broc followed Azlan through the final chicane, got the power down perfectly on the exit and went around the outside of the Malaysian as they came onto the home straight. After briefly regaining the lead, Azlan was passed once again by Broc, who this time put the hammer down with two fast laps to make his lead unassailable. Behind the front four, Suzuka first timer, Bryan Staring battled with Yuki Ito for fifth. Meanwhile, Zaqhwan made his own recovery to come back through to second, three seconds behind Broc at the end, from Azlan and Apiwat. Bryan kept himself just ahead of Ito to claim fifth, while Ratthapong was almost eight seconds further back in seventh in front of Bastien Mackels who, in eighth position, was the best of the wildcards. Broc’s win extends his championship points tally to 130, a lead of 17 over Azlan, who remains second ahead of Zaqhwan.

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