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Championship leader Andy Muhammad Fadly has set the early pace for the Asia Production 250cc class as Round 2 of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship commenced at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia.   The Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing rider topped the timesheets in both free practice sessions. Fadly’s time of 2’07.557s has placed the Indonesian as the fastest man on the AP250 grid. However, Fadly’s time is still 0.2 seconds shy of breaking the 2018 lap record set by Mario Suryo Aji.   “Breaking Mario’s 2018 record was my target for today. So while I’m happy to be at the top of the timesheets, I’m just slightly disappointed that I have not been able to create a new laprecord here. That will be the target for tomorrow during the third practice and the qualifying,” said Fadly.   Fadly’s position on the grid looks strong, with second fastest Muklada Sarapuech a second adrift with 2’08.522s. Muklada’s AP Honda Racing Thailand team mates Tatchakorn Buasri and Piyawat Patoomyos clocked third and fourth fastest with 2’09.860s and 2’09.957s respectively.   From the first day of free practice, the tussle for domination in the AP250 class looks to be that of a straight-up battle between Manual Tech and AP Honda. Fadly’s Manual Tech team mate, Aiki Iyoshi rounded up the top five with 2’10.069s.   Yamaha Racing Indonesia’s Muhammad Faerozi Toreqottullah paced in at sixth fastest with 2’10.554s. Irfan Ardiansyah from the Astra Honda Racing Team was seventh with 2’10.703s.   The fastest Malaysian from the first day was Mohd Muzakkir Mohamed. Racing in the ONEXOX TKKR SAG Racing Team livery, Muzakkir was eighth fastest in the combined timesheets with 2’11.130s.   AHRT duo Lucky Hendriansya and Awhin Sanjaya who had a strong start at the season opener in Sepang, wrapped up Day 1 in the top 10 with 2’11.201s and 2’11.211s each.

It may be early days yet in the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, but Kawasaki rider Andy Muhammad Fadly is beginning to look dominant in the Asia Production 250cc class. After scoring a double podium at the season opener in Sepang, Fadly will lead the 25-rider AP250 grid into Round 2 at The Bend Motorsport Park in Australia this April 27 and 28. The Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing rider holds a 10-point lead at the front of an all-Indonesian top-three. Two consecutive second placings at Round 1 has given Fadly a 40-points head start as he embarks on his fourth campaign in the AP250. Fadly is one of the pioneer riders in the ARRC intermediary class. He finished 15th overall when the class was first introduced in 2015, then spent a year in the 600cc in 2016. He returned to the class in 2017 and has been showing consistent growth since. He placed 12th and then jumped up the rankings to 5th overall last year. The Indonesian rider has a strong record at the The Bend Motorsport Park. He picked up a third and fifth place finish at the 4.95km circuit last year. The 19-year-old will be looking to extend his lead as he attempts to break the Astra Honda Racing Team’s domination in recent years.

Muklada Sarapuech celebrated International Women’s Day in a big way last weekend with a comeback victory in Race 2 for Round 1 of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. The Asia Production 250cc Race 1 had been a disappointment for Muklada when mechanical gremlins haunted her back into the pits but a better outing in Race 2 more than made up for the setbacks from the earlier race. The polesitter got off to a strong start but lost the early lead to Lucky Hendriansya who was in the hunt for his double win of the weekend. Lucky led Muklada and Andy Muhammad Fadly at the front while the rest of the 25-bike grid strung out behind them. By Lap 3, the front runners had pulled a 1-second gap ahead of Awhin Sanjaya who was struggling to maintain a strong pace despite an injured shoulder. Lucky began to show signs of trouble on Lap 5. The Astra Honda Racing Team rider ran wide several times while Muklada continued to put on a silky smooth performance around the 5.5km Sepang Circuit. Andy Muhammad Fadly also almost lost touch with the group several times, but was always able to make up for lost ground. The 44.541km race came to a dramatic climax when Lucky ran wide again at Turn 14 of the final lap. Muklada and Andy dove past the Astra Honda rider and ran shoulder-to-shoulder down the back straight with Muklada in the front. Fadly broke out of the slipstream and led into the final T15 hairpin but Muklada piled on the power at the exit, sprinted past a hapless Fadly to win the chequered flag with 19’36.510s. Andy won a double podium in second place with 19’36.578s. The Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing rider leads the Asia Production 250cc class with 40 points. Lucky Hendriansya was not so lucky in Race 2. His bike stalled at the last corner. After a battle well fought, Lucky was denied a second podium for the weekend. His team mate Awhin Sanjaya took P3 with 19’44.845s.