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Astra Honda Racing Team’s Lucky Hendriansyah has taken provisional command of the Asia Production 250cc class. The AP250 newcomer blasted his way to the top of the timing sheets in the first free practice session. Lucky’s time of 2’25.530s held firm throughout the whole day. Three other riders managed to lap within the same second. Andy Muhammad Fadly was second fastest with 2’25.617s. Lucky’s team mate Irfan Ardiansyah was third with 2’25.637s and Muklada Sarapuech from team A.P. Honda Racing Thailand fourth with 2’25.886s. Kawasaki rider Aiki Iyoshi led the second group with 2’26.321s. Iyoshi placed fifth fastest ahead of Awhin Sanjaya, Sethu Rajiv, Rey Ratukore, Mohd MuzakkirMohamed and Suttipat Patchaeetron. For Sethu Rajiv in particular, a seventh placing on the combined timesheets is a personal best, especially against a 25-rider grid.

Challenging itself to strive to develop world class iconic motorsport riders and team mechanics from India, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd has reinforced its commitment on its direction which is ‘To develop iconic Indian riders for National and International Championships’ with a more aggressive three-pronged approach. In 2019, team IDEMITSU Honda Racing India is aiming to emerge as a tough challenger in the Asia Production 250cc class. Leading the battle will be the experienced Rajiv Sethu for whom this will be his third consecutive season in the ARRC, Rajiv has shown consistent improvement sincehis ARRC debut in 2017. Backing up Rajiv as team mate is 17 year old Senthil Kumar. In 2018, Senthil showed promising results in his debut year the Thai Talent Cup.

A love for speed seems to be hereditary. Rider’s sons aspiring to become successful riders like famous fathers are nothing new in the motorsports industry. Therefore, it came as no surprise to former Malaysian GP rider Shahrol Yuzy Ahmad Zaini when young Shahrol Syazras Shahrol Yuzy decided to put on his racing boots to follow in the footsteps of his father. “When I was a kid, I would say I was rather indifferent to the sport. I knew what my father did for a living, but motorsports was something that was just there,” said 17-year-old Syazras. “It wasn’t until I started following my father to the PETRONAS Malaysian Cub Prix Championship races that I became intrigued. That was when I started pestering him for a bike of my own.” Lucky enough to have a father who runs his own national and Asian team, Syazras is racing in the Asia Production 250cc class of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. “I did nothing to encourage my son to race. He was just exposed to the racing environment. His interest in the sport developed naturally from there,” said Yuzy. During the pre-season test ahead of Round 1, Syazras was 18th fastest out of 26 bikes. His best time, 2’34.918s, was 9.184 seconds behind provisional class leader Andy Muhammad Fadly. However, the daunting prospect of starting the race from the lower end of the grid has not dampened Syazras’s enthusiasm. “My father is always telling me that I must improve on my rolling speed and to be more aggressive at the corners. We have not set any targets for 2019. This year’s objective is to learn.” Indeed, under his father’s tutelage, Syazras is on an accelerated learning curve. “The Asia Production 250 class is just as competitive as the Underbone 150. At 17, Syazras fits better into the age-median in the 250 class as opposed to the Underbone category. My one regret is that I did not allow him to start racing sooner. That was the reason we decided on the 250 category, to enable him to catch up despite a relatively late start into the sport.”