webadmin webadmin

Team Webike IKAZUCHI Racing has confirmed that BSB rider Joe Francis will be a part of team’s line-up for the rest of the 2018 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship season.   The 21-year-old British rider was roped in as the team’s replacement rider in Round 2 of the ARRC at The Bend Motorsport Park in Australia. Francis took the place of Ant West who had a conflicting schedule in the World SSP.   The following table tracked Joe Francis’s performance in Australia:   SESSION BEST LAPTIME POSITION DIFF. TO LEADER Free Practice 1 1’59.583s P2 +0.241s Free Practice 2 1’58.655s P11 +1.323s Free Practice 3 1’57.831s P3 +0.955s Qualifying 1’56.690s P2 +0.099s Race 1 RACE CANCELLED Race 2 15’55.126s P9 +12.521s

The unexpected results from the Australian round of the 2018 ARRC has kept the status quo in the SuperSports 600cc title chase. The race to cinch the 2018 SuperSports 600cc crown will resume in earnest as the Asian contingent head to the Suzuka Circuit for Round 3 this June 1 to 3.   Despite missing out on his home race due to a schedule-clash with the WSSP, Ant West is still nominally in charge with the 45 points he picked up in at the season-opener in Thailand. In his absence, the cancellation of Race 1 following a series of red flag incidents, had worked in his favor as no points were awarded for the first race.   In Suzuka, the WeBike Ikazuchi Racing rider will be going toe-to-toe against the reinvigorated Yuki Ito. Following a disappointing season in 2017, the factory Yamaha rider is back with a vengeance. The best performer at The Bend Motorsport Park, his win had propelled him up the rankings to 2ndoverall with 42 points, three points behind West.   Both championship leaders are equipped with the 2017 Yamaha R6 this season. While Ito has notched up a couple of Suzuka wins during his ARRC career, West has had the more recent success with a double in 2017.   SuperSports 600cc Records At The Suzuka Circuit   Year Pole-Sitter Race 1 Winner Race 2 Winner 2013 Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Honda) Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha) Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha) 2014 Yuki Ito (Yamaha) Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki) Yuki Ito (Yamaha) 2015 Yuki Takahashi (Honda) Yuki Ito (Yamaha) Yuki Takahashi (Honda) 2016 Yuki Takahashi (Honda) Decha Kraisart (Yamaha) Yuki Takahashi (Honda) 2017 Ikuhiro Enokido (Honda) Anthony West (Yamaha) Anthony West (Yamaha)   The time to beat will be 2’12.094s set by wildcard rider Ikuhiro Enokido during the 2017 qualifying practice.   Defending champion Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman struggled to find the right balance in the Australian round. Fighting to tame the finicky Ninja ZX-R6, it took almost herculean effort for the Malaysian rider to finish within the top-10. Azlan has dropped to third on the rankings but is still within shot of the championship lead with 38 points.   Behind Azlan, P4 to P9 on the standings are peopled by a slew of exciting names popping up on the Asian talent radar.   Ratthapong Wilairot is rocking his first season with the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team. He picked up his first podium of the season in Australia and is now 4thon the standings. Previously, Ratthapong’s best performance in the SuperSports 600cc class had been in 2015 when he ended his campaign in sixth overall.   Keminth Kubo continues to show improvements and is presently ranked 5thwith 27 points. While still a little erratic, team Yamaha Racing Asean’s decision to hone Kubo’s skills in the All Japan J-GP2 has helped stabilize the Thai rider’s aggressive streak.   Andi Farid Izdihar, returning after a 3-year stint in the Asian Talent Cup, is the best performing Indonesian rider in 6thoverall.   Thitipong Warokorn is still on the top-10. Warokorn won Round 1 as a wildcard, but his ranking will continue to drop until he makes another wildcard appearance in Round 6.   Team Hong Leong Yamaha Malaysia’s latest recruit, Mohd Ramdan Rosli, along with team Musashi Boon Siew Honda’s rookie Azroy Hakeem Anuar, has been highly impressive in the first two rounds. The two Malaysian youngsters are ranked 8thand 9threspectively.   The venerable Decha Kraisart, anchor for the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team, has had a bad start to the 2018 season. Decha has only finished one race out of three so far, and has dropped to 10thon the standings with 20 points.   As the ARRC heads back to familiar surroundings at the 5.8km Suzuka Circuit, other riders who had previously been tipped as title contenders will need to double down on their efforts to stay in touch with the chase. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Ahmad Yudhistira, Keisuke Kurihara, Taiga Hada, and Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi are ranked 11thto 15threspectively.

Tensions ran high as the premiere class riders lined up on the grid for Race 2 of the SuperSports 600cc class. Following the cancellation of Race 1, everyone had been determined to finish the race in grand fashion at the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship’s Australian debut at The Bend Motorsport Park.   The 600cc grid was cut down further when Decha Kraisart and Broc Pearson had to pull out due to injuries sustained earlier in the weekend.   Ito, who was one of the riders who had crashed out in Race 1, was lucky to have been able to get back onto the grid for Race 2. As the race was flagged off, the Yamaha Racing Team Asean poleman jumped into the lead ahead of Ratthapong Wilairot and Taiga Hada. The Japanese ace was racing well until a crash by Irfan Ardiansyah brought out the red flag on Lap 4.   The SuperSports 600cc race was re-started and reduced to 8 laps. At the re-start, Malaysian rookie Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin took the early lead, again with Ratthapong and Yuki Ito in tow. Kasma ran wide on Lap 3, creating an opening for Ito to ride into the lead.   The Yamaha Racing Team Asean rider proceeded to control the race pace from the front of the group and ended the race in first with 15’42.605s. This would be Ito’s first win since Round 5 in India, in 2017.   Ratthapong Wilairot also reveled in his first SuperSports 600cc podium when he finished second with 15’44.207s. Malaysian rookie Mohd Ramdan Mohd Rosli created quite a stir when he came home in third place, clocking 15’49.587s.   Keisuke Kurihara and Keminth Kubo placed fourth and fifth respectively followed by Andi Farid Izdihar in fifth, Azroy Hakeem Anuar, Kasma Daniel, Joe Francis and defending champion Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman.   The shakeup from Race 1 has had a huge impact on the title chase. With points awarded only for Race 2, Ito was unable to take the lead from the absent Anthony West. West is still at the top of the ladder with 45 points. Ito is now ranked second with 42 points. Azlan Shah has dropped to third overall with 38 points.

The SuperSports 600cc Race 1 at The Bend Motorsport Park, Round 2 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, has been deemed cancelled after two separate incidents brought out the red flags twice in the duration of the race.   The original 15-lap race was first red flagged on Lap 3 when race leader Yuki Ito highsided. Ito, fortunately, walked away uninjured by the crash. The 600cc grid re-convened for a shortened 9-lap race but was again interrupted when championship leader Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman took a tumble at the same corner on Lap 3.   Under ARRC regulations, Race 1 is deemed cancelled and no championship points will be awarded.