2017 Round2

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) is the regional motorcycle road racing championship for Asia, which is being held since 1996 as an Asian-wide initiative to boost the development of the sport of motorcycle racing in the continent. This championship is part of the production-based category of racing, similar to the Superbike World Championship, British Supersport Championship and AMA Supersport Championship. Modified versions of road-going motorcycles which are available to the public are featured in the races. The Championship structure The championship is currently divided into three open-make classes and one mono-brand developmental classes. The open-make categories are the SuperSports 600cc, Asia Production 250cc and Underbone 150cc. Since 1997 the ARRC has been recognised for the Federation Internationale Motocyclisme (FIM) as the Asian continental championship for the FIM and has received its endorsement. The commercial rights are owned by Two Wheels Motor Racing, with FIM Asia as the sports sanctioning body. Each season consists of six rounds with two races organised per round. The championship tours in Asia but it is open to riders from all nationalities. ARRC 2017 season consists of 12 races at 5 circuits in 5 different Asian countries: Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and India. Dreaming of the MotoGP World Championship AHRT is at this moment participating in its fourth consecutive season in the ARRC. In the team’s first appearance in the AP250 class this year, Gerry Salim is leading the overall standings with 75 points and three wins out from four races. In the SS600 category, Irfan Ardiansyah has taken his first personal podium in the ARRC and is placing 7th in the general standings, with 35 points. For Anggono Iriawan, Senior Manager Safety Riding & Motor Sports PT. Astra Honda Motor (AHM), the team performance “is getting better. Not only are the riders improving their skills, but also the mechanics, which are mostly from Indonesia. For this season, we are certainly targeting the Asia Production 250cc class, where our goal is to become champions. ARRC is the best championship in Asia for road racing, with several circuits being used for world championships. I think the ARRC is a bridge for the riders to get to the World Championship. People may get to know them from national championships and then climb to the World Championship –and the highest championship in Asia is ARRC.” The leader’s ambition ARRC it is useful as a stepping stone for young riders, for instance Gerry Salim, who has started the season in an amazing form. This is how the AHRT rider evaluates de Asian competition: “This championship is great for the young riders development. For me, to perform in the AP250 class is a challenge; as I hope to become champion this season. It will be difficult as many top Asian riders also are competing in this class. Maybe if I am able to be the best in this Asian class, I will get the chance to go to Europe, as my dream is to race in MotoGP. I am also motivated to improve my skills and stamina, so that I could achieve the target which I have set for myself.” Two promising rookies His teammates in the AP250 class are Rheza Danica and Awhin Sanjaya, who are having great results in their first year in the championship. For Rheza, who took his first two podiums last weekend at the Chang International Circuit, the ARRC “is my first international racing event, after I competed in the Suzuka endurance race –but that’s only one series. Last season I raced in the National Championship so being in the ARRC means a step forward for me. To take part in the ARRC is quite meaningful, because not that often you can get a chance from Astra Honda Motor to race in Asia. I certainly will make the most of this opportunity.” “For sure, I am happy to get this opportunity, because the ARRC is a good championship in Asia. As a young rider, here I can improve my skills and gain a lot of experience. I am also trying to improve my results in every race. There is a lot of great Asian riders who compete in this championship, and racing against them can give me further experience. I hope that racing in the ARRC can open me the opportunity to compete in Europe and, especially, in the World Championship” Awhin says, as he had also arrived to the ARRC after taking part in the National Championship last year. Learning and improving Finally, there is the team’s only competitor in the SuperSports 600cc, Irfan Ardiansyah, who claims that “being in this class is a challenge for me; I want to give the best result possible to the Astra Honda Racing Team. The ARRC is very helpful for the young riders, as it is a way to improve your skills and gain experience by racing in international events and competing against experienced riders. But this also motivates me. Being able to take part in the ARRC is very meaningful to me. This will give me more experience for my racing career in the future, as I hope to compete in Europe and World Championship in the future.” Now the ARRC will take a break until June 3rd-4th, when the AHRT will meet again in the Suzuka International Circuit, Japan.   Photos from AHRT Media[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image source=”external_link” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” custom_src=”http://www.prensasport.com/astrahonda/comunicado/links/chang22.jpg”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image source=”external_link” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” custom_src=”http://www.prensasport.com/astrahonda/comunicado/links/johor18.jpg”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image source=”external_link” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” custom_src=”http://www.prensasport.com/astrahonda/comunicado/links/origin12.jpg”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image source=”external_link” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” custom_src=”http://www.prensasport.com/astrahonda/comunicado/links/johor19.jpg”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Rheza stole the show during a 10-laps-race in the Chang International Circuit, Buriram, on Saturday. Starting from 4th position, he moved forward and had a battle for the victory with other two riders. Despite being a rookie in this class, Rheza was able to give fierce battle to his rivals. He even took eventually the lead on Lap 7. On the final lap, there were several overtaking actions between Rheza and his rivals. Right in the final corner, Rheza succeeded on beating one of his rivals and snatched the second place. This is the second podium in a row for the Indonesian rider, as he had finished third in yesterday’s first race. Awhin Sanjaya also had a good performance. Starting from 9th, the Indonesian rider was able to move up to 5th when entering Lap 3. In the last five laps, he took the 4th position and was able to maintain this place until he crossed the finish line. Meanwhile, Gerry Salim had an unfortunate day. He couldn’t participate in the second race due to a technical problem in his bike. However, he is still leading the championship standings with 75 points. Rheza moves up to 4th with 60 points, and Awhin to 5th with 43 points. Irfan Ardiansyah faced a tough race in the SuperSports 600cc class, but he kept motivated and was able to finish in 14th and take home two points. Irfan is now in 7th position of the championship standings with 35 points. The third round of ARRC will be held at Suzuka International Circuit, Japan, on June 3rd and 4th, 2017.   QUOTES “I’m very sad with the unfortunate event that occured today ahead of the second race. The team worked hard to prepare my bike, but I found out that my bike had problems during the out lap to the starting grid. This is racing, anything can happen and I will keep my spirit to be better in the next round.” Gerry Salim | AHRT ASIA PRODUCTION 250CC RIDER     “I’m so glad to finish second this race. The race was very hard from the beginning, I had several fights with the other riders. In the last lap, I made a mistake and was down to third. But finally in the last corner I was able to overtake one rider and take the second place. I will try to improve this result in the next race.” Rheza Danica | AHRT ASIA PRODUCTION 250CC RIDER     “I’m quite happy with today’s race, because the result is better than in the first one. I had evaluated my mistakes from the first race and the results were quite good. Thank you to all mechanics and team who have prepared my bike. And also thank you to all partners: IDEMITSU, KYT, FIFAstra, NGK, Showa, for the support.” Awhin Sanjaya | AHRT ASIA PRODUCTION 250CC RIDER     “The second race wasn’t like I had planned. I had technical problems on my bike, so I had to start from the pit lane. I tried my best and never gave up despite coming from behind. I tried also to give the best result to AHRT team and to my country, Indonesia. Thank you for all the support, I will try harder in the next round.” Irfan Ardiansyah | AHRT ASIASUPERSPORTS 600CC RIDER

Starting from the second place of the starting grid, Gerry has shown a solid performance since the beginning of the race. After the start, Gerry immediately led the way and outperformed their rivals, having a tight battle until the mid-race. He lost his position, but could remain in the front group and in the last five laps, Rheza also emerged as a new contender for top three. Rheza could even take the first place on Lap 7, before being overtaken by Gerry. The battle became tighter in the final corner. Gerry managed to overcome his rival and take the win. This is the third consecutive victory for Gerry at the beginning of 2017 in the AP250 class and continues to lead the championship overall with 75 points. The 3rd place reached by Rheza means his first podium finish and also the first for a rider who debuts in AP250 class, riding the competitive bike Honda CBR250RR. Awhin Sanjaya also took an impressive result finishing 5th, despite being down in 11th place in the early laps. Meanwhile, in SuperSports 600cc class, Irfan Ardiansyah finished in 8th place. During a tough race, the Indonesian rider fought hard in the middle group. Irfan is now in sixth position of the championship standings with 32 points. Race 2 will be held on Saturday, starting from 13:00 Western Indonesian Time.   QUOTES “I want to say thank you to my parents, the Astra Honda Racing Team and Indonesian people. Today the weather was very hot and the wind was quite strong. I tried to push in the early laps, but I couldn’t break the group and I changed my strategy to attack in the last three laps. This victory is thanks to the CBR250RR bike, and also to the hard work from the team to achieve the best result.” Gerry Salim | AHRT ASIA PRODUCTION 250CC RIDER   “Thank you to the Astra Honda Racing Team, all mechanics and especially my parents. Today we had a very tight race since the start until the finish. I tried to follow the other riders lap by lap. I could keep a constant pace and I finally was able to get my first podium by riding my CBR250RR bike. I will try to even improve in the second race.” Rheza Danica | AHRT ASIA PRODUCTION 250CC RIDER   “I’m quite happy with this first race result. I have found the right set-up for my bike to race in Chang Circuit. But there were some points where I still made some mistakes during the race and I will to try to fix it in the future. Although I started from ninth place I could finish in fifth.” Awhin Sanjaya | AHRT ASIA PRODUCTION 250CC RIDER   “I’m so happy for the result in this first race. I’m thankful also to all who has supported me, especially my family and Astra Honda Racing Team, as well as the mechanics who have worked hard to find the right set-up for my bike. Although I crashed during qualifying I fought hard during the race, little by little I got the rhythm and finally was able to finish in eighth position.” Irfan Ardiansyah | AHRT SUPERSPORTS 600CC RIDER