Asia Dream Cup

Thai team Woraphod Niamsakhonsakul and Sittipon Srimoontree had done the Asia Dream Cup contingent proud when they succeeded in taking pole position during the qualifying session of the Asia Dream Endurance Race currently underway as part of Round 3 of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in Suzuka. In the absence of the high flying Hiroki Nakamura and Hafiz Nor Azman team, regrettable pulled out after Hafiz sustained injury in a crash during the free practice, Woraphod and Sittipon were able to step up to the plate with a strong combined fastest time of 5’24.484s. Broc Pearson and Mohd Febriansyah would also be highly prominent as they start the race from third on the grid. The scratch team comprising of Koko Tadachi and Chisato Katayama boosted the Asia Dream Cup presence among the top five qualifiers when they notched the fourth fastest time of qualifying with 5’25.863s.

Hiroki Nakamura and Hafiz Nor Azman, two of the brightest talents in the 2016 edition of the Asia Dream Cup, lived up to their top billings in the annual Asia Dream Endurance Race. Their combined expertise placed them fastest during the third free practice of the class with a time of 2’41.900s, 0.919s seconds ahead of defending champions Seiji Maeda and Yoshiharu Okada. Unfortunately for the duo, their promising results fizzled out when Hafiz suffered a big crash which resulted in a hairline fracture. The disappointed young Malaysian rider and his Japanese team mate have been forced to pull out of the 2-hour Endurance race. Each year at the Suzuka Challenge, the Asia Dream Cup changes its format from a sprint race to a 2-hour Endurance race and is rebranded as the Asia Dream Endurance. This race is open to other competitors and opens up the opportunity for the Asia Dream Cup riders to sharpen their talents against other Japanese competitors. Other Asia Dream Cup combinations that had made it to the top 10 from the first day of practice included third fastest Broc Pearson and Mohd Febriansyah with 2’43.978s as well as Koko Tadachi and Chisato Katayama posted sixth fastest with 2’44.260s

The success of the inaugural Asia Dream Endurance Race in 2015 has convinced race promoters that the 2-hour Endurance race should be a permanent fixture every time the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship visits the Suzuka Circuit. With the historic circuit set to hold Round 3 this June 3 to 5, the young Asia Dream Cup class of 2016 will be pairing up for their first taste of endurance racing. The Asia Dream Endurance is an annual event to coincide with the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. The endurance format only happens at Suzuka. What better way to expose the young riders to endurance racing than at the circuit that is famous for this type of motorsports events. However, the Asia Dream Cup riders form only a small percentage of the total participants. They will be competing against other young Japanese teams and riders who will also be taking part in the event. In 2015, the top three podium positions fell to the combinations of Seiji Maeda and Yoshiharu Okada; Seiji Yasutomi and Kouji Fukui; and third place Naoaki Kubo and Kouji Nishizawa. The best-performing Asia Dream Cup pairing came from Hiroki Nakamura and Yusuke Nakamura who finished seventh in the race followed by Broc Pearson and Kazuki Tomita. Unlike the previous year, the 2016 riders’ pairing will be based on their championship rankings as opposed to country : ADC 2016 Round 3 – Entry List

As Race 2 for the second leg of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship got underway for the Asia Dream Cup riders, Hiroki Nakamura raced a smart 8-lap race to clinch his third victory of the new season with a time of 16’52.634s The race got off to its usual mayhem. Racing on similar machines, nine riders were bunched together in the lead group even as the 8-lap race went past its midway mark. Race 1 winner Muhd Febriansyah’s crash on Lap 2 did nothing to ease the tension. However, even amidst the melee, three new riders stood out. Vietnamese rider Bui Duy Thong rode a phenomenal race as he mixed it up with the front runners and stood a shot of taking a podium finish if not for a crash at the last corner. Another amazing performance came from India’s Hari Krishnan who led through the final lap but his lack of experience robbed him of the win at the last corner. Hari brought the Indian flag with him to the podium in second place with 16’52.792s. Finally, Australian talent Broc Pearson dedicated his third place finish to his mother as a Mother’s Day present when he crossed the line with 16’52.811s. The Asia Dream Cup riders will be gearing up for their annual 2-hour endurance style race when the championship goes to Suzuka for Round 3. Nakamura is in a strong position, leading with 95 points. Hafiz Nor Azman is second with 66 points and Broc ranked third with 46 points.

Hafiz Nor Azman may have been the fastest Asia Dream Cup rider in the qualifying session for Round 2 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, but it was Indonesian rider Muhd Febriansyah who took the honours of the day in Race 1. Polesitter Hafiz was quickly swallowed up by the group, but the show-stealer in Race 1 was Harith Farhan Baharin who started the race from pitlane and managed to catch up with the front group before he crashed out on Lap 7. In the final mad sprint to the finish line, Febriansyah broke out of the slipstream and pipped Hiroki Nakamura and Hafizh Nor Azman to the finish line. Febriansyah won with a time of 17’01.972s, 0.138s in front of Nakamura.

Hafizh Nor Azman, Hiroki Nakamura and Harith Farhan Baharin emerged as the three fastest riders in the Asia Dream Cup as the first day of free practices concluded for Round 2 of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at the Chang International Circuit. Hafizh was consistent throughout the two practice sessions, topping the timesheet with his best lap of 2’05.240s. Nakamura shaved three seconds off his laptimes to finish the day as the second fastest rider with 2’05.446s while Harith Farhan had to be content with the third best time, 2’05.588s. With still a qualifying session left to go, the three riders look set to take the provisional front row.

Japanese rider Hiroki Nakamura was one of three riders who succeeded in clinching the double victory at Round 1 of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in Johor on April 1 and 2, 2016. The others were Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman in the SuperSports 600cc category and Apiwat Wongthananon in the Asia Production 250cc category. Nakamura was untouchable in Race 1, finishing a huge 5.7 seconds ahead of Hafiz Nor Azman and Mohd Harith Farhan. Race 2 was a closer affair with the two Malaysian riders sticking close to his tail. Nevertheless, Nakamura was able to hang on to the lead and score his second victory of the day with a time of 15’03.620s. Rider Quotes: Hiroki Nakamura: “Race 1 was better. Once I broke away, I knew that it was up to me to do the fast laps by myself. But Race 2 was difficult. The higher level of competition prevented me from running out in front. It forced me to change my riding in order to keep me going up to the finish line. I am very satisfied that I had been able to do so well on this tough race course.” Hafiz Nor Azman: “Harith and I had agreed on a strategy but the pressure at the end of Race 2 caused us to run wide. We were able to sneak back into second and third places, but were helpless to stop Nakamura from taking the chequered flag.” Harith Farhan: “Hafiz and I will continue to work together for the next round in Thailand. We were unable to check Nakamura’s dominance this weekend but we will analyze our mistakes and bounce back stronger for the next competition.”

Hiroki Nakamura returned to the Asia Dream Cup for his second season in the Honda developmental platform determined to win the coveted title and its benefits this year. The 23-year-old Japanese rider secured the pole position for Round 1 with his best lap of 1’50.773s and will lead a front row comprising of Hafiz Nor Azman and Australian Broc Pearson. Rider Quotes: Hiroki Nakamura: “I was second overall last year so I must be the winner this season. I am aiming for podium finishes in every single race this year. I may have been fastest during the qualifying but I am still not satisfied with my lap times. I believe that my performance and consistency can still be improved.” Hafiz Nor Azman: “I was more focused on race distance during the qualifying. I already know that my bike has the pace. It was more important for me to learn how the tyre characteristics will change during the course of the race.”​

The second-season riders of the Asia Dream Cup are holding the upper hand during the free practice session at Round 1 in the Johor Circuit. Seasoned trio Hafiz Nor Azman, Md Harith Farhan and Hiroki Nakamura were a second faster than the rest of the grid. Hafiz led the timesheets with 1’51.726s followed Harith with 1’51.848s and Nakamura third with 1’51.964s. Japanese rider Tokio Shibuta led the class of 2016 when he posted fourth fastest with 1’52.843s, a little more than half a second in front of Indonesia’s Mohd Febriansyah. Thailand’s Sittipon Srimoontree and India’s Sethu Rajiv were equally impressive when they ended the first practice 6th and 7th fastest.