Asia Production 250

Lucky Hendriansyah has proven that his top performance throughout the first round of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship is more than just luck. The Astra Honda Racing Team rider started the Asia Production 250cc Race 1 from fifth on the grid, lining up on second row behind pole sitter Muklada Sarapuech, Irfan Ardiansyah, Andy Muhammad Fadly and Awhin Sanjaya. Lucky was the only rookie among the top five and within the space of a lap, began challenging Andy Muhammad Fadly for the lead. Lucky succeeded in taking control of the race on Lap 2 but found it hard to get away from Kawasaki’s Andy. The one-on-one battle went all the way to the chequered flag. The more experienced Andy almost lost control when he pushed beyond the limits to overtake Lucky at the final corner. While Andy struggled to tame his fidgety Kawasaki Ninja 250, Lucky raced to the finish line to stop the clock with 19’34.655s. A disappointed Andy had to settle for second place with 19’34.839s followed by Irfan Ardiansyah in third with 19’38.376s. Earlier in the race, pole sitter Muklada Sarapuech developed engine problems on Lap 3 and had to retire in tears. While the spotlight remained on the battle at the front, the most impressive performance of the day went to Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing’s Aiki Iyoshi who went from last on the 25-rider grid to fifth in the race.

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.”

Asia Production 250cc champions, Astra Honda Racing Team, will be in the hunt for their third consecutive title in 2019 with a revamped team line-up.   2018 AP250 winner Rheza Danica Ahrens will take on a new challenge in the SuperSports 600cc, teaming up with Andi Farid Izdihar.   In the Asia Production 250cc, the Indonesian team will be banking on Awhin Sanjaya, Irfan Ardiansyah and Lucky Hendriansya to score a title hattrick.   Since 2017, the Astra Honda Racing Team has had tremendous success with the homegrown talents that begin their racing career in the Astra Honda Racing School.

Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing rider Andy Muhammad Fadly scored a personal victory at the final Asia Production 250cc race of the 2018 season when he picked up his first win in the intermediary class.   Starting the race from fourth on the grid, Fadly got himself mixed into the front group, fending off attacks from all fronts.  The young Indonesian rider found it difficult to overcome the 1-2-3 formation thrown up by the Astra Honda Racing Team trio. By Lap 8, the front five had pulled away by 1.2 seconds.   On Lap 9, pole sitter Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi snuck into the front group with Peerapong Boonlert in tow. The entire 10-lap race boiled down to the last corner of the final lap when Anupab dove into Turn 12 but went in too deep and ran wide. Awhin Sanjaya got the perfect line while Fadly managed to stay out of trouble to follow Awhin to the finish line.   Astra Honda Racing Team’s Awhin Sanjaya was first across the line, but later was penalized with five race positions for having exceeded the track limit. This gave the victory to Fadly who stopped the clock at 19’01.944s. Confirmed AP250 Champion Rheza Danica Ahrens was second with 19’02.483s and Anupab Sarmoon third with 19’02.049s.   Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi, Peerapong Boonlert, and Mario Suryo Aji were similarly penalized.   2018 Asia Production 250cc Champion Rheza Danica Ahrens (Astra Honda Racing Team) brought his points-haul up to 226 points. Anupab Sarmoon managed to stay in second with 158 points and Rafid Topan Sucipto third with 151 points.   The Astra Honda Racing Team also confirmed themselves as the Asia Production 250cc Team Award recipient for the second consecutive year.

Former Indonesian GP rider Rafid Topan Sucipto defeated an expected Thai domination in the Asia Production 250cc Race 1 with a superb performance that took many of his competitors by surprise.   While Thai riders Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi and Anupab Sarmoon hogged the proceedings in the Qualifying session, Rafid was constantly clocking within the top 10 but rarely got to the top of the timesheets.   AP Honda Racing Thailand rookie Kritchaporn snatched his first pole position of the season but his lack of experience showed as soon as the 10-lap race got underway. The youngster led into Turn 1 but was soon eclipsed as the more experienced riders got into race rhythm.   Almost like an Underbone race, by midway through the race, there were still 12 riders fighting for the lead. The Thai riders were trying hard to extend a lead, with Anupab Sarmoon and Muklada Sarapuech especially, popping in and out of the lead.   Andy Muhammad Fadly suffered from an engine blow-out on Lap 8 and was forced to retire. By Lap 9, Kritchaporn had gotten himself back into podium position, but lost ground in the final lap.   As Kritchaporn dropped out of sight, Rafid Topan Sucipto bulldozed his way through the pack, going from P5 in Lap 8 to P3 on Lap 9 to arrive at P1 on Lap 10. This would be Rafid’s second AP250 win of the season. He stopped the clock at 19’03.592s   Awhin Sanjaya also managed to streamline his way to second in the race. He stormed to the finish line with 19’03.815s, 0.223s behind his countryman, Rafid Topan.   Muklada Sarapuech survived a last-corner contact against Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi, Mario Suryo Aji and Awhin Sanjaya to finish third across the line with 19’04.217s. Her results was later stricken off (Not Classified) due to the same incident at Turn 12. Muklada will also face a 1-race suspension and will not be allowed to participate in Race 2.   Even though the Asia Production 250cc title is now out of reach, Rafid’s win has placed him in good position to at least finish the season in second overall. The Yamaha Yamalube KYT TJM WR Super Battery team rider is now ranked third with 138 points, only four points behind Anupab Sarmoon.