Asia Production 250

After a season’s worth of suspense and drama, young Indonesian rider Gerry Salim finally sealed the Asia Production 250cc title at the grand finale of the 2017 Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. The Astra Honda Racing Team’s latest racing star finished fourth in Race 1 and picked up just enough points to end the title chase with one race to spare.   The 10-lap race started with Yamaha Racing Thailand’s polesitter and title contender Anupab Sarmoon looking strong as he led the 33-bike grid into Turn 1. However, Tomoyoshi Koyama of team RAMA Honda was not about to let Anupab run riot over the race.   While the two riders swapped leads at the front of the pack, Gerry was riding under the radar in sixth. On Lap 6, Gerry’s team mate, Rheza Danica Ahrens caught up with the leading duo and turned the fight for the podium into a 3-way battle. Racing against two aggressive rivals, Rheza made up for his lack of experience with a gritty display of talent. The 19-year-old truly earned his racing stripes when he out-raced Anupab to the finish line.   After winning three podium finishes in 2017 so far, Rheza finally won his first ARRC race with 19’07.754s. Anupab finished second with 19’07.965s and Koyama third with 19’08.111s.   Behind the three leaders, Gerry left it up to the final lap before he attempted to break out of the middle group. From sixth on Lap 9, Gerry blazed his way up to fourth at the chequered flag with 19’14.884s.   With that, Gerry became the first Indonesian to win an ARRC title outside of the Underbone class. The 199 points he has to his name has given him a 31-point margin ahead of Anupab. This will leave Anupab and Koyama scrabbling for second overall in Race 2. Anupab is second overall with 168 points. Koyama is third with 163 points.

The last qualifying session of the year for the Asia Production 250cc category also yielded one of the most dramatic results. The only thing that went according to script was Anupab Sarmoon’s ability to turn the home ground advantage to his benefit. Muklada Sarapuech pulled off a fast lap to qualify on front row for the first time in her ARRC career while championship leader Gerry Salim defied the odds to retain his front row start position.   The Thai riders had been a formidable force in the final round. Anupab lived up to expectations when he posted 1’53.522s during the Asia Production 250cc category.   AP Honda Racing Thailand’s Muklada Sarapuech managed a scintillating lap during the qualifier – 1’54.070s – and earned the right to park her bike second on the grid.   Gerry Salim highsided at Turn 1 during the opening laps of the qualifying practice. Some frantic work in the pit from the Astra Honda Racing Team engineers brought Gerry out on track in time to put in a couple of quick laps, fast enough to put him third on the grid with 1’54.200s.     Among the three title contenders, Anupab looks to have the bigger advantage, having consistently improved on his laptimes from the first free practice onwards. Tomoyoshi Koyama will start the race from sixth on the grid.    

AP Honda Racing Thailand’s Vorapong Malahuan took the first provisional pole of his ARRC career at the finale of the 2017 Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. Racing on home ground had boosted Vorapong’s confidence level, resulting in the quickest laptime of the day, 1’54.097s.   The Thai rider had shown early indication that he would be a potential candidate for a podium finish this weekend when he was also second fastest during the first free practice session. Vorapong’s time was 0.353s quicker than the three championship leaders who paced in behind him.   Title contenders Gerry Salim, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Anupab Sarmoon were second, third and fourth fastest after clocking 1’54.450s, 1’54.557s and 1’54.726s respectively in the combined practice timesheets.   However, the Asia Production 250cc lap record at the Chang International Circuit, 1’53.464s currently held by Takehiro Yamamoto, remains unbroken.

Waiting for the confirmation of the 2017 Asia Production 250cc Champion is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. There is a sense of inevitability as everyone waits for Astra Honda Racing Team’s Gerry Salim to end the suspense. The 20-year-old had virtually monopolised the Asian intermediate class this season. He had won seven out of ten races. Only an engine failure in Round 2 followed by a bizarre race weekend in Round 5 marred an otherwise perfect season. Gerry has 38 points over Anupab Sarmoon in second place. To put an end to the waiting business, all Gerry need to do in the final round is to finish within the top-10 in both Race 1 and Race 2. Alternatively, a top-4 finish in Race 1 would render Race 2 a mere formality. If (or when) he succeeds, Gerry will become the first Indonesian rider to win an Asian title outside of the Underbone scope. Gerry first came under the radar in 2013 when he clinched 2nd overall in the Asia Dream Cup (Hiroki Ono was the ADC Champion that year). His training continued apace and in 2015, he raced in the GP3 class of the MFJ All Japan Road Race. Gerry made his SuperSports 600cc debut in 2016 where he ended the year 9th overall.

ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM IS AP250 TEAM CHAMPION Round 5 of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai, India would be the one round that Indonesian rider Gerry Salim would be eager to forget. Gerry flew to Chennai with the expectations of taking home the Asia Production 250cc title. But nobody would ever expect that Gerry would crash not just once, but twice, during the Race 1 formation lap. After that bitter experience, a cautious Gerry forewent another podium finish in Race 2. But every cloud has a silver lining. The rider’s championship will be prolonged to the final round in Buriram, Thailand. However, the title chase among the Asia Production 250cc teams is officially over. The Astra Honda Racing Team, through the strong performances of its stable of riders, has picked up seven wins, eight podium finishes and 216 points. This places the Astra Honda Racing Team 68 points in front of their closest competitor, the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team. With only one round and 50 championship points left on the table, the Astra Honda Racing Team is now confirmed as the Team Award winner in the Asia Production 250cc class. Since the Asia Production 250cc class introduction in 2015, the Asian trophy has gone full circle. The first title was won by Takhiro Yamamoto astride a Kawasaki. Yamaha Thailand Racing Team took the 2016 crown through Apiwat Wongthananon. This season, the Team Award trophy will be heading to Indonesia with the Astra Honda Racing Team.w

Race 2 of the Asia Production 250cc was a race of many firsts. A first win for Galang Hendra Pratama, a first win for team Yamaha Racing Indonesia, and a first win of the season for the Yamaha marquee in the 250cc class. A heavy drizzle at the start of Race 2 had the mechanics frantically changing to wet tyres on the starting grid. The original 12-lap race was further shortened to 10-laps. Galang Hendra Pratama jumped into the holeshot but the 25-rider grid spent two tentative opening laps trying to get a better feel of the track conditions. The race soon settled into a consistent formation. Galang held the lead followed by Tomoyoshi Koyama and Anupab Sarmoon. On Lap 4, Anupab showed signs of being in trouble. He lost third position to Takehiro Yamamoto and then went further down the field when he was overtaken by Mukhlada Sarapuech. At the midway point of the race, Galang, Koyama and Yamamoto were entrenched in first, second and third consecutively. The battle for P4, on the other hand, became more competitive with each passing lap. Thailand’s Mukhlada was engrossed in a four-way fight against Anupab Sarmoon, Andy Muhammad Fadly and Gerry Salim. The 250cc championship leader had opted to ride safe in Race 2. Race 1 on Saturday had been disastrous for Gerry who crashed twice during the formation lap. Gerry had a chance to overtake Kawasaki rider Fadly on Lap 8 but uncharacteristically for the usually aggressive Gerry, he refrained from jumping at the opportunity. The Astra Honda Racing Team rider waited until the last lap before he made his move. Within a few corners, Gerry had successfully gone past Fadly and Mukhlada. Up in front, Galang Hendra Pratama cruised to the finish line in first place with 19’47.359s. Tomoyoshi Koyama finished the race in second with 19’48.264s and Takehiro Yamamoto was similarly unchallenged in third place with 19’56.097s. Anupab Sarmoon managed to squeeze his way back into fourth position while Gerry Salim took fifth place. The unexpected turn of events had barely made a dent to Gerry’s comfortable margin at the top end of the championship standings. It had merely prolonged the title chase. Gerry’s haul, 186 points, puts him 38 points in front of Anupab Sarmoon. All he needs to seal the deal in the final round is to race for another 13 points. Meanwhile, Anupab himself is under threat from Tomoyoshi Koyama. Koyama is third overall with 147 points.

Gerry Salim may not be the only standout Indonesian talent in the Asia Production 250cc class for much longer. As Round 5 of the 2017 season opened at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai, India, the top four fastest times of the class were clocked by members of the Indonesian contingent. Galang Hendra Pratama topped the timesheets with 1’50.112s. The Yamaha Racing Indonesia rider showed every indication that he has pulled out all the stops to put a crimp into Gerry Salim’s plans of ending the 250cc title chase with one round to spare. However, the championship leader from the Astra Honda Racing Team was certainly not resting on his laurels. Gerry clocked 1’50.237s, trailing his Yamaha rival by only 0.125s.  Behind the leading duo, their team mates Rey Ratukore and Rheza Danica Ahrens duplicated the same Yamaha-Honda one-two tango. Rey of team Yamaha Racing Indonesia posted 1’50.267s while Rheza posted fourth fastest with 1’50.382s. The results from the first day of practice showed every indication of a frantic qualifying session and an equally intense Race 1 ahead. The top eight riders on the grid lapped within the same second as the fastest rider. These included Thai trio Anupab Sarmoon, Muklada Sarapuech and Vorapong Malahuan, as well as 2015 AP250 Champion Takehiro Yamamoto. Tomoyoshi Koyama and Peerapong Boonlert rounded out the top ten with 1’51.057s and 1’51.129s respectively. Local rider, Sethu Rajiv was 17th fastest with 1’53.076s.

Astra Honda’s latest racing sensation, Gerry Salim, is expected to seal the Asia Production 250cc title at Round 5 of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in Chennai, India. A near-perfect season had netted 175 points for Gerry, giving him a 60-point advantage over the chasing pack. One more win at the Madras Motor Race Track would put the 2017 title beyond the reach of Anupab Sarmoon and Takehiro Yamamoto. Indonesia had long been a powerhouse in Underbone racing. Over the course of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, Indonesia had taken 13 Underbone titles through luminaries like M. Fadli Immammuddin, Doni Tata Pradita, Gilang Pranata Sukma, Wahyu Widodo, Owie Nurhuda, Hadi Wijaya, Rafid Topan Sucipto, Gupita Kresna Wardhana and Wahyu Aji Trilaksana. Years of determined and consistent development had resulted in a new breed of Indonesian riders who had successfully reached beyond the borders of the underbone. If, or when, he succeeds, Gerry Salim will be the first Indonesian rider to win an Asian title in a full-frame category. His victory will also complete the triumvirate in Asian motorcycle racing. When it was first introduced in 2015, the first title went to Kawasaki rider Takehiro Yamamoto from Japan. 2016 was the playground of Yamaha Thailand’s Apiwat Wongthananon. This season, Gerry’s ability to bring the coveted trophy home for Honda Indonesia seems to be almost certain.