Asia Production 250

The Asia Production 250 drama began on the grid in Race 2, when Gerry Salim’s Astra Honda suffered a mechanical failure and was pushed from the front row of the grid and back into the pit box at Chang International Circuit.   Takehiro Yamamoto got a better start than he had in Race 1 and followed Yamaha Thailand’s Anuparb Sarmoon into Turn 1 before powering into the lead on the long haul up to Turn 3, chased by the rest of the pack. He held onto first place until the beginning of lap 2, crossing the line ahead of Rheza Danica Ahrens, Anuparb and Galang Hendra Pratama.  By lap 3 Yamamoto, Rheza and Anuparb had broken clear of Pratama, who began to fall back into the clutches of the second group, which was being led by Awhin Sanjaya and Tomoyoshi Koyama. By the fifth lap Yamamoto and Anuparb had put several bike lengths between themselves and Rheza, but the Astra Honda man clawed his way back, hitting the front on lap eight. These three were so evenly paced that the only thing to choose between them was the speed of the Hondas on the fast sections. To make up for his top speed disadvantage, the clever Anuparb altered his lines to ensure he was exiting the turns faster than his rivals so he could get the slipstream he needed to stay in contact. On the last lap the Thai lost his momentum avoiding a mistake by Rheza and Yamamoto took the opportunity to open a big enough gap to avoid a last corner scramble for the chequered flag. Behind him, Anuparb pushed his R6 up the inside of Rheza to force him off line, but went wide himself in the process, conceding second place to the Honda.  Ten seconds further back the second group was led home by Awhin from Yusuke Nakamura, Pratama, Koyama, Peerapong Boonlert and Vorapong Malahuan who again outperformed for AP Honda on the single cylinder CBR. It was a champion’s performance by the Sidrap Honda Ikazuchi rider who, over the full season has an excellent chance to win the 250cc crown for a second time.

After his convincing qualifying performance, pole man Takehiro Yamamoto bogged down his twin engined Honda on the line, dropping down to eighth position during lap 1 as Gerry Salim, Anuparb Sarmoon, Boonlert, Luiboonpeng and Galang Hendra Pratama rushed past. The 2015 champion recovered by lap 3 to get briefly to the front of the leading pack of six bikes, which had begun to create a gap back to Pratama. Behind them Tomoyoshi Koyama led the second group which, by lap six had engulfed Boonlert and Luiboonpeng as the two Astra Hondas of Salim and Rheza, the Sidrap Honda of Yamamoto and the Yamaha Thailand R25 of Anuparb got away at the front. Despite the lead swapping continuously, it was Salim who looked the most convincing during his stints in the lead.  From Turn 4 on the last lap Salim and Anuparb created a small gap to Rheza and Yamamoto, but, as they got to Chang International’s formidable final corner, they bunched together once again. As the four bikes squirmed under braking it could have been anyone’s victory, but it was Salim who got the power down best to take a narrow win from Anuparb, with Rheza getting half a wheel in front of Yamamoto to take third place. The next group was 8.5 seconds further back and led over the line by the Astra Honda of Awhin Sanjaya, just in front of the RAMA Honda of Koyama who made it five Hondas in the top six.  Despite the exceptional performance of Anuparb, Yamaha will spend the evening pouring over data from today’s race to find more than one an answer to the dominance of Honda’s parallel twin powered CBR250RR.

Qualifying for Round 2 of Asia Production 250cc was red flagged early in the session when a dog tried to join the action, but at the restart it was the two cylinder Honda CBR of Takehiro Yamamoto that immediately set the pace, banking a time of 1:53.464 on his eighth lap. As his leading rivals got down to business, it was Gerry Salim, Rheza Danica Ahrens and the three Thai Yamahas of Anuparb Sarmoon, Peerapong Boonlert and Peerapong Luiboonpeng who led the chase for the front row positions. Close behind them were Galang Hendra Pratama for Yamaha Indonesia and AP Honda’s Vorapong Malahuan who continued to wring  impressive times out of the single cylinder CBR. Yamamoto’s early lap was good enough for pole position, with the other in-form riders, Salim and Anuparb joining him on the front row. In what could turn out to be a tactical team battle, the Astra Honda of Rheza leads the second row ahead of Yamaha Thailand’s Luiboonpeng and Boonlert. Row three consists of Pratama, Vorapong and the third Astra Honda of Awhin Sanjaya.

Race 2 of the Asia Production 250cc class brought the coveted double win for Indonesian rider Gerry Salim. The Astra Honda Racing rider dominated the proceedings as he led from start to finish with a time of 20’54.397s. A rocket start allowed Gerry to lead into Turn 1 with poleman Anupab Sarmoon and Takehiro Yamamoto hot on his tail. Gerry managed to carve out a lead when his team mate Rheza Danica Ahrens got mixed up within the front group. Rheza’s presence distracted the other riders enough for Gerry to pull away. “The race went easier for me today,” said Gerry. “Everything went according to script. I pushed hard in the first five laps and then brought the pace down a bit to conserve my tyres until the end.” Unable to catch up to Gerry, Anupab role a solo race in second place with a time of 20’56.112s. Takehiro Yamamoto edged out Tomoyoshi Koyama for third position with a time of 20’59.050s. Meanwhile, Rheza Danica was undoubtedly the man of the hour for Astra Honda Racing. He started the race from fourth on the grid but was penalized with a ride-through penalty when he jumpstarted the race. Rejoining the grid at P15, Rheza went past one rider after another to complete the 12-lap race in fifth place. As the sole double winner of the weekend, Gerry goes home with the maximum 50 points to his name. Takehiro Yamamoto tied with Anupab Sarmoon in second overall with 36 points each.

Indonesian rider Gerry Salim became the first Indonesian to win the Asia Production 250cc category after an inch-perfect performance in Race 1 of the season opener at the Johor Circuit. Starting the 12-lap race from third on the grid, Gerry grabbed the holeshot ahead of polesitter Anupab Sarmoon from team Yamaha Thailand Racing. Gerry, along with Anupab and 2015 250cc champion Takehiro Yamamoto quickly established themselves as the leaders of the race. Despite the frequent overtaking around the 3.86km circuit, Gerry was consistently in the lead when the pack crossed the start/finish line. The Indonesian rider kept a cool head and defeated the rigorous assault from Yamamoto to clinch the win with a time of 20’52.279s, only 0.055s in front of the Sidrap Honda Ikazuchi rider. Anupab ended the race in third place with 20’52.738s. “The bike was really good and I must thank my team for their hard work. The only thing that put a damper on our race was the weather. It was really difficult conditions out there. I hope the skies will clear up so that we can have a better race in Race 2,” said Gerry who was also the only rider to have won both SuperSports 600cc and Asia Production 250cc races in the Asian series so far. Behind the leading trio, Astra Honda’s debutants Rheza Danica Ahrens and Awhin Sanjaya put in creditable performances with a fourth and fifth place finish respectively. Rheza stopped the clock at 20’58.657s while Awhin posted 21’01.623s at the head of the second group. Former SuperSports 600cc rider, Tomoyoshi Koyama ended his first 250cc race in seventh place while the sole Kawasaki on the grid finished eighth.

Yamaha Thailand’s Anupab Sarmoon extended his dominating pace on the first day of Asia Production 250cc free practice as Round 1 of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship gets underway at the 3.86km Johor Circuit. Anupab, who was consistently one of the fastest riders during the official pre-season test, ended the day as the quickest 250cc rider with a time of 1’44.202s. However, Anupab will have a tough fight on his hands, especially from his closest Honda rival – Gerry Salim. The Indonesian rider clocked 1’44.584s, only 0.382 seconds off Anupab’s pace. 2015 250cc champion Takehiro Yamamoto was third fastest with 1’44.964s. Elsewhere, Yamaha Indonesian duo Imanuel Putra Pratna and Galang Hendra Pratama rounded up the top five of the day with times of 1’45.290s and 1’45.319s respectively.