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INDONESIAN RIDERS ON SONG IN CHENNAI

2017, 2017 Round5, Asia Production 250, Latest News /

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.

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FAKHRUSY BACK ON TOP OF THE TIMESHEETS

2017, 2017 Round5, Latest News, Underbone 150 /

The 3.717km Madras Motor Race Track seems to agree with lanky Fakhrusy Syakirin Rostam’s style of riding. After a topsy turvy season to date, Fakhrusy is back at the top of the timesheets after an impressive showing during the Underbone 150cc SuperPole. The SCK Rapido Hi Rev Honda Racing rider chalked 1’54.212s and earned the right to park his bike on pole position for both Race 1 and Race 2. Fellow Honda rider Azroy Hakeem Anuar finished just a step behind with 1’54.810s. Championship leader Mohd Akid Aziz made it to the front row with a time of 1’55.414s. Double podium winner Mohd Helmi Azman qualified fourth on the grid with 1’56.197s. Mohd Haziq Mohd Fairues, fifth fastest with 1’56.204s will join Helmi on the second row. Defending champion Wahyu Aji Trilaksana will start the race from sixth on the grid after posting 1’56.684s during his solo run.

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SARATH KUMAR UNDER IMMENSE PRESSURE

2017, 2017 Round5, Latest News, Supersports 600 /

As the Madras Motor Race Track prepares to host the penultimate round of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, local boy Shankar Sarath Kumar is also dealing with the immense home ground pressure.  For the rider who is Chennai born and bred, the sky high expectations from his fans and supporters are understandable. He has logged almost 2,000 laps at the 3.717km circuit and has lost count of the number of wins that he had crafted in his home track. “I am very grateful for all the well wishes from Indian motorsports fans. I feel the pressure more intensely now that the race had been moved to the Madras Motor Race Track. Last year, in Delhi, there was not much of a home advantage because of the race was held in a distant part of the country. This time around, I will be racing in front of fans and family who will be praying hard that I finish on the podium,” said Sarath. “But what I hope everyone would understand is that the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship is a whole different ballgame. The level of competition had increased tremendously since the last time the ARRC raced in Chennai back in 2013. I’m not making any excuses, but we will be racing against former GP and World Superbike riders. We need to look at this realistically. The level of competition now is world-class.” Nevertheless, the RAMA Honda by NTS T.Pro Ten10 rider hopes that the continued and unwavering support of the fans will spur him to achieve his best results to date.

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GERRY EXPECTED TO SEAL AP250 TITLE IN INDIA

2017, 2017 Round5, Asia Production 250, Latest News /

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.

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WAHYU STILL OPTIMISTIC

2017, 2017 Round5, Latest News, Underbone 150 /

Trailing by 16 points to Malaysian youngster Mohd Akid Aziz in the Underbone 150cc category, title defender Wahyu Aji Trilaksana is still optimistic of a successful campaign even as the 2017 season winds down to its final two rounds. Wahyu won the last Underbone 130cc crown on offer in 2016. The South East Asian heritage class had since evolved into the highly popular Underbone 150cc category. However, a new race class brought problems of its own to Wahyu and team Yamaha Racing Indonesia. Lack of data had resulted in a roller coaster of a season for Wahyu. He scored five podiums and two wins but was handicapped by two DNF results. The rider who capitalized the most on this situation was Mohd Akid Aziz of team UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor. “We struggled a bit this year, mainly because we did not have the benefit of data from previous years to assist in our setup. The first two rounds, especially, brought some small problems. The Malaysian contingent may outnumber the Indonesians in the Underbone class this year. But that had never been a factor in my mind. With or without compatriots, I am confident of my own race-winning abilities,” said Wahyu. “The season is not over yet so there is little cause to say that the 2017 title is slipping out of my hands. I am still confident that we will be able to turn the situation around, especially when the championship finale heads to a familiar battleground – Buriram.”

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ARRC AND ZHUHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT TO FORGE A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

2017, Latest News /

The Asia Road Racing Championship has signed a multi-year strategic cooperative relationship with the Zhuhai International Circuit as a means to harness the growing interest in motorsports in China. In a bid to create more diversity and inclusiveness within the Asian series, the professional team at the Zhuhai International Circuit will act as a full-fledged race promoter for the ARRC in China. This will include the dissemination of information on Chinese media platforms such as Weibo and Youku. It is hoped that this partnership will result in more participation by Chinese teams and riders in the Asia Road Racing Championship. Both parties also do not discount the possibility of the ARRC’s return to China circuits in the near future. The Zhuhai International Circuit, built in 1996, is one of the first professional racing circuits in China. In many ways, the Zhuhai International Circuit pioneered the start of motorsports culture in China. The Asia Road Racing Championship, which coincidentally also began in 1996, is the largest motorcycle racing championship in the Asian region. The racing series, which features the SuperSports 600cc, Asia Production 250cc and Underbone 150cc categories, contains an eclectic mix of seasoned campaigners racing against aggressive young talents. This unique combination has often resulted in an explosive powder keg in every race.

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DECHA WINS DRAMATIC TWO PART RACE 2

2017, 2017 Round4, Latest News, Supersports 600 /

Round 4 of the Asia Road Racing Championship closed with a dramatic, almost surreal Supersport 600 Race 2. The race ran in two parts. In front of a packed grandstand, MUSASHI Boon Siew Honda’s Zaqwan Zaidi made up for a lackluster performance on Saturday, by getting away first and opening a gap on the rest of the field, which was led by Rama Honda’s Taiga Hada, who was hounded and then overtaken by Chalermpol Polamai, who opened up a few bike lengths on the rest of the field. Then everything changed. First the 22 year-old Malaysian crashed out of the lead at Turn 10 at the start of lap 3, then his team mate, Teppei Nagoe went down a few seconds later. With Zaqwan unable to get to safety, the red flag was shown and the riders returned to the pits. As the last bike came in a heavy rain storm started, causing a delay to the restart as tyres were changed and a wet race declared over nine laps. With the rain almost stopped, but with standing water on the track, Chalermpol took the early lead from Decha Kraisart and Ahmad Yuhistira on the Manual tech KYT Kawasaki. Decha quickly got past his Yamaha Thailand team mate, followed by Yudhistira, who pushed Decha hard for another lap. Unable to find a way past and with Decha making the wet conditions his own, a few bike lengths soon appeared between him and the Malaysian. Behind Yudhistira, a similar gap opened up to Chalermpol, and then there was another two seconds back to Yuki Ito, Dimas Ekky Pratama, Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin and Anthony West, who were fighting for fourth. Decha remained poised at the front, to cross the finish line 1.6 seconds in front of Yudhistira and Chalermpol, who was 5.7 seconds clear of the four-way battle for fourth, which was won by Dimas from Kasma, West and Ito. Ratthapong Wilairot had another good outing to finish eighth ahead of Azlan Shah and his AP Honda team mate, Tetsuya Yamaguchi.

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ASIA PRODUCTION 250cc: GERRY SALIM IN SEVENTH HEAVEN

2017, 2017 Round4, Asia Production 250, Latest News /

Team Astra Honda Racing rider Gerry Salim must be in seventh heaven after picking up a seventh win during Race 2 of the Asia Production 250cc category. Performing before his home crowd at the Sentul International Circuit which was host to the fourth leg of the Idemitsu Asia Road Racing Championship, Gerry delighted the Indonesian fans with a hard-won victory against his own team mate. Unlike Race 1 where the Indonesian ace enjoyed an uncontested ride at the front, Race 2 brought more challenges from team mate Andi Farid Izdihar, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Anupab Sarmoon. Gerry was made to fight a 12-lap wheel-to-wheel battle before emerging triumphant with a time of 20:48.769s. Andi and Koyama finished in second and third places. Anupab Sarmoon and Rheza Danica crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth places. If not for an unfortunate engine failure in Round 2 at Buriram, Gerry would have been on course for a perfect season. The 20-year-old holds a 60-point lead at the front of the title chase, with 175 points to Anupab Sarmoon’s 115 points in second place.

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UNDERBONE 150cc: WILDCARD SURPRISE BY RICHARD TAROREH

2017, 2017 Round4, Latest News, Underbone 150 /

Wildcard rider Richard Taroreh snatched a last-minute surprise win in the Underbone 150cc Race 2. Racing at Round 4 of the Idemitsu Asia Road Racing Championship at the Sentul International Circuit, Richard lived up to his top billings as one of the hottest rising names from Indonesia. The Yamaha Yamalube Jasti Putra Usaha Jaya NHK 549 Kaboci rider logged in impressive laptimes during the practice sessions and showed his true mettle in Race 2. While defending champion Wahyu Aji Trilaksana led the pack for most of the 10-lap race, Richard stunned the experienced rider with a last-minute overtaking move and crossed the finish line in first place with 18:38.349s. Richard brought Malaysian rider Mohd Helmi Azman in his wake as they both nipped past Wahyu. Helmi finished second and forced Wahyu into third. Race 1 winner, Mohd Akid Aziz and countryman Azroy Hakeem Anuar finished fourth and fifth respectively. Akid’s consistent performance in the four rounds so far had placed him at the top of the title hunt with 131 points. Wahyu Aji ranked second with 115 points.

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PUNCHANA, POLE-TO-FINISH IN RACE 1 AT SENTUL

2017, 2017 Round4, Latest News, Suzuki Asian Challenge /

Qualification and Race 1 took place on day 2 of the 2017 SUZUKI ASIAN CHALLENGE (SAC) Round 4, being held at Sentul International Circuit in Bogor, Indonesia. With 5 rounds in the season, this round will be an important round for the title contenders. SAC has seen four winners this season: #29 Mario Borbon Jr. (Philippines), #16 April King Mascardo (Philippines), #17 Tetsuya Fujita (Japan), and #78 Punchana Kulrojchalalai (Thailand). Punchana leads in the point standings, leading into this round at Sentul. Qualification was held in the morning, Punchana took back-to-back pole position with a lap of 1’59.711, while local favorite #11 Ahmad Saugi Muchtar (Indonesia) came 2nd within just 0.009 seconds off Punchana. Mascardo came in 3rd filling up the front row of the grid. 2016 SAC Champion, #1 Jefri Tosema (Indonesia) came in 4th. Green flag for Race 1 was waved at 16:10, with pole sitter Punchana taking the whole shot. As any other races we have seen in SAC this season, the whole field raced in a pack for the first couple of laps. The leader changed at almost every corner of the race, with the riders going 4-wide and 5-wide on the straights. The race continued on like that until the final lap, when #27 Nur Alfath Sam Ahmad (Indonesia) and Tosema crashing out. Punchana crossed the finish line on top, making it his third consecutive win from Suzuka.

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