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Astra Honda’s ‘super-sub’ rider, Dimas Ekky Pratama, pulled off a thrilling victory in Race 1 of the Asia Road Racing Championship Round 4 at Sentul. When the RAMA Honda of Taiga Hada led into Turn 1 from the start it became apparent that the dominance of practice and qualifying pacesetter, Zaqwan Zaidi, would face a tough test over 16 laps. The Malaysian slotted into second place, but was quickly pushed back to third by Dimas and then into fourth Ahmad Yudhistira on the Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki. Dimas pushed his way past Hada to lead on lap 3, while Yudhistira and Decha turned up the pressure on Zaqwan for third, with Chalermpol and Ito at the rear of the pack. Ito low-sided onto the grass before rejoining the race with the hope only of rescuing a point or two.     By mid-distance Dimas was holding onto first position, though having to fight off Hada and alternately Yudhistira and Decha, with Zaqwan and Chalermpol keeping a watching brief behind. In the second group Azlan Shah, still nursing a hand injury, was battling for seventh with Anthony West on the Akeno Speed Yamaha and Ratthapong Wilairot on the AP Honda CBR 600RR.    Hada took third place back from Decha on lap 12 and looked like making it his own, as Zaqwan began threatened Decha’s fourth place and then relegated him to fifth. As they entered the last lap, Yudhistira made his move, increasing the pressure on his countryman and taking the lead decisively. For a moment it looked as though he would get clear, but Dimas pushed back through at the back of the circuit and got to the chequered flag first, 33 thousandths of a second ahead of Yudhistira with exactly the same gap to Hada in third.  Zaqwan was fourth, having got clear of Decha as the Thai rider’s tyres went off. Chalermpol crashed on the final lap, handing sixth place to West. Azlan came in seventh, scoring enough to retain his championship lead, while Ratthapong, Keminth Kubo and Sena Yamada completed the top ten.

MUSASHSI Boon Siew Honda’s Zaqwan Zaidi recorded the fastest ever time by a Supersport 600 at Sentul, going around the 3.96km circuit in 1:29.628 to take pole position for Race 1 as Round 4 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship opens at Sentul International Circuit. Zaqwan’s qualifying performance followed his dominance of all three free practice sessions on Friday, during which he showed the top Indonesian riders as well contenders for the 2017 championship the way around the track’s 3.96km and 11 turns.   Perhaps most revealing was Free Practice 2, in which Zaqwan completed nine laps in the 1:30s, with nobody else able to break the 1:31 barrier. By the time Qualifying got underway, several riders had got closer, most notably Rama Honda’s Taiga Hada, the Astra Honda of Dimas Ekky Pratama and Yamaha Thailand’s Chalermpol, all of whom joined Zaqwan below 1:30. Decha Kraisart was fifth fastest on 1:30.22, followed by Ahmad Yudhistira on the Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki, Yuki Ito, Ratthapong Wilairot for AP Honda, and championship leader, Azlan Shah, who is still hampered by a hand injury. These five riders were separated by just half a second. On the form so far, Zaqwan will start favourite, though he will need to see off challenges from another five or six riders if he is to bank another 25 points this afternoon.

Following an incident during the SuperSports 600cc Practice 3 for Round 4 of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, rider #82 Ayumu Tanaka is reported to be stable and conscious. The incident, which brought out the red flag, occured 12 minutes before the end of Practice 3. Tanaka was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital where he had undergone precautionary checks. He has since been transferred to the Siloam Hospital in Jakarta for further observations. On behalf of the Asia Road Racing officials, teams, and riders, we ask that you join us in wishing Tanaka a speedy recovery.

Deteriorating track conditions at the Sentul International Circuit proved to be no hindrance for Malaysian rider, Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi. The MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda rider took provisional pole in the first day of practice sessions as Round 4 of the Idemitsu Asia Road Racing Championship got underway this weekend. Zaqhwan, 22, posted a time of 1’30.509s, ahead of a pack of mixed riders. The SuperSports 600cc defending champion attributed the bumpy track conditions to the slower laptimes being chalked up during the first day of practice. Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing duo Ahmad Yudhistira and the still injured Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman were second and third fastest respectively with times of 1’30.512 and 1’30.573. Azlan had yet to fully recover from the hand injury sustained during Round 3 in Suzuka, and is bracing himself for a rough race ahead. SuperSports 600cc dark horse Taiga Hada clocked fourth fastest with 1’30.742s. Decha Kraisart was the fastest of the Yamahas. The Yamaha Thailand Racing rider was fifth fastest with 1’30.858s. Yuki Ito, Chalermpol Polamai and Ratthapong Wilairot were sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. Dimas Ekky Pratama, who replaced Irfan Ardiansyah for the Indonesian round, logged ninth fastest followed by Anthony West at the tail end of the top-10. Malaysian wildcard rider, Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin made his SuperSports 600cc debut in 13th fastest with 1’32.318s.