Supersports 600

Yamaha Thailand Racing Team’s Peerapong Boonlert continues to reign supreme in the SuperSports 600cc class. Peerapong’s unfettered rampage this season has netted an unbroken string of podium finishes with 7 wins out of 8 races and one third-placed finish. However, even with 191 points in the bag and a 93-point lead over second placed Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin, the title chase is not likely to end at the upcoming round. For the first time this season, Peerapong and the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team are being presented with an unknown variable – the 4.3km Zhuhai International Circuit. With no existing data available to the team, the engineers will be racing against the clock to prepare Peerapong as he chases after his eighth and ninth wins this season. The tough racing conditions in the previous Suzuka round had prevented Peerapong from breaking Toshiyuki Hamaguchi’s record of seven wins in a row. But Peerapong is still in good form to score a new record of his own – the highest number of 600cc wins in a single season. The burden of checking Peerapong’s ambitions will mainly fall on Malaysian rider Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin, still viewed as Peerapong’s biggest rival this season. The young Malaysian, currently second overall on the standings with 98 points, has picked up four podium finishes to date, but has yet to claim a race win. Meanwhile, Indonesian rider Andi Farid Izdihar will be bracing for a tough weekend. Currently third on the standings with 83 points, Andi recently dislocated his finger in a crash during the previous Suzuka 8 Hours a few weeks ago. The Astra Honda Racing Team rider is in danger of losing his top three position against former Moto3 rider, Adam Norrodin from Malaysia. The return of the ARRC to the Zhuhai International Circuit has sparked a strong interest among Chinese riders and teams, eager to prove themselves against their Asian peers. Six wildcards have been confirmed for the upcoming race. Ma Sai from the China Yamaha Maxpeedingrods Racing Team will lead the Chinese contingent. Ma will know exactly what they are up against, having raced as a wildcard in Round 3 and Round 4.  Ma was able to finish 13th and 11th in his 600cc debut at the Chang International Circuit, but the strong competition at Suzuka saw him finishing out of the points in both races. Other wildcards confirmed for the weekend include Ou Jin Bin from FS.D Racing, Chen Hong Yan from JIM777Y Racing Team, Chan Yan Hang from the Wuyang-Honda Racing Team, Sha Juntong from the TS Kawasaki Racing Team and Macau’s Au Leong Fu also from the TS Kawasaki Racing Team.

Peerapong Boonlert put the disappointment of having his unbroken run of wins interrupted in race one by Soichiro Minamimoto with a convincing performance in a wet race at Suzuka. The contest was shortened to five laps after a long delay while race control waited for a severe weather system to pass. Peerapong led from the re-start, chased by Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin, Minamimoto, Yuto Sano and Kyusuke Okuda. Kasma lost touch with the leader on lap two as Minamimoto and Okuda disputed second place. That allowed Peerapong to extend his lead, but Okuda managed to get away from Minamimoto and the leader’s advantage quickly disappeared as the Kawasaki closed on the Supersport championship leader. Peerapong and Okuda, lapping two seconds quicker than the rest of the field engaged in a nail-biting fight for the front, which the Thai refused to relinquish, crossing the line one tenth ahead of the wildcard and five seconds clear of Minamimoto, who sealed his second podium finish of the weekend. Kasma held on to take fourth in front of Andi Farid Izdihar, Yuto Sano, Passawit Thitivararak, Katsuto Sano, Kota Arakawa and Helmi Azman, who finished tenth. Peerapong’s points tally now stands at 191, 93 points clear of second placed Kasma, who is 15 points ahead of Andi Farid.

AKENOSPEED Yamaha’s Soichiro Minamimoto carried an excellent free practice and qualifying performance through to a convincing win in Supersport 600 race one. In doing so, he denied Yamaha Thailand’s Peerapong Boonlert the chance to equal the all time class record for seven consecutive wins. The Japanese wildcard, who had squeezed Peerapong Boonlert out to the middle of row one in morning qualifying, had a poor start and watched from behind as the championship leader got away with Hong Leong Yamaha’s Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin at the front. Musashi Boon Siew Honda’s Azroy Hakeem Anuar clashed and crashed with MOTOBUM Honda’s Arakawa first time around at turn one; both riders were unhurt. By lap five of ten Peerapong was having trouble holding his lines on Suzuka’s long turns. As Kasma sensed the opportunity and turned up the heat, Minamimoto closed in to join the battle for the win. Kasma was first past the Thai Yamaha R6, closely followed by the Japanese. Minamimoto took the lead on the penultimate lap and immediately put some clean air between himself and Kasma, while Peerapong settled for third on his unusually unruly Yamaha. Five seconds behind Peerapong, Yuto Sano just beat Adam Norrodin to the line to finish fourth, while Kyosuke Okude was sixth ahead of Afif Amran, Rheza Danica Ahrens and AP Honda duo Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi and Passawit Thitiwararak.

AkenoSpeed Yamaha’s wildcard rider, Soichiro Minamimoto, stole the glory from runaway championship leader, Peerapong Boonlert in free practice by clocking the fastest time of the day late in FP3 with a lap of 2’14.046, to lead by 0.061. Wildcards grabbed plenty of attention in the first session, occupying second to sixth places behind Yamaha Thailand’s Supersport star. As the ARRC regulars acclimatised to the challenges of Suzuka, Ramdan Rosli got closest to Peerapong, taking the top slot in FP2, before finishing the day third with 2’14.540. Another wildcard, Battle Factory’s Yuto Sano, was fourth overall from Hong Leong Yamaha’s Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin. Andi Farid Izdihar was the next best of the ARRC visitors on 2’15.068 just ahead of Azroy Hakeem Anuar, Rheza Danica Ahrens and Afif Amran, who was tenth. SIC Junior ZK Racing’s Adam Norrodin, on his first visit to Suzuka, spent the day finding his way around, recording his best time of 2’16.235 in FP3.

The Suzuka leg of the 2019 FIM Asia Ro­ad Racing Championship could potentially witness a new ARRC record in the making as 600cc supremo Peerapong Boonlert gears up to equal or break a 14-year-old record held by Toshiyuki Hamaguchi. The longest winning streak recorded in the ARRC was logged by Hamaguchi who picked up seven consecutive SuperSports 600cc wins in 2005. Since then, while hattricks have been relatively common, no other rider had been able to come close to the level of domination exhibited by Hamaguchi in the early days of the 600 class. No other rider, that is, until Peerapong Boonlert, 14 years later. As the ARRC heads to the Suzuka Circuit for the fourth leg of the season, the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team rider will get the chance to rewrite the history books. The odds are very much in favour for Peerapong as he embarks on his latest quest. Not only will he be buoyed by his winning momentum so far, Peerapong, a two-time Suzuka 4 Hour winner, is no stranger to the 5.8km Suzuka Circuit. While Peerapong forges ahead with a 79-point advantage, four other riders are scrambling to get ahead. Astra Honda Racing Team’s Andi Farid Izdihar has finished within the top five in four out of the previous six races. With two second-place podiums to his name, Andi is second overall with 71 points. Malaysians Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Adam Norrodin tie in third with 69 points apiece. Azroy has only finished on the podium once so far as opposed to Adam’s three. However, the SIC Junior ZK Racing rider lost out on points from Round 2 which clashed against his scheduled appearance in the CEV. Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin is also still within reach of the title. The Malaysian maverick is fifth on the standings with 65 points.

It seems like there is no stopping Peerapong Boonlert in the SuperSports 600cc class! The Yamaha Thailand Racing Team rider has picked up an unprecedented sixth consecutive victory as Round 3 of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship drew to a close at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. A slow start from pole position was no hindrance for the determined Thai rider. Peerapong easily challenged Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin for the lead on the first lap and proceeded to ride imperious to the end of the 11-lap race. Most impressive was Peerapong’s consistently fast laps despite riding solo at the front of the pack. His latest win was clocked at 19’58.199s, a full 3.4 seconds ahead of the rest. Behind Peerapong, Adam Norrodin put in a solid performance to take his second podium of the weekend with 20’01.688s followed by Kasma Daniel in third with 20’05.379s At this point, it would be Peerapong’s championship to lose. He carries the maximum 150 points to the fourth leg at the Suzuka Circuit. The last time a rider had run riot over the 600cc class was in the early days of the category when Toshiyuki Hamaguchi used to dominate the racing. Andi Farid Izdihar from the Astra Honda Racing Team finished fifth in both races to rank second on the championship standings. Azroy Hakeem Anuar is third with 69 points and is tied with Adam Norrodin. Despite Adam’s strong performance in Buriram, his position on the standings had dropped due to his missing out on Round 2.

Peerapong Boonlert has finally ended his winning drought at the Chang International Circuit taking five wins out of five races to extend his romp at the front of the SuperSports 600cc. A great start from the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team rider from pole position gave him a gap of a few bike lengths ahead of Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin. With a long 12 more laps to go, Peerapong was clearly managing his tyres during the opening laps. This gave Kasma the opportunity to take Peerapong by surprise at the end of Lap 1. On Lap 3, Kasma pushed Peerapong wide, opening a big gap on the track for Mohd Ramdan Rosli to slip through. Lap 4 presented a 4-bike fight between Peerapong, Kasma, Ramdan, and Andi Farid Izdihar. It was the first time this season that Peerapong have had to really scramble for position in the 600cc class this season. The battle, however, did not last long. A light drizzle began to fall after the fourth lap, effectively changing the characteristics of the track. Here, Peerapong’s vast experience at the Chang International Circuit gave him a huge advantage. Kasma’s attack fizzled out after Lap 5 and Peerapong was able to consolidate his lead at the front again. By Lap 7, Peerapong was 0.3 seconds clear of Kasma while behind them, Andi, Ramdan and Adam fought a tight race for P3. On Lap 10, Kasma inexplicably ran wide at the infamous Turn 12, instantly giving a five second lead to Peerapong. The Malaysian rider’s incident dropped him back into the second group and he lost more ground when he had no response for the attacks by countrymen Adam Norrodin and Ramdan Rosli. Peerapong’s win was also podium number 34 for the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team, logged with a time of 20’48.186s. Adam took second place after a hard-fought battle with 20’55.344s and Ramdan was clearly satisfied in third place with 20’55.727s. Five out of five has given Peerapong the maximum 125 points on the standings while Andi Farid Izdihar is ranked second with 60 points.

Yamaha Thailand Racing Team’s Peerapong Boonlert has lost none of his verve and flair despite the pressures of racing on home ground. At the Chang International Circuit for Round 3 of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, Peerapong aced the first day free practice sessions with the quickest time of 1’40.212s, putting him on course to pick up a 33rd Buriram podium for Yamaha Thailand. Looking to stop Peerapong’s reign are Malaysian duo Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin and Adam Norrodin. Both Malaysian top guns have just returned from a stint in the CEV and are raring to halt their Thai rival’s unchallenged romp at the top of the 600cc standings. Kasma clocked second quickest with 1’40.345s while Adam posted 1’40.985s to lock down the provisional front row. AP Honda Racing Thailand’s Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi was the fourth fastest rider of the day with 1’41.158s followed by two other Honda riders – Andi Farid Izdihar and Azroy Hakeem Anuar respectively. Javier Orellana Malloy, the dark horse of the SuperSports 600cc class, is taking his time to get used to the Chang International Circuit. He posted 13th quickest for the free practice, but as seen in Australia, is capable of podium-worthy performances. Chinese wildcard Ma Sai was 3 seconds off the leader with 1’43.505s.

Yamaha Thailand Racing Team rider Peerapong Boonlert will be a man on a mission at Round 3 of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. Peerapong holds a 51-point advantage after taking four consecutive wins in the first two rounds. However, the Thai rider is not one to rest on his laurels. His mission at the 4.5km Chang International Circuit, apart from continuing his winning momentum, will be to claim his first podium on home ground. For all the prowess that Peerapong had shown in the SS600 this year, the Thai rider have yet to enjoy a podium finish at the Chang International Circuit. All his previous successes had been picked up overseas.   Kasma, Adam Norrodin back on the grid Malaysian riders Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin and Adam Norrodin will be looking to halt Peerapong’s rampage in the 600cc class. The two will be primed and ready for action after a stint in the CEV. Along with Astra Honda Racing Team’s Andi Farid Izdihar and Malaysian Honda riders Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Helmi Azman, the five riders could form a formidable wall around Peerapong’s ambitions.   The threat of Javier Orrellana Maloy Peerapong will also need to reckon with the potential threat posed by Javier Maloy. The Spaniard was a complete dark horse in Round 2. Absent for most of the practice session after crashing out and damaging his bike in the first practice, Javier stunned his rivals with a second place finish in Race 1. He was on course for a double podium in Race 2 but unfortunately crashed out of the competition.   Chinese wildcard – Ma Sai The Buriram round will also feature a Chinese wildcard – Ma Sai from the China Yamaha Maxpeedingrods Racing Team. The 29-year-old Chinese rider has been China’s ST600 champion for the past two years.