Supersports 600

Yuki Ito and the Yamaha Racing Team Asean has succeeded in their efforts to unlock the true potential of the 2017 Yamaha R6. Ito has been a strong contender throughout the SuperSports 600cc free practice sessions at Round 2 of the ARRC at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia. He further sealed his dominance when he took his Yamaha to pole position with a fast lap of 1’56.591s.   In the absence of podium regulars Anthony West and Zaqhwan Zaidi, defending champion Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman saw Round 2 as an opportunity to bend the title chase in his favour. Instead, the Malaysian rider has been facing problems with his Kawasaki and uncharacteristically, qualified only P11 in the Australian round.   West’s super-sub, BSB rider Joseph Francis, proved to be the right choice for team Webike Ikazuchi Racing. The British rider qualified second on the grid with 1’56.690s. Idemitsu Honda Racing  India by T.Pro Ten10’s Taiga Hada slipped into the last position on the front grid. Hada clocked third fastest with 1’56.710s.   Rookie Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin served up the biggest surprise in the SuperSports 600cc qualifying. After a creditable full-season debut in Thailand, Kasma netted a blazing 1’56.736s to qualify for P4. The young Malaysian rider will lead the second row ahead of seasoned campaigners Tomoyoshi Koyama and Decha Kraisart on P5 and P6 respectively.   Ratthapong Wilairot, Irfan Ardiansyah, Ahmad Yudhistira, and Mohd Ramdan Rosli rounded up the top 10.

Tyre abrasion was the primary concern among the SuperSports 600cc riders as the first day of free practices concluded for Round 2 at The Bend Motorsport Park. The new track asphalt had proven to be particularly unforgiving.   Nevertheless, competition is still fierce across the grid with a determined Yuki Ito leading the way. The Yamaha Racing Team Asean rider posted 1’57.332s at the top of the timesheets. Also lapping within the same second, are Yamaha Thailand Racing Team duo Decha Kraisart and Keminth Kubo with 1’57.552s and 1’57.964s respectively.   Wildcard Broc Pearson could be a potential podium threat. The Australian rider who is very familiar with the level of competition in the Asia Road Racing Championship, pulled off the fourth fastest time, 1’58.034s. Tomoyoshi Koyama from team MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda logged fifth fastest with 1’58.288s.   The lack of team data at the new circuit is becoming quickly apparent. The first day of practice had brought mixed results among the top 10. Astra Honda Racing Team’s Irfan Ardiansyah was sixth fastest with 1’58.338s. Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing’s Ahmad Yudhistira posted seventh while his defending champion team mate, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, clocked a conservative tenth fastest with 1’58.641s.   Malaysian rookie Azroy Hakeem Anuar also produced creditable results, eighth fastest with 1’58.561s. Wildcard Tom Toparis was ninth fastest after the first day of practice.

British Supersport rider Joe Francis is team Webike IKAZUCHI Racing’s pick to replace the absent Anthony West on the SuperSports 600cc grid.   The 21-year-old Brit has been progressing up the British Superbike Championship ranks in recent years, and finished 7thoverall in the Dickies British Supersport in 2016.   Other riders that were under consideration to fill in for West included the likes of Gino Rea, Augustus Fernandez. photo : joefrancisracing.com

Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi will be sticking to his training goals as a scheduling clash between the Asia Road Racing Championship and the All Japan Road Race forces the MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda rider into a catch-22 situation.   However, the team’s directives for Zaqhwan had been clear right from the start of 2018. Zaqhwan’s main focus for 2018 will be the JSB1000 class of the All Japan Road Race. This is considered as training to hone his race craft with the objective of winning the first ASB1000 title when the class is introduced into the ARRC roster in 2019.   Therefore, Zaqhwan will be taking a leave of absence from the Australian grid in Round 2. To uphold team honours in the upcoming race, team MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda will be banking on their latest recruit, Tomoyoshi Koyama who will be flying to Australia fresh from his recent ST600 win in the All Japan’s opening race.   Zaqhwan’s full season debut in the JSB1000 got off to a rocky start at the season opener in Motegi. Qualifying under cold, rainy and slippery conditions was a tough challenge and he was disappointed when he only managed to qualify 28thon the grid. Zaqhwan managed to make up for lost ground during the race as he finished 19thin Race 1 and picked up a couple of points in Race 2 by coming home 14th.

The first Australian race for the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship will flag off without its most high-profile Australian rider – Anthony West.   The 37-year-old MotoGP and WSSP rider will skip the opportunity to race in front of his home fans as he heads to Aragon in order to fulfill previous contractual obligations in the World SuperSports series.   West runs his own team in the World SSP, team EAB AntWest Racing. He is currently 10thon the standings.

The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship’s second round at The Bend Motorsport Park will be Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman’s best chance to gain the SuperSports 600cc title lead.   The newly-opened 4.9km circuit in South Australia represents a level playing field for teams and riders alike. The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, together with the Australian Superbike Championship, will be the first major motorcycle race events to take place at The Bend.   The Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing rider, who is also the defending champion of the premiere class, scored two third place finishes in Round 1 at the Chang International Circuit and is presently second on the championship ladder behind Anthony West.   However, the top-end of the SuperSports 600cc grid in Australia will see a number of absentees. Notably, championship leader Anthony West who has World SSP duties and Zaqhwan Zaidi whose focus this year would be the All Japan JSB1000 in preparation for the eventual introduction of the ASB1000 class in 2019.   “Rider adaptability and ability to give accurate data and feedback to their respective team engineers will be the key to winning this race. In that sense, the senior riders would probably have a slight advantage over the younger set,” said Azlan.   The Malaysian’s key competitors are expected to be Thailand’s Decha Kraisart, and Japanese duo Tomoyoshi Koyama as well as Yuki Ito.

The 2018 season of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship opened to a spectacular six winners in six races at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. In the super-charged competitive environment that is the Asian road racing industry, the results from Round 1 promises an exciting season ahead. The 4.554km Chang International Circuit had always brought out the best from Anthony West. This latest outing had been no different. After taking second place in Race 1, West capped off a successful weekend with a convincing victory in 29’59.201s in Race 2. The Australian was initially caught up in a 6-man pack at the front of the group. But when Azlan ran wide on Lap 15, the Malaysian’s subsequent efforts to make up for lost ground gave West the chance to shake off the group. Racing astride the new Yamaha R6, West crossed the finish line with a 1.9-second margin. Decha Kraisart took second place while Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman managed to make the cut for the podium when Zaqhwan Zaidi and Ratthapong Wilairot crashed out at the last corner. Ironically, as the ARRC heads down under to The Bend Motorsports Park in Australia for the very first time, West, the championship leader will be missing from the grid due to a long-standing commitment in the WSSP. Nevertheless, West leads the 600cc title hunt with 45 points. Azlan is second overall with 32 points and Thitipong Warokorn third with 25 points. SUPERSPORTS 600cc TYRE CHOICE There were three compounds to choose from in the premiere class. But with air temperature up to 36 degrees Celsius and ground temperature measured at 60 degrees Celsius, the hard compound seemed to be the only viable solution. SS600 Tyre Choice Comp Rider Team Make Race 1 Race 2 Front Rear Front Rear 13 Anthony West Webike IKAZUCHI Racing Yamaha H H H H 16 Irfan Ardiansyah Astra Honda Racing Team Honda H H H H 20 Azroy Hakeem Anuar MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Honda H H H H 21 Zaqhwan Zaidi MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Honda H H H H 23 Taiga Hada Idemitsu Honda Racing India by T.Pro Ten10 Honda H H H H 24 Decha Kraisart Yamaha Thailand Racing Team Yamaha H H H H 25 Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing Kawasaki H H H H 27 Andi Farid Izdihar Astra Honda Racing Team Honda H H H H 29 Patrick Li Webike IKAZUCHI Racing Yamaha M M M M 32 Ramdan Rosli Hong Leong YAMAHA Malaysia Yamaha H H H H 33 Ahmad Yudhistira Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing Kawasaki H H H H 56 Ratthapong Wilairot Yamaha Thailand Racing Team Yamaha H H H H 64 Keminth Kubo Yamaha Racing Asean Yamaha H H H H 66 Ibrahim Norrodin SIC ZK Racing Kawasaki Kawasaki H H H M 634 Tomoyoshi Koyama MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Honda H H H H 76 Yuki Ito Yamaha Racing Asean Yamaha H H H H 80 Amirul Hafiq Azmi ONEXOX TKKR Racing Team Yamaha H H H H 88 Keisuke Kurihara AP Honda Racing Thailand Honda H H H H 92 Muzakkir Mohd ONEXOX TKKR Racing Team Yamaha H H H H 100 Thitipong Warokorn Core Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team Kawasaki H H H H 123 Passawit Thitivararak AP Honda Racing Thailand Honda H H H H 127 Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin Hong Leong YAMAHA Malaysia Yamaha H H H H SuperSports 600cc Fastest Lap Summary FP Keminth Kubo 1’38.902 QP Zaqhwan Zaidi 1’38.469 R1 Thitipong Warokorn 1’39.283 R2 Zaqhwan Zaidi 1’39.213

Wildcard rider Thitipong ‘Tingnote’ Warokorn ended a 3-year winning drought for the Kawasaki camp when he took Race 1 by storm. The last time a Kawasaki had won at the 4.554km Chang International Circuit, was Katsuaki Fujiwara who netted the first SuperSports 600cc win at the ARRC’s inaugural race inBuriram, Thailand. Thitipong, racing for the Core Kawasaki Racing Team, started the race from P6 but began breaking away when he took the lead on Lap 4. Though still hampered by injuries sustained in a separate training incident, Thitipong set a punishing pace at the front of the group, effectively leaving Australian rider Anthony West and defending champion Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman scrambling for the remaining two spots on the podium. By Lap 14, Thitipong had stretched the lead to 3.9 seconds. As the chequered flag came down on Lap 18, Thitipong crossed the finish line in 29’59.235s. 4.274s behind the wildcard, Ant West pipped Azlan to second place. Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi finished fourth while Ahmad Yudhistira ended his race in fifth. Further down the finishing order, Ratthapong Wilairot, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Taiga Hada, Keminth Kubo and Andi Farid Izdihar rounded out the top-10. Also finishing within the points, were debutant Azroy Hakeem Anuar, Yuki Ito, Irfan Ardiansyah, Ramdan Rosli and Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin. A strong performance was expected from the vastly experienced Decha Kraisart. However, the long-time Yamaha Thailand Racing Team rider crashed out on Lap 7.