Supersports 600

The unexpected results from the Australian round of the 2018 ARRC has kept the status quo in the SuperSports 600cc title chase. The race to cinch the 2018 SuperSports 600cc crown will resume in earnest as the Asian contingent head to the Suzuka Circuit for Round 3 this June 1 to 3.   Despite missing out on his home race due to a schedule-clash with the WSSP, Ant West is still nominally in charge with the 45 points he picked up in at the season-opener in Thailand. In his absence, the cancellation of Race 1 following a series of red flag incidents, had worked in his favor as no points were awarded for the first race.   In Suzuka, the WeBike Ikazuchi Racing rider will be going toe-to-toe against the reinvigorated Yuki Ito. Following a disappointing season in 2017, the factory Yamaha rider is back with a vengeance. The best performer at The Bend Motorsport Park, his win had propelled him up the rankings to 2ndoverall with 42 points, three points behind West.   Both championship leaders are equipped with the 2017 Yamaha R6 this season. While Ito has notched up a couple of Suzuka wins during his ARRC career, West has had the more recent success with a double in 2017.   SuperSports 600cc Records At The Suzuka Circuit   Year Pole-Sitter Race 1 Winner Race 2 Winner 2013 Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Honda) Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha) Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha) 2014 Yuki Ito (Yamaha) Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki) Yuki Ito (Yamaha) 2015 Yuki Takahashi (Honda) Yuki Ito (Yamaha) Yuki Takahashi (Honda) 2016 Yuki Takahashi (Honda) Decha Kraisart (Yamaha) Yuki Takahashi (Honda) 2017 Ikuhiro Enokido (Honda) Anthony West (Yamaha) Anthony West (Yamaha)   The time to beat will be 2’12.094s set by wildcard rider Ikuhiro Enokido during the 2017 qualifying practice.   Defending champion Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman struggled to find the right balance in the Australian round. Fighting to tame the finicky Ninja ZX-R6, it took almost herculean effort for the Malaysian rider to finish within the top-10. Azlan has dropped to third on the rankings but is still within shot of the championship lead with 38 points.   Behind Azlan, P4 to P9 on the standings are peopled by a slew of exciting names popping up on the Asian talent radar.   Ratthapong Wilairot is rocking his first season with the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team. He picked up his first podium of the season in Australia and is now 4thon the standings. Previously, Ratthapong’s best performance in the SuperSports 600cc class had been in 2015 when he ended his campaign in sixth overall.   Keminth Kubo continues to show improvements and is presently ranked 5thwith 27 points. While still a little erratic, team Yamaha Racing Asean’s decision to hone Kubo’s skills in the All Japan J-GP2 has helped stabilize the Thai rider’s aggressive streak.   Andi Farid Izdihar, returning after a 3-year stint in the Asian Talent Cup, is the best performing Indonesian rider in 6thoverall.   Thitipong Warokorn is still on the top-10. Warokorn won Round 1 as a wildcard, but his ranking will continue to drop until he makes another wildcard appearance in Round 6.   Team Hong Leong Yamaha Malaysia’s latest recruit, Mohd Ramdan Rosli, along with team Musashi Boon Siew Honda’s rookie Azroy Hakeem Anuar, has been highly impressive in the first two rounds. The two Malaysian youngsters are ranked 8thand 9threspectively.   The venerable Decha Kraisart, anchor for the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team, has had a bad start to the 2018 season. Decha has only finished one race out of three so far, and has dropped to 10thon the standings with 20 points.   As the ARRC heads back to familiar surroundings at the 5.8km Suzuka Circuit, other riders who had previously been tipped as title contenders will need to double down on their efforts to stay in touch with the chase. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Ahmad Yudhistira, Keisuke Kurihara, Taiga Hada, and Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi are ranked 11thto 15threspectively.

Tensions ran high as the premiere class riders lined up on the grid for Race 2 of the SuperSports 600cc class. Following the cancellation of Race 1, everyone had been determined to finish the race in grand fashion at the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship’s Australian debut at The Bend Motorsport Park.   The 600cc grid was cut down further when Decha Kraisart and Broc Pearson had to pull out due to injuries sustained earlier in the weekend.   Ito, who was one of the riders who had crashed out in Race 1, was lucky to have been able to get back onto the grid for Race 2. As the race was flagged off, the Yamaha Racing Team Asean poleman jumped into the lead ahead of Ratthapong Wilairot and Taiga Hada. The Japanese ace was racing well until a crash by Irfan Ardiansyah brought out the red flag on Lap 4.   The SuperSports 600cc race was re-started and reduced to 8 laps. At the re-start, Malaysian rookie Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin took the early lead, again with Ratthapong and Yuki Ito in tow. Kasma ran wide on Lap 3, creating an opening for Ito to ride into the lead.   The Yamaha Racing Team Asean rider proceeded to control the race pace from the front of the group and ended the race in first with 15’42.605s. This would be Ito’s first win since Round 5 in India, in 2017.   Ratthapong Wilairot also reveled in his first SuperSports 600cc podium when he finished second with 15’44.207s. Malaysian rookie Mohd Ramdan Mohd Rosli created quite a stir when he came home in third place, clocking 15’49.587s.   Keisuke Kurihara and Keminth Kubo placed fourth and fifth respectively followed by Andi Farid Izdihar in fifth, Azroy Hakeem Anuar, Kasma Daniel, Joe Francis and defending champion Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman.   The shakeup from Race 1 has had a huge impact on the title chase. With points awarded only for Race 2, Ito was unable to take the lead from the absent Anthony West. West is still at the top of the ladder with 45 points. Ito is now ranked second with 42 points. Azlan Shah has dropped to third overall with 38 points.

The SuperSports 600cc Race 1 at The Bend Motorsport Park, Round 2 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, has been deemed cancelled after two separate incidents brought out the red flags twice in the duration of the race.   The original 15-lap race was first red flagged on Lap 3 when race leader Yuki Ito highsided. Ito, fortunately, walked away uninjured by the crash. The 600cc grid re-convened for a shortened 9-lap race but was again interrupted when championship leader Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman took a tumble at the same corner on Lap 3.   Under ARRC regulations, Race 1 is deemed cancelled and no championship points will be awarded.

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.