Supersports 600

Becoming Asia’s Top 600cc Team For every time the riders go out on track for the title hunt, a parallel but invisible race happens in the Asian paddocks – the race to win the title as the best Asian team in their race category.     In 2017, the Asia Production 250cc team title had been sealed by the Astra Honda Racing Team while team UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor picked up the Underbone 150cc team title.   As for the SuperSports 600cc category, five teams are in contention for the crown as the season finale looms at the Chang International Circuit this December 2 and 3. While MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing’s Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi leads the riders championship, it is team Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing that tops the teams standings with 155 points.   Teams pick up points through their best performing rider in every race. In the case of team Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing, the team could pick up points from either Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman or Ahmad Yudhistira, depending on which rider finishes higher in any particular race.   Having two experienced riders in their stable had given the Kawasaki outfit a nominal edge over its closest competitors. After five rounds of competition, the Indonesian-based team has a 9-point advantage.   Their closest rival is team MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing. The Malaysian team had opted for a senior-rookie combination in 2017. Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi is racing for the first time as lead rider this season. In the past, Zaqhwan had always had a senior rider or at the very least a peer of similar experiences. This year, Zaqhwan is paired with SuperSports 600cc rookie Teppei Nagoe. This meant that team MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing is completely reliant on the points accumulated by Zaqhwan in their quest to win their sixth consecutive SuperSports 600cc team title.   Just as Yuki Ito and Taiga Hada are tied in second overall on the riders’ chart, their teams, team Yamaha Racing and RAMA Honda by NTS T.Pro Ten10 Racing are tied in third overall with 140 points each.   Yamaha Thailand Racing Team has a mathematical chance, hovering in fifth overall with 115 points. The Thai team is 40 points adrift of the leading pack but they may be able to improve on their rankings. This is especially because the final race will take place on home ground.

He spent the entire 2016 almost sunk in obscurity, struggling to whip his campaign into shape. Sheer determination, perseverance and willpower has finally brought team Yamaha Racing rider Yuki Ito back to the top step of the podium. Competing at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai, India, Yuki Ito’s bid for the 2017 crown took a turn for the better when he was finally able to ride to his true potential. The premiere class, the highlights of the day’s racing, took place after a heavy drizzle during the Asia Production 250cc category. The drying track left the SuperSports 600cc teams and riders in a quandary with regards to their tyre choice. The track surface was not wet enough for the rain tyres. But with the track temperature measured at only 37 degrees Celcius, most teams were torn between the choice of the hard and medium compound slicks. In the end, the entire grid opted for dry tyres, with the majority of the front runners racing on hard front and rear. The SuperSports 600cc race was further shortened from its original 16 laps to 14 laps. The starting grid itself underwent a small change. Pole sitter Keminth Kubo opted out of Race 2. The Yamaha Racing rider suffered a big crash in the last lap of Race 1. Although given the green light to get back onto the grid, team Yamaha Racing decided that it would be wiser to rest the rider. Kubo’s absence from the starting grid meant all the other riders moved up one spot. Team MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda’s Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi settled in on pole position. Zaqhwan was unable to capitalize on his prime starting position. He lost the holeshot to a charging and more aggressive Taiga Hada. However, it was the experienced campaigner Chalermpol Polamai who jumped into the lead on Lap 1 when Hada hit a wet patch and ran wide.  More disaster was in store for championship leader Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman. Still in the championship lead but still injured, Azlan was up to eighth position after starting from the back of the grid. Unfortunately, the Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing rider took another spill in Lap 1. The Kawasaki rider managed to get back into the race, but was never able to regain his position within the top 10. Up ahead, Chalermpol Polamai had lost ground. On Lap 3, Zaqhwan Zaidi rode to the front with Yuki Ito in tow. Ratthapong Wilairot put in a highly impressive performance in the opening laps of the race when he got as high as third position. However, in chasing after Ito, Wilairot rode beyond his limits and crashed out of third place on Lap 7. A lap later, Taiga Hada made up for lost ground and came within sight of the leading duo. However, Ito was solely focused on the rider ahead of him – his Honda rival, Zaqhwan. The Yamaha rider was consistently a shade faster than Zaqhwan in every lap, yet held back from overtaking until Lap 11. It was a well thought-out strategy that worked perfectly. Zaqhwan’s tyre had been completely worn by the final two laps, and the MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda rider had no response for Ito’s move. Ito immediately set about creating a gap ahead of Zaqhwan, and eventually ended his inch-perfect race in first place with 23’55.967s. Zaqhwan crossed the finish line in second place with 23’56.832s, 0.865s behind. Taiga Hada completed a solo ride in third place with 24’04.372s. Just off the podium, Teppei Nagoe repeated his fourth place finishing in Race 2. Yamaha Thailand’s power duo Decha Kraisart and Chalermpol Polamai finished in fifth and sixth positions. Team AP Honda Racing Thailand’s replacement rider Sittisak Onchawiang gave good account of himself in seventh followed by Sena Yamada, Ahmad Yudhistira and Noriyuki Haga who rounded out the top ten. Further down the finishing order, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman limped home in 12th position, picking up four valuable championship points to keep his title hopes alive. The Madras Motor Race Track had proven to be an effective game-changer in the race to become the 2017 SuperSports 600cc champion. As the Asia Road Racing Championship heads to a final showdown at the Chang International Circuit in December, there are five riders in contention for the crown. Zaqhwan now leads with 138 points. Yuki Ito and Taiga Hada share the second spot with 134 points apiece. Azlan Shah is fourth with 128 points and Ahmad Yudhistira is still in with a chance, holding 110 points to his name. From a team perspective, team Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing’s bid to win the Team Award is also under threat. They suffered their worst results at the Madras Motor Race Track and their lead in the team standings have been whittled down to a 9-point margin. The Kawasaki outfit holds 155 points while five times team champion MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing has strengthened its position with 146 points. Team RAMA Honda by NTS T.Pro Ten10 is also in contention, the Japanese-Indian racing team shares third overall position with Yamaha Racing. Both teams have amassed 140 points to date.

Yamaha Thailand Racing Team’s Decha Kraisart has logged a new track record at the Madras Motor Race Track, host to Round 5 of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship.  Lapping home in the third free practice with 1’41.305s, Decha smashed the previous 2013 record by 1.5 seconds. The last record, held by Malaysian rider Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, was posted at 1’42.785s. Decha, who stands sixth overall on the championship ladder after eight races, still holds a mathematical chance of staging an upset in the final stages of the title chase. However, the seasoned Thai campaigner will have his work cut out for him with both defending champion Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi and current championship leader Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman hot on his tail. Zaqhwan posted second fastest with 1’41.501s while Azlan ended the day third fastest with 1’41.801s. Strong performances from Ahmad Yudhistira and Ratthapong Wilairot placed them fourth and fifth fastest respectively. Yuki Ito, Keminth Kubo, Sittisak Onchawiang, Chalermpol Polamai and Teppei Nagoe completed the top 10.

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.

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.

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.