Supersports 600

With air temperatures of 36 degrees and a track temperature of 45 degrees, Race 2 looked likely to deliver another drama at the Chang International Circuit, Round 2 host venue of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. There was plenty of drama from the onset of the race. Astra Honda’s Irfan Ardiansyah endured a nail-biting wait in the pitlane as his team engineers worked frantically for him to join the race from pitlane. Thai rider Chalermpol Polamai jumped the start from the outside for the front row, streaking away from the rest of the field. Manual Tech Kawasaki’s Ahmad Yudhistira tucked his Kawasaki into second position but was constantly harassed by Yamaha Thailand rider Decha Kraisart and Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi of MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda. Chalermpol came in for his ride-through penalty on lap three and Decha pushed his way past the leading Kawasaki as they came through the final turn to begin lap 4. Yudhistira fought back hard, but the determined Decha had enough pace to stretch out a half second lead as they began lap 5. Meanwhile Azlan, Zaidi and Yuki Ito got past Yudhistira, who recovered quickly to push his way back into third in front of Ito, Anthony West and Zaqhwan, these being seven seconds clear of Ratthapong Wilairot in seventh position. Looking like a man with a plan for the second half of the race, West got through to a secure third began to close on Azlan, passing the Malaysian cleanly on the brakes into Turn 4 on lap 12. The Australian kept his pace up and closed in on Decha, taking the lead on the brakes at the end of the same lap into turn 12. He was unable to break away, however, with Decha and Azlan pushing him hard all around the circuit. On the last lap, Azlan slid up the inside of Decha into Turn 4 to take second, but they were three abreast as they squeezed the brakes hard into the final corner. Decha put everything on the line, but ran wide leaving West and Azlan to take first and second. However, the Australian rider was subsequently disqualified from the results of both Race 1 and Race 2 due to an infringement of technical procedure. This left Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman as the big winner from Round 2. Having won Race 1 on Friday, Azlan was promoted to the top of the timesheets for Race 2 with a time of 30’00.670s. Decha Kraisart went from third to second with 30’01.825s. Zaqhwan Zaidi won a tense battle for third with 30’03.201s, ahead of Ahmad Yudhistira and Yuki Ito.  Taiga Hada finished sixth, 18 seconds further behind, with Keminth Kubo, Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Ratthapong Wilairot and Tatsuya Yamaguchi completing the top ten. Chalermpol fought back to 14thafter his penalty, 38 seconds behind the winner and took the honours for fastest lap with a time of 1:39.755.

Azlan Shah rose above a series of challenges in Race 1 to take a well deserved win in Race 1 at Chang International Circuit. The race got off to a false start when green lights were mistakenly shown. The race was immediately red flagged and the riders brought back to the line for another warm-up lap and a restart to a race shortened by two laps to 16. A determined Decha Kraisart capitalised on his pole position to take the holeshot and lead the first six in the order they qualified for the starting grid over the first few laps. Azlan Shah showed good pace behind, holding off the leader’s Yamaha Thailand team mate, Chalermpol Polamai and the second Manual Tech Kawasaki of Ahmad Yudhistira. These four opened a gap of three seconds to the chasing pack, which consisted of Zaqhwan Zaidi, Yuki Ito and Anthony West. Decha’s race ended in a heart-stopping moment at the beginning of lap 7, when the front of his R6 tucked going into Turn 1, leaving him in the middle of the track. As he got up to find safety, he ran directly into the path of Zaqhwan, who had got clear of Ito and West. The Malaysian somehow missed him, running wide in the process and losing his hard won race position. Meanwhile, West got the upper hand on Yudhistira to create a comfortable position for himself in third place. Back at the front, Chalermpol kept pushing the leading Kawasaki, briefly getting in front on lap 12, only for Azlan to snatch it back. The Thai rider made a bold lunge for the lead at Turn 4 on the final lap, but went in too hot and gave Azlan, who had not put a foot wrong, a clear margin to take to the chequered flag, Behind Anthony West, Yudhistira took fourth place, with Zaqhwan and Ito evenly spaced behind. While the indomitable Decha will be kicking himself for losing a clear chance of victory, he will also be thankful for today’s lucky escape and is sure come back strongly for Race 2.

In Supersport 600 Qualifying Azlan Shah showed his class early in the session, running in the early 1:39s, ahead of Yamaha Thailand’s Decha Kraisart and Chalermpol Polamai, Ahmad Yudhistira, Zaqhwan Zaidi and Anthony West, who carried their strong form through from Free Practice. With 12 minutes remaining, Decha pulled out a sensational lap of 1:38.641 to go half a second clear of Azlan. Sensing it was enough, he pulled into the pits, took his helmet off and watched the rest of the session on the TV monitors. Chalermpol edged to within a few thousandths of the Malaysian’s Kawasaki, shadowed by Yuki Ito, who looked like he was trying to work out where the Thai former champion was getting his half second advantage on the 4.5 kilometre circuit. Decha’s best lap did indeed prove to be unassailable and he is joined on the front row by Azlan and Chalermpol. The Manual Tech Kawasaki of Yudhistra ended up fourth ahead of the MUSASHI Boon Siew Honda of Zaqhwan and the ever threatening Akeno Speed Yamaha of Anthony West. Taiga Hada was seventh fastest with a lap of 1:39.640 on his RAMA Honda, just a few hundredths faster than AP Honda’s Ratthapong and Yamaha Racing’s Yuki Ito, who make up Row 3. Decha will be looking to delight his home fans in Race 1 by following up his recent World Supersport second place at Chang International Circuit with a win this afternoon. Despite his qualifying performance, the pace of Azlan Shah throughout the event so far and the sheer speed of Chalermpol, mean that Decha will be facing a stern test. The injured Zaqhwan will also be looking for a podium position, while the quality and experience Anthony West keeps him squarely in the frame. Yudhistira is also capable of making the top three on his day.

Three cracked toes on his right foot is hardly a deterrent for Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi as he revs up his title defense in the SuperSports 600cc category of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. The gritty Malaysian rider is determined to press on with his gruelling race schedule in spite of the injury he sustained during Round 1 of the Asian series held at the Johor Circuit in Malaysia. “Riders have won races with all kinds of injury. The pain is nothing. I’m already at a disadvantage because I did not pick up any points from Race 2 in Round 1,” said Zaqhwan who crashed out on Lap 2 while fighting for the race lead and is currently third overall on the standings with 25 points. “I must overcome the points deficit in Round 2 at Buriram this weekend.” There will be no rest for the intrepid Malaysian rider in April. Immediately after Round 2 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship wraps up on April 15 in Thailand, Zaqhwan will be heading east to take part in the Suzuka 2&4 Race in Japan onApril 22 and 23. “The Suzuka 2&4 Race is part of our training regime for the Suzuka 8-hour Endurance in July. If I miss the coming event, I will lose out on valuable track time,” Zaqhwan explained.

Exciting new talent came to the fore as the season opening round of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship came to a close at the Johor Circuit last weekend. A pair of teenagers, 18-year-olds Taiga Hada of Japan and Irfan Ardiansyah from Indonesia, stole the limelight when they dominated Race 2 of the SuperSports 600cc category amidst a field of seasoned campaigners Despite high expectations that Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi would repeat his Race 1 victory, the polesitter’s race got off to a bad start when he lost the holeshot to Hada. On Lap 2, Zaqhwan’s dream of a double win was smashed when he crashed out at Turn 2. Two laps later, another strong contender, Thailand’s Decha Kraisart also ended his race on the gravel. While the high profile riders stumbled, Taiga Hada of team RAMA Honda by NTS T.Pro Ten10, put in a stunning masterclass of inch-perfect racing throughout the 16-lap race. He kept his cool and his lead to clinch the first 600cc win of his career with a time of 24’51.787s. “My rear tyre was a bit slippy throughout the race, but apart from that, I have no other complaints. It was a thoroughly enjoyable race,” said a delighted Hada. Meanwhile, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman who suffered from engine woes in Race 1, fared better when he wheelied to the finish line in second place with 24’56.876s. Finally, Indonesian rider Irfan Ardiansyah from Astra Honda Racing stole the spotlight when he rode like a raging bull to go from 12th on the grid to third in the race with a time of 25’04.928s. Further down the field, Ahmad Yudhistira took fourth place with a time of 25’08.480s. Thai rider Ratthapong Wilairot stormed home in fifth place. Noriyuki Haga, Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Teppei Nagoe, Sena Yamada and Chalermpol Polamai completed the top 10. Hada now leads the SuperSports 600cc class with 45 points followed by Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, second with 33 points and Zaqhwan third with 25 points. Thanks to the young rider, team RAMA Honda by NTS T.Pro Ten10 holds the provisional lead in the team awards with 45 points. Team Manual Tech Kawasaki Racing and MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing are tied in second with 33 points apiece. Round 2 of the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship will take place at the Chang International Circuit on April 14 and 5, 2017.

SuperSports 600cc defending champion Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi picked up the first win of the season as the 2017 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship kicked off at the Johor Circuit on April 1, 2017. The 22-year-old Malaysian rider had gone from strength to strength as the first round progressed at the 3.86km circuit. Zaqhwan earned the right to start the first race from the coveted pole position when he delivered on his promise of a new lap record with a time of 1’30.612s. Subsequently, a good start in Race 1 gave the MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda rider the holeshot. However, Decha Kraisart of Yamaha Thailand Racing quickly made his presence felt when he successfully challenged Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and then took the lead from Zaqhwan on Lap 3. The Malaysian rider was contented to shadow his Thai rival for the majority of the race. Zaqhwan only made his move on Lap 10, and succeeded in taking the lead from Decha. Behind the duelling leaders, 18-year-old Taiga Hada gave a remarkably solid performance as he picked his way up the field to arrive within the leading group. On Lap 12, Decha tried to get on the outside of Yamaha Racing’s Yuki Ito, only to run out of tarmac and dropped to fourth position. With Decha gone, Hada quickly caught up with Zaqhwan but could not find a way past his more experienced rival. Zaqhwan led the pack to the finish line with a time of 24’48.515s while a grinning Hada skipped up to the second podium spot with a total time of 24’49.254s. In third place, Yuki Ito signalled the possibility of a strong Yamaha comeback with a time of 24’52.067s. “Decha was very strong at the start of the race. When he got into the lead, I found it very difficult to retaliate. So I decided to hang back, manage my tyres, and bide my time for the perfect opportunity. Once I overtook Decha on Lap 10, I switched mental gears in order to remain constant and focused on my riding. I was really shocked when I suddenly realized that Hada was right behind me. Luckily, that was during the closing laps of the race and I was able to keep my win,” said Zaqhwan.