Underbone 130

Overview: Indonesian rider Wahyu Aji Trilaksana was finally able to show his full mettle in Race 2 of the Underbone 130cc class at Round 4 of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. The TPK48 BKMS Indonesia rider who was tipped as the favourite to win at the Sentul Circuit crafted a comeback after a dismal outing in Race 1 on Saturday. Race Start: Wahyu shot off from pole position into the holeshot with the full 17-bike contingent hot on his tail. Wahyu was only able to hold on to the position for a few corners as the usual jostling got underway. Lap 1: Wahyu leads Amirul Ariff Musa into Lap 1. Vietnamese rider Cao Viet Nam retired from the race. Lap 2: Wahyu managed a small 0.434s lead ahead of the group battling for P2. Mohd Fareez Afeez of team IUGB AFB Tech Racing also retired, cruising into the pitlane on his own power. Lap 3: Tag-team strategy began to come into play with Wahyu Aji seen to be asking for help from Wahyu Nugraha to keep the rest of the riders in place. Lap 4: Wahyu Nugraha played his role to perfection. Wahyu Aji Trilaksana’s margin increased. Lap 5: The battle for P2 intensified between the top nine riders. Another IUGB AFB Tech Racing rider, Mohd Irfan Rosnizam retired from the race due to engine failure. Lap 6: Norizman emerges from the group to bring the challenge to Wahyu Nugraha. Both riders were still fighting for P2. By then, Wahyu Aji Trilaksana had gained a 2.141s lead – a huge margin by Underbone racing standards. Lap 7: Wahyu Aji Trilaksana increases his lead to 3.3 seconds. T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS With WoW’s Amirul Ariff Musa was seen trying to reel Wahyu in, but was himself pressured by the large group surrounding him. Lap 8: Norizman had to fend off persistent attacks from Wahyu Nugraha and Florianus Roy. While the three riders were otherwise engaged, Amirul Ariff Musa slipped past into P2. Lap 9: After spending 8 laps taking the measure of each other, the riders hunkered down for the final lap battle. Lap 10: Wahyu Aji Trilaksana, unchallenged at the front, romped to an easy finish with a time of 19’13.483s, 4.443 seconds in front of his closest rival. Behind him, seasoned Malaysian campaigners Ahmad Fazli Sham and Norizman Ismail sprang out of nowhere to pull off a surprising second and third place finish. Fazli clocked 19’17.926s while Norizman posted 19’17.964s. Wahyu Nugraha and Florianus Roy who had worked so far to keep the other riders away from their compatriot, were denied their dream 1-2-3 all-Indonesian finish and had to settle for fourth and fifth places respectively. Championship Standings: Wahyu’s win turned the championship tables around as he leapfrogged to the top spot with 88 points. TPro Yuzy Honda NTS rider Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa is second overall with 83 points. RCB KAGE Motobatt Yamaha YY Pang’s Mohd Izzat Zaidi who had led the Underbone 130cc title chase up to this point, drops to third overall when he crashed out of Race 2. Team Standings: Wahyu has also managed an upheaval in the team standings. Team TPK48 BKMS Indonesia is now tied in first place with UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor. Both teams have picked up 88 points so far. Team RCB KAGE Motobatt Yamaha YY Pang slips down to third with 84 points. Riders Quote: Wahyu Aji Trilaksana, TPK48 BKMS Indonesia, Winner: I got lucky. Everyone was so busy fighting with each other that I managed to get away. After Lap 3, it was just a matter of staying focused. Ahmad Fazli Sham, UMA Racing Yamaha Maju, 2nd place: This podium feels good after I was forced to retire yesterday. But I went to the grid for Race 2 feeling good because the team had been able to fix the problem and the bike was a dream to ride today. My thanks to my team for their hard work overnight.

Rookie rider Mohd Helmi Azman netted a surprise win for fledgling team IUGB AFB Tech Racing as he stormed to victory in Race 1 of the Underbone 130cc class at the Sentul Circuit. Pitted against seasoned campaigners who had survived thousands of close-fought Underbone battles, Helmi carried himself with perfect composure throughout the 10-lap race to emerge victorious with a time of 19’45.426s. The 17-year-old Malaysian rider pipped Wahyu Nugraha to the finish line by a mere 0.043 seconds, forcing the Indonesian favourite to settle for second place. Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa from T Pro Yuzy Honda Racing grabbed third place with 19’45.598s. Wahyu Aji Trilaksana, who had hoped to revive his title chances at this round, was disappointed when engine problems pushed him down to 9th in the race. The championship lead is held by Mohd Izzat Zaidi Salehan who has picked up a total of 82 points after finishing fourth in Race 1. Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa is second overall with 73 points while Wahyu Aji Trilaksana stays third with 63 points.

Indonesian rider Wahyu Aji Trilaksana took early control of the Underbone 130cc category when he posted the fastest time in all three practice sessions on Day 1. Comfortable racing at the Sentul Circuit, host to Round 4 of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, Wahyu confirmed his pole position with a time of 1’55.802s. For the 24-year-old rider who is third overall in the standings, his home race would be the best chance to turn the tables on championship leaders Mohd Izzat Zaidi and Amirul Ariff Musa. However, Wahyu is shrugging off the pressure, intent on enjoying the upcoming race. “It is good to start from pole position but let’s not forget that in Underbone racing, even those at the back of the grid stand a chance to catch up to the lead. I just want to relax, stay focused, and have fun this weekend racing in front of our home fans. Hopefully we can deliver good results for them,” said Wahyu. Alongside Wahyu on the front straight are two Malaysian rivals – Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa who posted second fastest with 1’55.985s and Ahmad Fazli Sham third fastest with 1’56.135s. Conversely, it is the two Malaysians who will feel the most pressure at the starting grid, especially when the second row is completely filled by the home ground heroes. Wahyu Nugraha leads the second row with 1’56.731s, followed by wildcard Richard Taroreh fifth fastest with 1’56.742s and Florianus Roy sixth with 1’57.481s.

Wily Malaysian rider Ahmad Fazli Sham stole the Underbone 130cc Race 2 win in Round 2 of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. In this instance, Fazli’s wealth of experience clearly counted when it mattered most. A slow start placed Fazli deep in the group as Amirul Ariff Musa and Race 1 winner Wahyu Trilaksana stole the holeshot. However, Fazli quickly overcame the disadvantage and appeared to be fighting for the lead midway through the 8-lap race. However, Race 2 did not go entirely to script. Instead of the usual swarm of riders jostling for P1, the riders were split into two main groups with five riders in the first group and another five in the second pack. Given more room to manoeuvre , Fazli nipped into Wahyu’s slipstream as the riders approached the last corner, deftly managed the tricky last corner by hugging the apex, and won the photo-finish battle against Wahyu by only 0.021 seconds. Fazli’s win was recorded at 17’36.626s while Wahyu finished second with 17’36.647s and Florianus Roy third with 17’36.748s. “It’s really gratifying when your strategy works out,” grinned a delighted Fazli Sham. “I thought I could break away, but it was obvious that racing solo would cause too much strain on the engine. This way was more of a gamble, but the split group of riders certainly helped.” Underbone 130cc championship leader Mohd Izzat Zaidi finished fourth in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2 to stay in front with 69 points. Amirul Ariff Musa came in within the top-6 in both races and is second overall with 57 points. Wahyu Aji Trilaksana’s double podium from Round 2 placed him third with 56 points.

Outnumbered but not outclassed, Indonesian riders Wahyu Aji Trilaksana and Florianus Roy Brilyan eliminated a grid full of Malaysian riders to secure two podium finishes in Race 1 of the Underbone 130cc category at the second leg of the 2016 season in Thailand. While the Malaysian riders were more visible in the early part of the 8-lap race, Wahyu and Florianus sprung a surprise challenge at the final lap. Both riders took advantage of the break in their rivals’ racing momentum and sprinted to the finish line with Wahyu in first place and Florianus in third. Only Malaysian rider Mohd Haziq Mohd Fairues was able to keep up, and the 15-year-old finished second to take his first Asian podium. Meanwhile, championship leader Izzat Zaidi finished fourth place and stayed at the top of the standings with 58 points. Second-ranked Amirul Ariff Musa and third overall rider Norizman Ismail also ended their races within the points.

Team RCB KAGE Motobatt Yamaha YY Pang’s Mohd Adib Rosley booked his slot on pole position when he lapped almost a second faster than the rest of the field in the Underbone 130cc SuperPole. Adib was the only rider to post 2’09.678s and was 0.7s quicker than his competitors. Adib will lead the front row comprising of Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa who posted 2’10.405s and Wahyu Aji Trilaksana, third fastest with 2’10.779s. The second row of the Underbone 130cc race features another mixed bag of riders featuring Florianus Roy, championship leader Mohd Izzat Zaidi and Mohd Haziq Mohd Fairues. While pleased with the pole position, Adib is not feeling secure. “In Underbone 130cc, it’s not the bike power that counts. It’s all that jostling, strategizing and slipstreaming that will win or lose a race,” he said.

2-times Malaysian Cub Prix Champion and now team owner of AFB Tech Racing Team, Ahmad Fuad Baharudin, is feeling positive with the insertion of a new corporate sponsor into his team. Presently into its fourth year of operations, team AFB Tech has signed on IUGB (I Usahawan Global Berhad) as the title sponsor of the team. As a result, the team has spread its wings beyond the national borders and has confirmed its participation in the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. “When I decided to hang up my racing boots in 2014 and made the leap into team management, I had been lucky throughout that we have been able to secure good sponsors for the team. This year, we are proud to work with the IUGB group,” said the 37-year-old team owner. The IUGB-AFB partnership got off to a podium-worthy start when Mohd Helmi Azman scored a second place finish in Round 3 of the 2016 PETRONAS AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship. “Thanks to that strong start, IUGB decided to expand their sponsorship and bring the team into the Asian series as well. We raced as wildcards during the first leg at Pasir Gudang. Here in Thailand for Round 2, the team will race full season in the Underbone 130cc category with Md Fareez Afeez and Md Irfan Rosnizam. Fareez especially did very well during the first leg where he is currently eighth overall despite his rookie status in the class,” said Fuad. “IUGB’s involvement is particularly important because they are one of the first non-bike related corporate bodies to enter the sport. We hope that their involvement will create awareness among other corporate bodies that motorsports is a strong marketing platform. As the sport grows, we need more corporate sponsor involvement. The industry cannot just continue to survive on the players in the motorcycle market alone,” Fuad concluded.

21-year-old Mohd Izzat Zaidi professed surprise when he defeated more experienced Underbone 130cc riders to win Race 2 in the opening leg of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at the Johor Circuit. As always in the Underbone 130cc class, the riders spent seven out of eight laps jockeying for position at each corner. When the race intensified in the last lap, Izzat timed his break out of the last corner slipstream to perfection. The RCB KAGE Motobatt YY Pang rider slingshot into the win with a time of 15’32.282s. Senior rider Norizman Ismail claimed second place with 15’32.420s and FELDA PB Racing’s Iqbal Amri Malik took third spot with 15’32.455s. Rider Quotes: Md Izzat Zaidi: “I would like to thank my team for a great start to the ARRC season. My strategy to wait for the last moment before mounting an attack went really well. I hope that I will be able to maintain my momentum in the coming rounds.” Norizman Ismail: “We made a mistake in our bike settings for Race 1. Our efforts to rectify the problem in Race 2 seemed to have worked in the early part of the race, but problems started cropping up after the halfway mark. Since there was nothing I could do about mechanical errors in the middle of the race, I just stayed focus on consistency and sticking to the main group. I was lucky to finish second.” Iqbal Amri Malik: “This is my first season in the ARRC and I am feeling a bit pressured. This race had been a big learning experience for me.”

Underbone 130cc newcomers Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Md Haziq Md Fairues distinguished themselves during the first day of practice at the kick-off leg of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. 17-year-old Azroy emerged as the fastest rider with1’53.833s while 15-year-old Haziq checked in at second fastest with 1’54.222s. Despite consistently dominating the timesheets during the pre-season test, RCB KAGE Motobatt Yamaha YY Pang duo Md Adib Rosley and Md Izzat Zaidi were only third and fourth fastest in the Underbone 130cc SuperPole. Unlike the other classes, the Underbone 130cc grid is determined by SuperPole method. Each rider gets a clean piece of track on which to perform. The reason was to eliminate the element of slipstream towing from the heritage South East Asian class.