Underbone 150

A week in Italy training at the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp has Underbone 150cc leader McKinley Kyle Paz raring to go for Round 6 of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. McKinley will return to the Sepang International Circuit, the scene of his first ARRC win that put him on course for the title hunt. The young Filipino rider, who currently leads the UB150 with 95 points in the bag, was part of a group of young Asian riders sent to the Rossi camp for further exposure. These include Malaysian Mohd Alif Ashraf Tahiruddin and Yamaha AP250cc riders Sawapol Nillapong and Suttipat Patchareetorn. This has been an on-going initiative by Yamaha. McKinley and co were the eighth group of Asian riders to train at the VR46 Master Camp. Luminaries from the camp include current top riders such as Apiwat Wongthananon, Peerapong Boonlert, and Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin. “I will always treasure this five-day training experience. Being coached by your idols is really an inspiration for a young rider like me. The Master Camp really makes a difference!” said the UMA Racing Yamaha Philippine rider. Armed with fresh determination, McKinley will be looking to pick up his third win of the season in Sepang. He and team mate Fernando Masato will be joined by a third member – wildcard, John Emerson Inguito.

As Muslims the world over celebrate the festival of Aidiladha, Malaysian rider Mohd Akid Aziz was doubly blessed when he picked up his second UB150 win of the season at the Zhuhai International Circuit. The Underbone 150 Race 2 got off to a rocky start when Mohd Izzat Raduan and Richie Taroreh crashed out at Turn 4 during the opening lap. The incident brought out the red flag and the race had to be re-started with 6 laps on the boards. Akid lined up fourth on the grid but as is common in Underbone racing, the UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team rider quickly put himself at the front of the leading pack. Ably assisted by his UMA Racing team mates Haziq Fairues, McKinley Kyle Paz and Fernando Masato, the four riders successfully deployed their tag-team tactics to control the race pace from the front. Akid successfully threaded his way past the leading pack and managed to put himself squarely in the lead as the group exited the final corner. Akid sprinted to the finish line to claim the win with 12’14.739s 0.051s behind Akid, team mates Ahmad Fazli Sham and Wahyu Aji Trilaksana presented two podium finishes to the ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team. Fazli finished second with 12’14.790s and Wahyu third with 12’14.869s SND Factory Racing Team’s Wawan Wello, who had led the UB150 class into Round 5, endured a disastrous weekend in Zhuhai. Wawan crashed out of Race 1, and his woes were compounded with a mechanical breakdown in Race 2. Zero points from the weekend has dropped Wawan down to P5. Newly reinstated class leader McKinley Kyle Paz finished in P5. He now leads with 95 points at the top of the table. Akid moves up to second overall with 91 points while Fazli goes from fifth to third with 81 points.

After a few rounds with indifferent results, McKinley Kyle Paz is back on top of the UB150 standings following a stunning performance at Race 1 at the Zhuhai International Circuit. The Filipino rider had arrived in China determined to win back the championship lead that he had lost following the Suzuka leg of the season. The young rider displayed his determination when he qualified for the front row with 2’02.302s. He started the race from P2, flanked by polesitter Aldi Satya Mahendra and championship leader Wawan Wello. The 29-rider grid bunched up together as soon as the lights went off. At a track like the Zhuhai International Circuit, breaking away was almost impossible. The close-contact racing continued right up to the final lap until a series of unrelated crashes gave McKinley the opportunity to extend his lead. First, Murobbil Vitoni high sided at the exit of Turn 1. A few corners later, Wahyu Aji Trilaksana tangled with Rozaiman Said. Then, championship leader Wawan Wello high sided out of the race. With the key competitors in the group out of the race, McKinley was able to speed to the finish line with a time of 16’17.478s. His team mate Fernando Masato made it a Filipino 1-2 for the UMA Racing Yamaha Philippine Team. Young Aldi Satya Mahendra finished in third.

UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team’s Mohd Akid Aziz has consistently been the fastest UB150 rider as Round 5 of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship opened at the Zhuhai International Circuit this weekend. The Malaysian rider opened the day by laying down the benchmark for the Underbone 150 class, clocking fastest in P1 with 1’59.825s. Akid maintained his edge throughout the day, ending the day by taking provisional pole in Qualifying with 1’59.158s. Of the 29 riders on the UB150 grid, only four have managed to lap below the 2-minute mark. Second fastest in qualifying was senior rider Ahmad Fazli Sham (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) with 1’59.610s. Championship leader Wawan Wello (SND Factory Racing Rapido) piloted his Honda to third in the qualifier with 1’59.713s. Young Aldi Satya Mahendra, who in the previous round, had just set a record as the youngest winner of the UB150 class, was fourth with 1’59.740s. Elsewhere, Filipino rider McKinley Kyle Paz who his fighting to keep his title hopes alive, managed to make the cut into the SuperPole. The UMA Racing Yamaha Philippine Team rider was 11th fastest in qualifying while his team mate Fernando Masato sneaked in at P15.

The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship Race Direction has recently begun cracking down hard on unruly riding in the four classes of the championship. As the level of competition rises in the second half of the 2019 season, the trend of riders pushing the limits of safety has also increased correspondingly. For example, Mohd Akid Aziz was fined during the qualifying session at Suzuka. His dangerous riding had caused another rider to crash. In the same leg, Gupita Kresna Wardhana was found to have been riding dangerously in Race 1. He was penalized with a ride-through penalty in Race 2. Similarly in Round 3 at Buriram, Mohd Adib Rosley was also penalized with a ride-through penalty for dangerous riding. The Race Direction team is taking this matter seriously and will not hesitate to hand out severe penalties in order to deter future incidents.

An inspired performance from 13-year-old Aldi Satya Mahendra at a rain-soaked Suzuka saw him become the youngest ever winner of an ARRC race in the championship’s 23-year history. After the scheduled start was delayed while oil dropped on the track on the sighting lap by Gupita Kresna was cleared up, Aldi made his presence felt from the start, staying within the top half of a group of eight bikes that broke away at the front. By the end of lap two, it was clear that Aldi and YY Pang’s Adib Rosley were making the best of the conditions, while Akid Aziz and Fazli Sham moved up the order ahead of Team One for All’s Peerapong Luiboonpeng and Affendi Rosley. Meanwhile, half the 30 starters fell by the wayside. Gupita’s mechanical problem at the start prevented him from reaching the start line. Adib spent most of the race at the front, but Aldi kept the pressure on and moved ahead on the last lap and held his advantage through the final chicane and on to the chequered flag to win by 0.297 from the red Yamaha, with Fazli close behind in third, just beating Akid to the final podium spot. Five seconds back, Affendi was fifth just ahead of Said, while Peerapong, Richie Taroreh, Haziq Fairues and Fitri Ashraff Razali completed the top ten. Despite being among the non-finishers, SND’s Wawan Wello still leads the standings with 71 points to the 59 held by both McKinley Kyle Paz and Akid Aziz.

SND Factory Racing’s Gupita Kresna made up for a poor qualifying performance, which saw him start from 22nd position on the grid, to take a brilliantly judged win in Underbone 150 race one which saw almost half the riders who started lead the race at some point. In the morning’s Superpole contest, Akid Aziz, Friday’s fastest qualifier, confirmed his provisional pole position with a near perfect lap of 2’39.065 ahead of Peerapong Luiboonpeng and Wahyu Nugroho. Wahyu Aji Trilaksana broke down on his superpole lap and started 15th. 13 year-old Gun Mie impressed by qualifying ninth. The first half of the six lap race saw UMA Racing Yamaha’s Akid Aziz contesting the lead with Ahmad Fazli Sham, Wawan Wello, Peerapong Luiboonpeng, Haziq Fairues, McKinley Kyle Paz and Wahyu Aji. With two laps remaining, Gupita completed his charge through the field to lead briefly, before settling into the first four of the leading group. As the leaders fanned out at the final chicane, Gupita placed himself perfectly to get ahead of team-mate, Wawan and Wahyu Aji to add another win at Suzuka to his resume. It was an impressive team performance for SND Factory, as Syaruhl Amin finished fourth. Peerapong crossed the line fifth ahead of Fazli Sham and Amirul Ariff Musa. Non finishers included Gun Mie, Kyle Paz and both RCB YY Pang Yamahas of Adib Rosley and Izzat Zaidi.

UMA Racing Yamaha’s Akid Aziz kept the best until last in underbone qualifying this afternoon. ONEXOX TKKR SAG’s Wahyu Aji Trilaksana led most of the session, after banking a time of 2’37.133 relatively early on in what is starting to look like a return to form for the Indonesian. Akid had shown good pace from the opening laps, topping the first session on a drying track, while Team One for All’s Peerapong Luiboonpeng recorded the overall fastest lap of the day in FP2 with a lap of 2’36.723. What had been an advantage of more than a second for Wahyu in qualifying got nibbled away during the last few minutes by Haziq Fairues, McKinley Kyle Paz, Peerapong Luiboonpeng and Akid who eventually pushed Wahyu down to second. Peerapong finished third in front of Kyle Paz, Fairues, Aiman Azman, Wawan Wello and Affendi Rosli, all of whom were bracketed within the 1’37s. HI REV SCK Honda’s 13-year-old Japanese rider, Gun Mie, was a few places further back in 12th on 1’38.555, while Adib Rosley was 15th and therefore the last rider through to Saturday morning’s Superpole competition, which determines positions for the first five rows of the starting grid. Lap record holder and winner of last year’s race two at Suzuka, Gupita Kresna, only managed a 2’39.89 to qualify 22nd one place in front of Australia’s Travis Hall, who had an off during the session. Round three, race two winner, Ahmad Fazli Sham, also found himself down the order in 18th.

The Malaysian-based UMA Racing crew has ramped up their efforts and came out with guns blazing in the Underbone 150 class of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. The vaunted team experienced a mediocre season in 2018, with their best ranking coming from 2017 UB150 champion Mohd Akid Aziz who ended his campaign in fifth overall. This season, however, the team runs not just one race outfit in the UB150, but two. The team’s partnership with Yamaha Philippines has effectively doubled Uma Racing’s presence in the class – UMA Racing Philippine Team and UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team. The crew is obviously up for the challenge as both teams dominate the first half of the 2019 season. A flying start in the season opener gave Uma Racing Yamaha Philippine Team an advantage. They lead the team’s rankings with 65 points. As the circus heads to Suzuka for Round 3, McKinley Kyle Paz is still at the top of the standings but is under increasing pressure to maintain and extend his lead. A disappointing outing in Buriram has cut McKinley’s lead to a 5-point margin against upcoming rider Wawan Wello. UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team is ranked second on the team’s ladder with 59 points. The bulk of the team’s points-haul has come from Akid Aziz who has picked up two podiums to date. Third on the team’s standings is Team One For All who are back with two familiar riders – Mohd Affendi Rosli and Peerapong Luiboonpeng. Their season got off to a challenging start when the team’s assets were stolen a week before the opening round. Even so, the crew run by former MotoGP rider Youichi Ui were able to overcome the devastating loss. Affendi has managed two podium finishes after Round 2 and the team is ranked third with 57 points. SND Factory Racing Rapido’s trio of Indonesian racing stars – Wawan Wello, Gupita Kresna Wardhana and Syahrul Amin – are still trying to get into the rhythm. Wawan Wello has been the team’s best performer so far. Wawan has consistently picked up points from the first two rounds. His second place finish in Buriram boosted him up to where he is now in the position to challenge McKinley Kyle Paz for the lead. The ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team experienced a big boost at Buriram when seasoned campaigner Ahmad Fazli Sham picked up the team’s first UB150 win of the season. The team, which has a presence in all classes of the 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, is ranked fifth with 51 points. Meanwhile, Yamaha Racing Indonesia’s decision to go with young talents this season is beginning to gain momentum. 16-year-old Wahyu Nugroho, in particular, put in a stunning performance in Round 3 when he claimed fourth in Race 1 and second in Race 2. Debutant team Pro-Liner 549 Kaboci Racing Team is currently ranked seventh on the team standings. The team is banking on experienced rider Richard Taroreh to maintain their presence in the limelight while the team continues to train 15-year-old Mohammad Murobbil Vitoni as their next generation of Indonesian talents. 2019 has been challenging for Yuzy Honda Racing this season. After a second-placed podium by Amirul Ariff Musa in Round 1, the team has not been raking in the points. Like many of the Underbone teams, the Yuzy Honda Racing partners an experienced campaigner with a rookie rider. In this case, the team is highly reliant on Amirul’s performance to bring home the championship points. A 30-rider UB150 grid leaves little room for wildcards. At the upcoming Suzuka round, Hi Rev SCK Honda Racing Team’s Gun Mie will be the sole Japanese rider in the class. Ironically, Gun, who is racing in his first full UB150 season this year, has been the team’s best performer. The 13-year-old, one of the youngest riders in the class this season, has consistently picked up points in the first two rounds. Currently ranked 13th on the riders’ standings, Gun Mie would be looking forward to his home race this week. Newcomer team Cardinals Racing Team has managed to break into the top 10. Coming into the ARRC as a new racing outfit, the crew were well aware that they would have their work cut out for them to get into the competitive rhythm. Working with experienced Malaysian riders Fitri Ashraf Razali, Rozaiman Said and Indonesian Chepy Armansyah, the team is ranked 10th to date.