Underbone 150

Ahmad Fazli Sham has picked up a first win for the ONEXOX TKKR Racing Team in Race 1 of the Underbone 150cc at Round 4 in Chennai, India. The Malaysian rider reverted to his old winning ways with a solid performance throughout the 10-lap race, eventually coming home as winner with 19’02.205s.   The seasoned Underbone specialist kept his cool under pressure from younger upcoming names such as McKinley Kyle Paz from the Philippines, defending champion Mohd Akid Aziz, championship leader Mohd Helmi Azman and Thai rider Peerapong Luiboonpeng.   Fazli held his ground within the leading group while positions continued to change at every corner. The Yamaha rider only made his presence felt on the two final laps when he began making decisive moves to take control of the race.   Despite Mohd Helmi Azman’s best efforts, the championship leader was unable to outwit Fazli Sham. The SCK Rapido Hi Rev Honda Racing rider eventually had to settle for second with 19’02.460s.   Meanwhile, another sterling performance from Peerapong Luiboonpeng saw the Thai rider from Team One For All go from fifth on Lap 9 to third at the finish line. Peerapong clocked 19’02.502s and pocketed the first Underbone podium of his career.

A long stint racing astride the 1000cc machine has obviously not affected Malaysian rider Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi’s ability to finesse the 600cc bike. Fresh from a stint in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Race, the MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing rider charged on to Chennai, India, where the Madras Motor Race Track played host to Round 4 of the 2018 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship.   After the first day of free practices, Zaqhwan led a mixed bag of competitors by posting the fastest time of 1’41.306s. Just off Zaqhwan’s pace, championship leader Anthony West clocked second fastest with 1’41.388s in his first official run on the 3.74km race track.   The most impressive rider of the day was team MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing rookie Azroy Hakeem Anuar. Azroy, who has been recording increasingly impressive performances in each successive round of the ARRC, stands third fastest with 1’41.677s.   Yamaha Thailand Racing Team rider Ratthapong Wilairot and Taiga Hada representing home team Idemitsu Honda Racing India by T.Pro Ten10, rounded up the top five.   Defending champion Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman continues to struggle with balance issues and just managed to clock within the top 10.

Anupab Sarmoon’s recent success at the 41st Suzuka 4 Hour Endurance Road Race has given the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team rider the additional impetus he needed to try to bring an end to Rheza Danica Ahren’s domination in the Asia Production 250cc class. Just a week ago, Anupab successfully defended his Suzuka 4 Hour title with the help of his team mate, Peerapong Boonlert.   As the AP250 riders went out on track for the first day of practice in Round 4, Anupab has been able to equal speedy Rheza’s pace at the top of the timesheets. Although the Astra Honda Racing Team rider emerged as the fastest rider of the day with 1’48.030s, Anupab was able to lap within the same parameters, coming home second fastest with 1’48.252s.   With the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship now entering the second half of its 2018 season, Anupab, currently third overall in the AP250 standings, is under pressure to bring home more podium finishes and race wins. As Rheza took the win in round after round, Anupab’s last victory was taken in Round 1, and he has only managed two podium finishes so far.   As always, Anupab will be facing a field of top Indonesian aces in the AP250 class. The Astra Honda Racing Team’s latest wonderkid, Mario Suryo Aji, posted third fastest with 1’48.775. Rey Ratukore, ONEXOX TKKR Racing Team’s latest recruit, was fourth fastest with 1’48.853s. Andy Muhammad Fadly from Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing, ended the free practices fifth fastest with 1’49.510s.

The Underbone 150cc riders kicked off a record-breaking day as Round 4 of the 2018 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship officially got underway at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai, India. With most of the Underbone riders having had some experience at the challenging South Indian race track, the class is now competing on a whole different level.   At the end of Free Practice 2, the top seven riders in the class have managed to break the 2017 1’53.944s lap record held by Mohd Akid Aziz.   As of Practice 2, SCK Rapido Hi Rev Honda Racing Team duo Mohd Helmi Azman and Fakhrusy Syakirin Rostam have emerged as the provisional leaders of the class, clocking 1’53.169s and 1’53.178s respectively. Defending champion Mohd Akid Aziz was third fastest with 1’53.225s followed by Mohd Adib Rosley from the YY Pang camp. Filipino wonderkid, McKinley Kyle Paz, again riding wildcard for the UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team was impressive on his first run out on the Madras Motor Race Track. He posted fifth in the class with 1’54.252s.   However, Akid came out with guns blazing in the 30-minute qualifying session. The UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team rider beat his own fastest time by two whole seconds and clocked the fastest time in the class with 1’51.970s. Half a second off Akid’s pace, SCK Rapido Hi Rev Honda Racing Team duo Mohd Helmi Azman and Fakhrusy Syakirin Rostam logged the second and third fastest times with 1’52.524 and 1’53.325s respectively.

Rheza Danica Ahrens completing his second ​career double win was the only predictable outcome from another fraught intermediate class battle this afternoon. Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki’s Andy Md Fadly did his best to spoil Rheza’s perfect weekend by beating the Astra Honda rider into Turn 1. O​rder was restored one turn later as Rheza dismissed the Kawasaki man, putting plenty of fresh ​air ​between himself and the rest by the time they got to Degner curve at the end of Sector 1. The two best Yamahas of the weekend, under Reynaldo Christiano Ratukore and Anuparb Sarmoon​,​ also got away well from the second and third rows to latch onto the back of Fadly and ahead of the rest of the 15-strong chasing group. Muklada recovered from a poor start to muscle her way from 7th to 3rd, sparring again with Fadly, whose exuberance a day earlier had pushed her out of podium contention. As he had done in Race 1, Anuparb kept himself in with a chance by staying within the top four of the group fighting for second place. Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi, Muklada’s team mate, again impressed, taking ​turns at the front​, with Mario, Awhin and Fadly. Things went badly wrong for the two AP Honda riders early on Lap 5, when Kritchaporn clipped Muklada’s rear wheel as they braked for the first first corner, sending​ them both over the high side and, together with the two CBR 250RRs they had just vacated, tumbling end over end through the gravel trap. That broke up the big group, leaving the battle for second and third between the Astra Hondas of Mario and Awhin, Fadly on the Kawasaki and the Yamahas of Anuparb and Reynaldo. However, the chasing group led by Peerapong Boonlert, Ahmad Afif Amran,​ Akito Narita and M Faerozi, worked together to catch up on the overpass, making a ​party​ of ten to dispute the final few turns. Almost nine seconds after Rheza had clocked out for the day, Mario and Fadly converted their hard work into second and third places, while Afif and Narita edged out Anuparb, who got over the line two tenths clear of his Yamaha Thailand team mate, Peerapong. Awhin and Reynaldo were similarly pushed back to 8th and 9th, while Faerozi was 10th, 0.7 ahead of Takehiro Yamamoto. By adding 50 points over the weekend, Rheza has neatly matched his points tally to his race number of 123, which is 21 more than his 15-year-old wingman, ‘Super’ Mario. Anuparb is 10 points further behind on 92, which is 30 more than the unfortunate Muklada has been able to accumulate.

With the technical gremlins that delayed the start of Saturday’s race duly dispatched, Underbone 150cc Race 2 got away without a hitch. Team All for One’s Md Affendi Rosli grabbed​ the holeshot and gapped the rest of the field through the esses and all the way to the high point of the circuit, at Spoon Curve. From there the chasing pack, led by Race 1 winner Md Helmi Azman and Yamaha Yamalube SND’s Gupita Kresna, drafted their way up to the orange Yamaha over the fast final sector. Pole man Fakhrusy did not launch well, drifting to towards the rear of the 20 bike field. The six lap race delivered the very best of Underbone 150cc racing and showed why the sport has many thousands of fans far beyond Asia, as the first 12 riders ebbed, flowed, wriggled and barged their way up and down the group. On aggregate it was Affendi, Gupita, Helmi, Syahrul Amin, Ahmad Fazli Sham and, from half distance, Wahyu Aji Trilaksana who spent the most time at or near the front of the group. Affendi took a half second lead into the last lap, knowing it would not be enough to escape the chasing peloton, so slowed down on the approach to the hairpin to drop a few places and try to position himself for most advantage for the final chicane. Wahyu and Helmi took over briefly, but as the field spread wide and squashed their Dunlop slicks into Suzuka’s asphalt for the last time, Gupita got the best position, remained composed, claimed his space and squirted out of Turn 17 for the line. As he punched the air​, Wahyu and Izzat snatched the remaining spots on the podium and Helmi Azman got the better of Syahrul to take fourth. Akid Aziz was sixth from Peerapong Luiboonpeng, while Affendi, after starting the last lap in the lead finished 8th, just a few hundredths in front of Fazli and Syafieq Aiman. Gupita, who took back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015 before taking a two year excursion into AP250s, was ecstatic. After a disappointing return to the series during the first two rounds of 2018​, his third place in Race 1 and Sunday’s victory have given him a confidence boost and an emphatic reminder to his rivals and sponsors ​of what he can do on an underbone. Wahyu, who also started the season poorly by his standards, looked almost as happy as his fellow Indonesian, having sewn up his second podium of the weekend. At the halfway point in the season, Helmi Azman, with a total of ​94, tops the standings by a single point from Izzat Zaidi.Wahyu Aji Trilaksana moves up to third with 72, from Akid Aziz’s 71.

Uma Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team celebrated a full house when Mohd Haziq Mohd Fairues, wildcard Mckinley Kyle Paz, and defending champion Mohd Akid Aziz made a clean sweep of the Underbone 150cc Race 2 podium.   The 7-lap race at The Bend Motorsport Park got off with poleman Mohd Helmi Azman pulling off into the lead. Riding on his slipstream, was Mohd Haziq Mohd Fairues. The two riders from separate teams worked together in the early stages of the race to pull ahead from the chasing pack.   By Lap 3, both Aiman and Haziq had created a 4-second gap ahead of the rest. More drama on Lap 4 as Wahyu Aji Trilaksana clipped Akid’s rear tyre. Akid survived the encounter, but Wahyu crashed out.   On Lap 5, Helmi’s bike sputtered to a stop. This left Haziq alone at the sharp end of the group where he went on to win the Underbone 150cc Race 2 with 16’07.730s.   6.255 seconds behind Haziq, Mckinley and Akid were also working in tandem to hold off their Indonesian rivals Syahrul Amin and Gupita Kresna Wardhana. The team mates completed the full house when they finished second and third respectively with 16’13.985s and 16’20.328s.   Race 1 winner, Mohd Izzat Zaidi from team RCB Yamaha YY Pang Racing picked up 9 points from Race 2 when he crossed the finish line in seventh. Izzat retains control of the Underbone title chase with 67 points. Helmi Azman’s DNF in Race 2 had cost him dearly. He drops to second overall with 56 points. Mohd Affendi Rosli ranked third overall after finishing sixth in Race 2.

RCB Yamaha YY Pang’s Mohd Izzat Zaidi proved that his season opening win in Thailand a month ago was no fluke with another winning performance at The Bend Motorsport Park in Round 2 of the 2018 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship.   The Malaysian rider who started the race from second on the grid, ran a smart race tucked in deep within the leading pack. While Mohd Helmi Azman, Wahyu Aji Trilaksana and McKinley Kyle Paz took turns leading the group across the start/finish line, Izzat played a 6-lap waiting game before coming out of the shadows in the last lap.   As the Underbone 150cc riders entered three-abreast into the final corner, Izzat successfully broke out of the slipstream to take his second win of the season with 16’23.831s. Championship leader Mohd Helmi Azman from the SCK Rapido Hi Rev Honda Racing Team stayed in touch with the title chase by coming home in second place, 16’23.947s. Indonesian rider Wahyu Aji Trilaksana picked up his first podium of the season in third place, 16’23.968s.   With this win, Izzat has taken over the championship lead from Helmi Azman. The Yamaha rider leads with 58 points. Helmi dropped to second overall with 56 points. As strategies and plans are being laid down for Race 2 on Sunday, Wahyu will need to overcome a 20-point deficit from third on the ladder.