Underbone 150

UNDERBONE 150cc: WHAT’S NEW IN 2017

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The Underbone 150cc is a new class, replacing the previous Underbone 130cc category that ran from 2012 to 2016.   1.Yamaha Racing Indonesia Wahyu Aji Trilaksana will embark on his title defense with team Yamaha Racing Indonesia. Should he succeed, he will be the first rider in the Underbone class to successfully retain his title despite a change in the technical specifications.   2. Yuzy Honda Vietnam Racing Former Malaysian GP rider Shahrol Yuzy will be collaborating with Honda Vietnam this season. Team Yuzy Honda Vietnam Racing’s role is to guide and expose upcoming Vietnamese riders as they make their international debut. For 2017, the team will field Vietnamese newcomer Cao Viet Nam alongside Malaysian rider Azroy Hakeem Anuar.   3. First Chinese Rider Round 1 of the ARRC will see an unexpected entry in the Underbone 150 class. Chinese rider Yuan Ji Bo will be the first from the People’s Republic of China to race in the Southeast Asian heritage class. Yuan has had substantive experience racing the 600cc bikes back home, but had elected to use the Underbone 150cc category as his debut platform to gain experience before considering a move to higher ccs.   4. UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor had elected for a double rookie combination in 2017. Seasoned campaigner Ahmad Fazli Sham had been refocused to the national championship. UMA Racing’s assault on the Underbone 150cc title will be undertaken by two teenage hotshots – Mohd Haziq Mohd Fairues (16) and 2016 National Champion, Mohd Akid Aziz (19).   5. New Entry: ONEXOX TKKR Racing The Underbone 150cc will feature a new team entry this season – Malaysian outfit, ONEXOX TKKR Racing. New to the racing scene, the team had been highly active in the Malaysian Cub Prix Championship in 2016. This year, team TKKR expands their horizons to the Asian region with Norizman Ismail and Mohd Helmi Azman.

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PRE-SEASON: AZHAR ABDUL JALIL LEADS THE 150cc CLASS

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In the all-new Underbone 150cc category, it was an all-Malaysian affair at the top end of the pre-season timesheets. Team RCB Motobatt Yamaha YY Pang duo Mohd Azhar Abdul Jalil and Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin led the proceedings with times of 01’48.907s and 01’49.127s respectively. Rookie rider Mohd Helmi Azman, representing incoming team TKKR Onexox Racing, was third fastest with 01’49.251s. While the Underbone category of the Asia Road Racing Championship had usually been an Indonesian-Malaysian affair, the battle this season had been given a new layer of depth as the rivalry between the Yamaha and Honda camps hot up. The Yamaha Y15ZR and the Honda RS150R represent two of the most popular motorcycle makes in the Asian market at the moment and the showdown between the two models have generated tremendous interest and excitement among fans in the continent. Yamaha looks to have the early advantage. As the pre-season test concludes at the Johor Circuit, the best performing Honda rider was Mohd Muzakkir Mohamed. The Hi-Rev Rapido SCK Honda Racing rider posted 01’49.413s. Surprisingly, the Indonesian riders were very far off the mark on the pre-season timesheets. The fastest Indonesian rider was Yamaha Yamalube KYT TJM Racetech’s Anggi Setiawan, 11th fastest with 01’50.392s. 2016 UB130 champion Wahyu Aji Trilaksana was 12th fastest with 01’50.686s. The Indonesian national championships have been running the 150cc class for two years while the Malaysian national series, the Malaysian Cub Prix Championship, had just introduced the 150cc category this season. Given the depth of their experience, an all-Indonesian comeback can be expected in Round 1 at the same host venue on April 1 and 2, 2017.

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EXCITING CHANGES IN STORE

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Only two rounds into the 2016 season and the stakeholders in the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship are already mulling exciting developments for the coming years. In a meeting held with the manufacturers and team owners, Two Wheels Motor Racing, the race promoters of the ARRC, have tabled two proposals for their consideration. Of immediate concern, the 2016 season would be the last season of the Underbone 130cc category. In keeping with market trends, the most likely race class to take its place would be the 150cc machines. This new class is expected to debut in 2017. “For fans of Underbone racing, the 150cc class will be even more exciting. The bikes are deemed as “Super Underbone” with liquid cool engines, 6-speed gearboxes as well as monoshock suspension,” said Ron Hogg, Director of Two Wheels Motor Racing “While the Underbone class is a heritage category for South East Asia, we need to keep abreast of market sentiments and technological developments. In the past, the regulations of the ARRC Underbone class was the benchmark for most underbone racing championships in Asia. The reason for this was to create a standard platform of racing in each country and thereby consistently bring up the level of racing to a common platform. After 21 seasons, that objective had been achieved and it is now time for the Underbone class of the ARRC to take up its role as the next step-up level for Asian riders. By heading in the direction of the 150cc class, it would become a natural next step for Asian champions graduating from their respective national championships,” Hogg explained. The next change will come in 2018 where the Superbike 1000cc class is now being considered as a replacement for the SuperSports 600cc category. “The Asia Road Racing Championship has raced 600cc as the premiere class since 2000. The reasons we had stuck to this class were many – running costs for teams, market trends, and most importantly, riders standard of racing. In the past, the pool of Asian talents were not yet big enough for us to make that jump into Superbikes. But now it is different. The standard of racing in all classes is very high. The only way to move forward is to take everyone to the ultimate platform – which is Superbike racing.” “This move will open the doors to a wider field of manufacturing competitors and thus creating strong competitive racing. The decision for this class (whether to remain at 600cc or move to 1000cc by 2018, will be made by the end of this year,” Hogg concluded.

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