Japanese rider Hiroki Nakamura was one of three riders who succeeded in clinching the double victory at Round 1 of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in Johor on April 1 and 2, 2016. The others were Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman in the SuperSports 600cc category and Apiwat Wongthananon in the Asia Production 250cc category.
Nakamura was untouchable in Race 1, finishing a huge 5.7 seconds ahead of Hafiz Nor Azman and Mohd Harith Farhan. Race 2 was a closer affair with the two Malaysian riders sticking close to his tail. Nevertheless, Nakamura was able to hang on to the lead and score his second victory of the day with a time of 15’03.620s.
Rider Quotes:
Hiroki Nakamura: “Race 1 was better. Once I broke away, I knew that it was up to me to do the fast laps by myself. But Race 2 was difficult. The higher level of competition prevented me from running out in front. It forced me to change my riding in order to keep me going up to the finish line. I am very satisfied that I had been able to do so well on this tough race course.”
Hafiz Nor Azman: “Harith and I had agreed on a strategy but the pressure at the end of Race 2 caused us to run wide. We were able to sneak back into second and third places, but were helpless to stop Nakamura from taking the chequered flag.”
Harith Farhan: “Hafiz and I will continue to work together for the next round in Thailand. We were unable to check Nakamura’s dominance this weekend but we will analyze our mistakes and bounce back stronger for the next competition.”