The TVS Asia One Make Championship has seen the rise and fall of highly impressive riders in the Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. Today, Hiroki Ono of Japan hit the jackpot with a double- win when he victoriously glided towards the finish line in Race 2 of Round 4 held at Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit.
In yesterday’s race, Hiroki dominated the circuit from the start to completion. The real battle was seen between Ramdan and Decky who were competing aggressively to take the next position in line in the first few laps. In the heat of the moment, Taiyo added on to the pressure before Decky lost his chances. As Hiroki went on to form a huge gap, Ramdan and Taiyo fought one last battle in the final lap before speeding towards the finish line.
Today’s race began with Hiroki sprinting ahead of the troop and taking lead once again. Behind him was Ramdan at P2 and Vorapong at P3. Before the lap ended, Vorapong took a shot ahead of Ramdan for a moment before they switched positions into lap 2. Meanwhile, Indonesian rider Decky was finding his pace at P4 followed by Taiyo at P5. As the race progressed, Hiroki began opening up gap with Ramdan. Vorapong tried to close the gaps with Ramdan but the latter stayed focused and glided on confidently. By mid-race, Hiroki was once again at a far distance with a gap of 1.186s. The battle heated up between Ramdan and Vorapong, both with the aim of taking the next spot on the podium but Ramdan stayed within the racing lines, careful not to make any mistakes.
Vorapong was seen finding for a loop-hole to slide ahead of Ramdan. With two more laps to go, Hiroki has drawn a 2.778s gap with Ramdan. Decky remained at P4 while Rusman moved into P5. Before the lap ended, Ramdan managed to pull away from Vorapong’s force as he picked up speed while Taiyo took back P5. By then, Hiroki was on his way to earning a double win. In a twist of fate, Ramdan’s machine that gave way towards the last turn opened up a pathway for Vorapong. In that moment, Vorapong struck and glided towards P2 at the finish line.
Hiroki Ono completed the race with a 5-second gap at 14’03:365s and with a new lap record at 1’44:651s.
Commenting on the race, Hiroki said, “I am so happy today to have made a new lap record at 44. But Race 2 was very easy for me as I began pushing 100% from the start. With that, I managed to draw a fine gap ahead of the troop. This weekend started difficult for me to be honest but I changed some settings and also my riding techniques which helped me during the qualifying session. I am very happy and thanks to the TVS Team as well as my Japanese fans and sponsors.”
At second, Vorapong Malahuan of Thailand clocked in at 14’08:408s.
Ramdan Rosli of Malaysia made third at 14’08:971s.
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