The Asia Superbike 1000cc is back again in action at the Chang International Circuit. This time around, for the finale of Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, Season 2023. Rocking the circuit today was Markus Reiterberger of ONEXOX BMW TKKR Team who clocked in fastest in the practice sessions, combined.
In FP1 that was held towards noon, duo of ONEXOX BMW TKKR Team, Markus Reiterberger and Azlan Shah made striking lap times with their best at 1’35:990s and 1’36:347s respectively. At the third fastest spot was Zaqhwan Zaidi of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA with his best lap time at 1’36:459s. In FP2, the positions changed among the super-trio with Zaqhwan in lead with his best lap time at 1’36:268s followed by the teammates Azlan and Markus with their best lap time at 1’36:404s and 1’36:459s respectively.
In FP3, Markus did it again with his best lap time at 1’35:640s followed by his fellow teammate Azlan with his best lap time at 1’35:947s. At the third fastest was Zaqhwan with his best lap time at 1’36:088s. Markus may not have had a perfect start at the season opener in Chang but he certainly seems prepared to make up for his imperfection with a perfect end to the season.
Commenting on the session, Markus said, “I am still here to win, as usual. But more importantly, we are also using this time to test some things with no pressure. We have a different suspension on the rear and some changes in the chassis. Not forgetting the tires too. It takes a whole day. We made a few good steps but there were also some wrong moves especially in FP2. We still found out way around it but with a little extra push. I struggled a lot in Round 1 and now, I still have to fight hard to stay on top. I was also a sick in the last few days so physically, I had some hard time. I hope tomorrow would be better. In Round 1, there were many things that we had to sort out in terms of the machine but over time, we picked up and it has been good since. Of course, I have issues with my body weight, so I would say that it is not that easy to keep up with the pace. I really enjoy Thailand and I enjoy the layout of the circuit. I also have very good memories here with my best World Superbike results here in 2016.”
Second and third fastest in the FP combined went to Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Md Zaqhwan Zaid.
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