Moving swiftly today at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit were the Asia Production 250cc riders in the free practice sessions. Rheza Danica Ahrens of ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM made some impressive moves when he marked the fastest lap time for Round 4 of the Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship.
In the FP1 session earlier this morning, Indonesians once again emerged at the top three fastest list with teammates Rheza and Herjun Atna Firdaus of ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM marking their best at 1’47:734s and 1’47:804s respectively. At third, fellow rider of Motul Sniper Manual Tech, Irfan Ardiansyah clocked in at 1’48:339s. In FP2, Herjun scaled up in performance and clocked in fastest at 1’48:079s followed by Muhammad Faerozi of YAMAHA Racing Indonesia at 1’48:444s and Muklada Sarapuech of Honda Racing Thailand at 1’48:481s. In FP3, Rheza Danica once again made fastest at 1’47:149s followed by Faerozi at 1’47:508s and Herjun Atna at 1’47:606s.
While is it not surprising that Rheza made it the fastest in the practice sessions, combined, Faerozi definitely seemed to have upped his performances this round, landing himself at the second fastest spot for the day while Herjun took the third fastest spot. While confidence on home-ground is an added booster for the day, this is just the beginning to a challenging feat ahead.
Commenting on the session, Rheza said, “Racing on home-circuit gives a different feel, even more so in the presence of my friends and family members. It is more exciting and there is a rush of adrenaline that pushes you to do better and move faster. With that, undoubtedly comes the pressure – the pressure to maintain my overall momentum for the season as well as to make sure I achieve the best for my fans and family. I am lucky that with my team, I have the opportunity to clock in more training hours on the machine. Apart from that, the condition of the machine has been perfect thus far which gives me an added advantage. I hope to be the pole man tomorrow so that it gives me the boost I need for the race.”
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