The Asia Superbike 1000cc of the Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship went on its showdown, as the curtains closed today in Race 2, Round 6 at Chang International Circuit. Celebrating the victory today was Markus Reiterberger of ONEXOX BWM TKKR Team.
Yesterday’s race came with an unexpected twist on the last lap. It was a usual ride with Markus taking lead and teammate, Azlan and duo of Honda Asia-Dream trailing closely behind. As Azlan lost his pace over the laps, Andi and Zaqhwan moved to the top three positions in a bid to maximise their points. Markus was gliding with no pressure ahead of the duo but coming in as a shocker for him was Andi’ appearance right next to him at the last turn, on the last lap. Throwing Markus off guard, he lost control momentarily, taking him off track limit. Although he regained control swiftly, he succumbed to Andi’s victory. Markus took second while Zaqhwan made it third.
In today’s race, Zaqhwan took an immediate slide into P1 at the first turn followed by Andi swiftly before he was overtaken by Markus. As Zaqhwan picked up speed, Markus went on to pressure him. At P3, Azlan trailed his teammate closely. Meanwhile, Andi moved into P4. On lap two, Markus tried to slide from the inside but Zaqhwan was quick to counter-attack. There was no giving up for Markus as he went on make his move. Azlan on the other hand lost his momentum when he made a mistake. Five laps down and Zaqhwan went on leading with Markus chasing in fury, attacking from every nook and corner.
Zaqhwan was on fire this time around and brilliantly kept to his racing line in a bid to secure the 1st Runner Up title. Markus did not give up. The battle became intense as the star riders went on to make the most of the race. Andi began picking up when Markus finally took a slide ahead of Zaqhwan. At the last turn of the 10th lap, Andi overtook Zaqhwan from the inside and accelerated further. Zaqhwan tried to catch up. With two more laps to go, the red flag was raised and the curtains closed for the season. Markus completed the race with another win at 16’02:482s.
Markus said, “After yesterday’s race result, we were not very happy with the decision but this is racing. Luckily it worked out. The crew made some changes to the machine during warm up and I struggled on the front a lot. In the warm up, it was not good but during the race, it was amazing. But Zaqhwan
was really strong today and he kept coming back, competitively. Good job from him. But I finally found a way to overtake him before picking up speed. That worked for me well today. Thanks to the team!”
Second place went to Andi Farid Izdihar of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA at 16’03:618s.
Teammate, Md Zaqhwan Zaidi made it third at 16’03:721s.
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