Japanese rider Hiroki Nakamura looks set to becoming the third Japanese Asia Dream Cup champion behind Hikari Okubo and Hiroki Ono. Nakamura’s consistent performance in the first four rounds of the 2016 season has allowed him to overcome the minor hiccups that occur along the way.
In Race 1 at Round 4 in Sentul, Nakamura managed to finish fourth while still trying to overcome the pain of an injured shoulder and leg when he crashed out during the morning warm-up. Victory went to Indonesian Muhd Febriansyah with 19’00.791s. China’s Zhou Sheng Jun Jie was only 0.021 seconds behind Febriansyah in second place, stopping the clock at 19’00.812s followed by Malaysian Hafiz Nor Azman who is still nursing a recovering wrist.
By Race 2, Nakamura had succeeded in putting his physical discomforts aside and was able to pull a win out of the bag with a time of 19’21.083s. Zhou finished second again in Race 2 while Koko Tadachi celebrated his first podium finish in third place.
Nakamura is now leading the Asia Dream Cup with 158 points. Hafiz Nor Azman is a distant second with 95 points. The 63-point margin means that if Nakamura continues to perform at this pace, the Asia Dream Cup title could be sealed by Round 5 in India.