In motorsports, it is common to think that being at the peak of physical condition is a prerequisite to excel. But Soichiro Minamimoto, who made waves in the SuperSports 600cc scene, did not do it the conventional way.
Last year, Soichiro made headlines when he swept the overall championship in Round 6 of the SuperSports 600cc, IDEMITSU FIM Asia Road Racing Championship despite battling a nasty bout of illness. Yes, you read that right. While most of us would struggle to get out of bed with a fever, Soichiro was out on the track, dominating the competition. “Before arriving at Buriram, I felt bad,” he recalled. “I slept 14 hours but didn’t recover. Then, after finishing Friday’s practice, I felt even worse. I was sick for over a week. Turns out, it was tonsillitis.”
But here’s the kicker. Soldiering through the sickness, Soichiro went on to win Race 1 of the round. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, he secured second place in Race 2, cementing his status as the overall champion. His teammate, Apiwath Wongthananon, also played a crucial role making it second in Race 1 and securing victory in Race 2, ultimately leading to their team’s overall triumph.
Soichiro added, “I was so exhausted that I couldn’t remember much. But I was fast. When I won the championship, none of us on the team thought we could become champions, so the team only had one championship T-shirt.”
Reflecting on his unexpected success while feeling under the weather, Soichiro jokingly said, “I think I race better when I’m not feeling well. Hahaha… But I would not want to go through that again. Health is more important than racing to me.”
Fast forward to this season, Soichiro has set his sights on conquering new challenges in the Asia Superbike 1000cc category. Despite facing stiff competition in the opening rounds, Soichiro remains undeterred. “ASB is very exciting because there are a lot of fast and experienced riders. Our rivals are strong,” he remarked.
Soichiro added, “We are behind our rivals in terms of top speed. But if we can bring out the strengths of Yamaha, we can be competitive. We’re working on the areas that were lacking in the opening round. I hope we can battle with our rivals.”
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