Impressive speed and interesting mastery, the riders of the Asia Superbike 1000cc went on another exciting feat today in Race 2 of Round 5, FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at Zhuhai International Circuit. Markus Reiterberger of ONEXOX BMW TKKR Tea, once again made a grand finish when he crossed the finish line and bagge not just the winning prize for the day but the Championship title for the season.
Taking a glance at the performances yesterday, Markus took a relaxed approached on the first lap as he trailed Zaqhwan with Azlan pacing at P3. By lap 2, he made a switch alongside his teammate ahead of Zaqhwan. The trio maintained the position for the bulk of the 13-lap race before Azlan lowered his pace. Zaqhwan seized the opportunity and took a slide ahead into P2. By then, Markus was on his way towards carving yet another victory as Azlan gave one last push to superseded Zaqhwan. Zaqhwan however did not cave in and completed second while Azlan finished third.
It was a good start for Markus who fled to take lead at turn 1. He was followed swiftly by Zaqhwan at P2 and Azlan at P3. As the trio went on a blistering speed, group two behind who was led by Kosuke tried to catch up before Andi took over at P4. Markus seemed confident and kept Zaqhwan at bay but the latter went on in an attempt to close the gap. Azlan who was 4.2s away from Andi managed his pace at P3. Four laps down, Zaqhwan inched closer to Markus with a gap of 0.35 seconds but the German rider was determined to strike it big this time around.
By the 8th lap, Markus accelerated well to widen the gap. That gave him a breather as he went on with the remaining laps. But the Malaysian rider, also the defending champion was in the game to win. He pursued relentlessly. Ten laps down and the chase went on. Markus had to avoid mistakes at all cost and so he did. He went on the final lap, picked up speed and drew a comfortable gap before taking one final turn towards the finish line, marked his best at 20’10:902s to claim not just a win but the win of glorious victory as the Champion of Season 2023 for the Asia Superbike 1000cc race category!
Commenting on the race, Markus said, “My start was ok. But I was really late on the brake at the first corner and I almost went out but luckily, I managed to stay within the line. I saw Zaqhwan on the inside and I know that he was really trying very hard today, maybe even more than yesterday. So, I really pushed hard today and tried to be as fast as I can on each lap. As soon as I had a little bit of gap, I cut off because I had two high moments and then he came back. So, I had to push myself again and until the end. I thank my team. The machine is really a beautiful one and we will try to keep pushing!”
Md Zaqhwan Zaidi of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA made it second at 20’12:812s.
Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman of ONEXOX BMW TKKR Racing made it third at 20’17:344s.
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