It was the second day of Round Four of the 2014 PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship at the Suzuka Circuit, Japan.
Here are the highlights of the day by Two Wheels Motor Racing.
YUKI EARNS CAREER FIRST POLE,
Japan’s Yuki Ito delivered a sensational performance as he stormed to his maiden SuperSports 600cc pole ahead of Malaysian, Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi.
Representing PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha, Yuki threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the field with 2’14.242s at the 23-minute mark, right before race marshalls signalled the red flag.
Zaqhwan (Musashi Boon Siew Honda Racing) who led the timesheets in the earlier parts of the session settled for second spot with 2’14.282s, 0.004 seconds off Yuki’s best lap while Makoto Tamada rounded up the top three with 2’14.296s.
Meanwhile Mohd Zamri Baba suffered an unfortunate blow to his campaign as he was declared unfit to compete on Sunday following a massive high side in the third practice session. The 31-year old crashed while trying to avoid a collision with Thailand’s Jakkrit Swangswat, inflicting further damage to his injured leg.
“It feels fantastic to finally pick up pole after several seasons competing in the ARRC,” said Yuki.
“However, I don’t consider this to be one my best run because I made a couple of mistakes in my flying lap. Additionally, the bike is not 100 percent ready because the engineers had to change the setup a lot to meet changing weather conditions,” he added.
Speaking about his expectations for the race tomorrow, Yuki commented, “We anticipate a tight battle but I believe starting from pole gives us a certain advantage over the field. Hopefully we can win the race or at least finish on the podium.”
Zaqhwan on the other hand said, “I am pleased to start from front row again but at the same time I am a bit nervous because Zamri will not be there to help me out. Nevertheless, I am keeping an optimistic mindset because anything can happen during a race.”
1-2 START FOR PETRONAS HONG LEONG YAMAHA
In the Underbone 130cc category, Ahmad Fazli Sham and Mohd Affendi Rosli delivered a faultless ride to secure a one-two start for PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha in the Underbone 130cc qualifying.
His second pole position after Sepang, Fazli clocked the quickest lap out of 14 contesting riders in 2’45.009s while Affendi who won here last season stopped the clock at 2’45.457s followed by Gupita Kresna (Kawasaki KYT Rextor Manual Tech) with 2’45.526s.
“This is my first time racing at Suzuka so of course I am very happy and excited to grab pole. Making things sweeter, Affendi will start the race next to me and we are both aiming to finish on the podium tomorrow,” said Fazli Sham.
Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa (T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS) will start the Underbone 130cc race from second row alongside Ferlando Herdian (Faito FactoryRacing) and Hokky Krisdianto (Outdo Koyoko Motul YY Pang Racing Team).
Vorapong Malahuan (Thai Honda Racing Thailand), Ahmad Fazrul Sham (Harian Metro Y-TEQ SCK Honda Racing) and Mohd Rozaiman Mohd Said is set to take off from third row.
MALAYSIAN-DOMINATED FRONT ROW IN ADC
Malaysians dominated the developmental Asia Dream Cup series qualifying at Round 4 in Suzuka through the combined efforts of Khairul
Pawi and Mohd Harith Farhan Baharin.
Khairul was in a class of his own as he posted the quickest lap of 2’42.745s, 0.923 seconds ahead of Harith (2’43.668s) followed by Japan’s Syunya Mori with 2’43.760s.
To start Sunday’s race from second row would be Indonesian, Andi Farid followed by Chuang An-Yu from Taiwan and Teppei Nagoe.
Day one of Round Four of the 2014 PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship in Suzuka, Japan saw the local riders having an upper hand on track knowledge as the first day of practice went underway.
Here are some highlights of the day by Two Wheels Motor Racing.
ITO TAKES CHARGE ON FIRST DAY AT SUZUKA
Team PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha’s Yuki Ito brought home the fastest time of the first day’s practice in the SuperSports 600cc class when he stopped the clock at 2’15.030s.
“Today’s time is still far from my personal best at this circuit. During the All Japan, I managed to clock within the 2’12 range. Because of that, I am confident that lap times will drop further by qualifying,” said Ito.
Split seconds off Ito’s pace, Katsuaki Fujiwara of BEET Kawasaki Racing posted the second fastest time of the day with 2’15.466s.
“The track hosted the Super GT last week and the track is still a little bit dirty. With more track time for the bikes, the track conditions will certainly improve. For sure, today’s time was not so impressive,” Fujiwara agreed with Ito.
While Ito and Fujiwara are provisionally the front runners from the first day, Malaysian youngster Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi of MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing also showed his potential to qualify for the front row when he chalked up the third fastest time of the day, 2’15.535s.
GUPITA: KAWASAKI MAY HAVE AN ADVANTAGE
In the Underbone 130cc category, championship leader Gupita Kresna Wardhana from team Kawasaki KYT Rextor Manual Tech emerged fastest from the second free practice session after nothing up a time of 2’46.190s.
Harian Metro Y-TEQ SCK Honda’s Ahmad Fazrul Sham was second fastest with 2’47.977s followed by Hokky Krisdianto of Outdo Koyoko Motul Yamaha YY Pang with 2’48.090s.
“The bike is in good condition and our set up has yielded better results than I expected,” said Gupita. “I feel that my Kawasaki will have a strong advantage thanks to the decision for the Underbone 130cc bikes to race full track at Suzuka. The long straights and sharp corners suit my riding style and machine very well. I am feeling really confident right now.”
KUROGI MORE DETERMINED AT SUZUKA
Suzuka born-and-bred Reitoku Kurogi is determined that he will not be bested at the track he calls home. Already crowned a champion here at the Suzuka Circuit, Kurogi is hoping to take over the role of lead rider from Khairul Idham Pawi here on his home track.
After the first day of practice, Kurogi looks to be pacing himself well when he set the benchmark with a time of 2’46.457s, edging out championship leader Khairul Idham Pawi who clocked 2’47.294s and a constantly improving Chuang An-Yu who finished third with 2’47.477s.
“This round is very important to me, for personal reasons. I badly want to do well here and I don’t want to be outshone in front of my home fans. So I will keep pushing myself to excel even more,” said Kurogi.
It’s an exciting week as three bike brands made an “announcement” one after another with revealing a new product or long awaited pricing. (more…)
The 2014 Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix was officially launched a few hours ago with the announcement of the Malaysian Motogp Wildcard entry, Teregganu born Muhammad Hafiza Rofa by the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) CEO Razlan Razali in Sunway, Petaling Jaya.
The 18-year-old Hafiza is currently competing in his debut Spanish CEV Repsol championship season with SIC-Ajo team. He will be join by four other Malaysian riders such as Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah.
The other two riders are Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Amirul Hafiq Azmi who are riding in the Moto2 and Moto3 categories respectively.”Our Malaysian riders have proven that they are capable of matching the world’s best riders in the past. They have done so well that Malaysian youngsters are now turning to them as role models and heroes instead of the foreign riders,” said Razlan.
He added that he hopes when the riders compete in front of a massive home crowd next month, they will inspire and to deliver strong performance.
Happening on the weekend of 24 to 26 of October at the Sepang International Circuit, the event will also feature a Mega MotoCarnival which will feature 80trade and vending operators ranging from auto paraphernalia and accessories to clothing. On top of that, bike manufacturers will be displaying their latest products and machines.
Also announced was the giveaway prize which you are entitled to join and if lucky, win the giveaway bike which is a Benelli Century Racer 1130.
The Benelli Century Racer 1130 is a special edition bike made in conjunction of the 100 years of Benelli. The bike is propelled by a 1131cc, in-line three-cylinder, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled engine that develops a maximum power of 129hp at 8500rpm and 110Nm torque at 5250rpm and mated to a six-speed transmission.
For more details, log on to www.sepangcircuit.com
© Copyright – BikesRepublic.com 2023 Trademarks belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved
