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2018 MSBK

  • Round 2 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) came to an exciting conclusion with great races throughout the day.

  • There were also plenty of drama during all races.

  • The weather held through on Sunday at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC).

As opposed to the previous day (Saturday, 28th July 2018), Sunday started out bright and sunny for the final day of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) Round 2. Rain was forecast for the weekend, but the thick clouds had thankfully only surrounded the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) without encroaching its airspace.

Without Free Practice, the hectic schedule was bumped up to earlier times of the day. Also, the races for all classes were shifted to different times to break some of the familiarities the riders may have developed.

SUPERSPORT – Muhammad Helmi Azman’s weekend

The Supersport riders were the first to head out at 10am. The sun had heated up the tarmac enough for anyone to feel the radiating off it.

Muhammad Helmi Azman (#32) of SCK Rapido Hi-Rev Honda Racing had won Race 1 on Saturday and he was determined to do the same for today.

He shot straight out of his grid position into Turn One in front of the field, while national Moto3 rider, Adam Norrodin (#70) of SIC Junior ZK Racing Team was caught in a battle with 4 other riders.

Muhammad Helmi didn’t wait around and consolidated his lead by circulating 1.3 seconds per lap faster than the 2nd-placed, and eventually recording the fastest lap time of 2:12.451. He only backed off with 3 laps to go.

Adam had fought his way up to 4th and had to fight hard with Liam Taylor MacDonald (#37) from New Zealand. Adam eventually passed MacDonald and started to set fast times in an attempt to break free. This he did and held on to take the 2nd step on the podium, 10 seconds behind Muhammad Helmi while MacDonald cross the line another 10 seconds behind Adam.

The heat took its toll on tyres as the bikes were visibly sliding around towards the end of the race.

SUPER 250 – Surya Narayana out

It was another exciting race to look forward to after the previous day’s hot track action. But it turned out to be even more frenetic than expected.

First, championship leader Surya Narayana (#9) from Indonesia suffered a mechanical problem, causing his bike to almost crash in Turn 8.

That set the field loose to set up their pace and battle hard among themselves. Surya’s Promax NJT IKBN Jitra Racing teammate Luth Harith B. Erwan (#71) rode hard and pulled away on the last lap by recording the fastest lap of the race the process to win by a mere 1.748 seconds in front of Jailani Kosman (#55). Muhammad Aiman Thiruddin followed home in 3rd under a second behind Jailani (#72).

There some serious action down the field with riders showing each other with elbows and knees. Another rider was run off the track as they headed down the Start/Finish straight.

SUPERSTOCK – Amirul Hafiq Azmi’s revenge

Azroy Hakeen (#32) ran away with the previous day’s race, but it was not to be on Sunday.

He had a lightning start and was far ahead of everyone else after Lap 1 and it looked as if Race 2 was in his pocket.

Unbeknownst to him, Amirul Hafiq Azmi (#80) was making his way up the field after a poor qualifying spot. He picked off one rider after another but had to fight through from 5th to 2nd position. He then started to hunt down Azroy after dispensing with the others.

Amirul rode an incredible race and was on Azroy’s tail by the 5th lap. However, the former shadowed the lead rider closely. It was apparent that Azroy’s speed was in Sector 1, as he opened up a gap everytime after they passed Turns 1 to 3, but Amirul would catch back up and started to force Azroy into a mistake.

The real chance came on the last lap as Azroy appeared to have braked too early for Turn Four. Amirul outbraked his rival and went straight into the lead and win. As a side note, the TOC-HKM Racing Team are the defending champions in this 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) series.

In 3rd was Ahmad Khan who had to battle with 3 riders to finally earn his podium position.

IDEMITSU ASIA TALENT CUP (ATC) – Asian Teen Combat

If the World Moto3 Championship provided all the thrills during MotoGP weekend, the ATC probably had more of it. These plucky teens had no fear and the rode with their hearts on their sleeves. And oh, what a welcomed addition to the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) it was!

There were numerous lead changes in Lap 1 alone, but Haruki Noguchi (#9) managed to break away when Australian Bill Van Eerde (#19) and Takuma Matsuyama (#11) started battling with each other. But Ven Eerde got the better of Matsuyama and took off, recording a blistering 2:18.890 lap time, leaving the latter to fall into the grasp of fast approaching Sho Nishimura (#3).

 

As Van Eerde chased down Noguchi, Nishimura chased down Van Eerde to set up a three-way battle for the win. The riders behind Noguchi must be thinking, “You can run but you can’t hide.”

Nishimura then pulled off an amazing pass on both riders to lead into Sector 4 of the last lap. With Noguchi and Van Eerde in a slipstream train, Nishimura hung on the left side of the backstraight leading to the final Turn 15, which would set up a tight, defensive line through the corner.

As they sat up to brake for the final turn, Van Eerde swung to his right to go back onto the normal racing line and swung into the corner. His audacious move served to block-pass Noguchi and put him directly in Nishimura’s slipstream as they blasted toward the finish line.

Van Eerde’s gamble worked as he slingshot past Nishimura to win by just 0.012 second, with Noguchi 0.102 second behind Nishimura for 3rd.

This was why we decided to refer to ATC as “Asian Teen Combat.”

Also of interesting note, Van Eerde campaigned in a few Asian RC Cup races last year.

SUPERBIKE – The Azlan Shah Show

It was beyond doubt that Azlan Shah Kamuruzaman (#25)  and Chia Motor PJ Kawasaki were the combination to beat in the Superbike category of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) category. Their experience and combination had netted them the championship lead from Round 1, and their domination continued into Round 2 by capturing the Pole Position and Race 1 win on Saturday.

Race 2 started with Azlan’s taking the holeshot from his closest rival, Rajini Krishnan (#67) from India into Turn 1. But Azlan missed his braking marker and almost ran into Turn 9’s gravel trap and allowed Rajini into the lead.

Azlan was still in 2nd as they started Lap 2 but it was now Rajini’s turn to overshoot into Turn 9’s gravel trap, allowing Azlan to go past and he (Rajini dropped to 5th place).

From that point on, Azlan turned in lap times in the low-2:10s, faster than everyone else.

In the meantime, Amirul Hafiq Azmi (#80) of TOC-HKM Racing Team fought up the field to hunt down Swiss rider Jonathan Serrapica (#48) for 2nd position. Amirul passed Serrapica into Turn 7 on Lap 6.

Rajini had recomposed himself at this point and overtook Serrapica on Lap 8 and chased down Amirul and pass him Lap 9 into 2nd position.

With Azlan nearly 20 seconds in the lead, it seemed that Rajini will come home in 2nd. But alas, he ran off Turn 9 again on the very last lap and was passed by both Amirul who took 2nd and Serrapica 3rd places, respectively, to finish 4th.

TOC DESMO CUP – Showcase of Thundering Twins

All six competitors started the race but two riders crashed out to leaving the four remaining riders to race it out.

in the end, Zulkiply Yahya (#12) prevailed to win, followed by Sarul Fahmi Mohd. Zaini (#11) in 2nd and Syamsul Bakhtiar Esa (#14) in 3rd.

The conclusion of the race wrapped up MSBK 2018 Round 2.

CONCLUSION

The 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship Round 2 saw some unforgettable action over the entire weekend. The addition of the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup and TOC Desmo Cup certainly brought lots more attraction and prestige to the series.

In the two-month hiatus, it seemed that many teams have improved their level by very much to make most of the races exciting affairs. The bikes were also visibly better prepared than in Round 1.

The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) had also tightened their security protocols for Round 2, after having too many friends and relatives of riders and teams in the paddock during the Round 1. There were incidences of young children running across the hot pit road during that race. A less crowded paddock also meant that the teams could focus more on their business.

But there are a couple of things we could gripe about.

  1. There is still a lack of spectators. While the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) is growing to a heady size, there was no official manufacturer support to garner more spectator interest. But it’s a chicken-and-egg story as the lack of spectators negates manufacturer interest, which ironically couldn’t bring about spectator interest, in turn. We hope that SIC and manufacturers could discuss for a more positive result in the future.
  2. Photographers and media were forced to park their motorcycles far away from the media centre. We had to shoot pictures at the starting grid then run like madmen to catch the action at our preferred spots out on track. While we understand that this cuts down on wayward traffic within the paddock compound, it has forced us to miss potentially great shots of the riders rushing around the track on Lap 1.

Still, it was a great weekend as the weather held up for the races. Round 3 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) is from 14th to 16th September 2018 at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC). See you there!

  • Round 2 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) went off without a hitch.

  • It was an exciting day as the riders and their teams showcased their effort and skill at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC).

  • Race 1 for all classes (except the TOC Desmo Cup) were held today. Race 2 is due tomorrow.

If there’s any indication of tomorrow, today’s (Saturday 28th July 2018) track action in the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) Round 2 at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) demonstrated just how much excitement will be in store tomorrow (29th July 2018).

The morning started with another torrential downpour like the one during Round 1, forcing the riders to go out on Pirelli Diablo Rain tyres and getting fully drenched. They had to do so to gather setup data in case the rain continued throughout the day.

Of important note, SIC has revised the race program for the MSBK series, featuring Free Practie and Qualifying on Friday, Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday for all classes apart from the TOC Desmo Cup.

IDEMITSU ASIA TALENT CUP (ATC)

The ATC riders were the first to hit the track for Race 1 at 1pm. The rain had stopped by this point and the track was drying quickly.

Characteristic of the ATC, the teenagers fought tooth and nail from the green light. However, Mario Aji (#7) from Indonesia and Bill Van Eerde from Australia (#19) managed to break free of the chasing pack halfway through the race.

 

The pair then started trading the lead with some almost impossible and heart-stopping passes. However, Aji turned up the pace in the last few laps (recording his best on the final and 13th lap) to keep Eerde at arm’s length, to finish 1st and 2nd, respectively.

In 3rd was Malaysian Danial Sharil (#21) who did well to fight off the other riders and found space to ride a steady race to finish 5 seconds ahead of the 4th place man, Lucky Hendriansya (#13) also from Indonesia.

TOC DESMO CUP

This class is open specifically for Ducati owners to test their skills in a competitive environment. As mentioned earlier, the Desmo owners went out for Qualifying today. It was an awesome sight and aural pleasure to hear the Thundering Twins roaring around the Sepang International Circuit.

Syamsul Bakhtiar Esa (#14) on a Ducati 1198 recorded the fastest lap of 2:35.576 and astounding 8.166 seconds faster than 2nd placed qualifier Zulkiply Yahya (#12) on a Ducati 1098. 3rd fastest was Muhammad Danial Afiq Zamry (#98) on a Ducati 1198.

It was an important affair for both the Desmo Owners Club and TOC Automotive College as TOC supplied the technician workforce which consisted of their lecturers and students, allowing them to get their hands on racebikes as part of their education. Desmo Cup participants, on the other hand, have experienced lecturers working on their bikes.

The TOC Desmo Cup race will be held tomorrow.

SUPERSPORT

The big news prior to this weekend was Malaysia’s current Moto3 rider, Adam Norrodin would be racing in this 600cc class.

Moto3 Rider Adam Norrodin to Ride at MSBK

But Muhammad Helmi Azman (#32) had different plans as he blasted into the lead when the red lights went out, trailed by Adam and the rest of the field. As the race progressed, Helmi kept his blistering pace to open up a huge lead, which he held on to win the race.

Fakhrusy Syarikin Rostam (#66) had been shadowing Adam for many laps until he overtook the latter with a daring move into Turn One. The pair then started trading places until the last lap when Adam managed to capitalize.

Adam came home 2nd with Rostam less than 0.2 second behind him.

 

SUPER 250

It’s time for the ultra-competitive, hence ultra-entertaining Super 250 class in mid-afternoon. Competition is extremely close (and cutthroat) as the bikes are closely matched in terms of horsepower, meaning one has to work really hard to break away.

And fought they did, from even before they started braking for Turn One on the opening lap! The competitors banged fairings and elbows into Turns One and Two, almost causing a couple of crashes.

Championship leader, Indonesian Surya Narayana (#9) fought his way through to lead from Turn Two and held on to the finish, although he was hounded closely Jailani Kosma (#71) from Malaysia. Narayana kept his nerve and crossed the finish line as the winner with Kosma 0.5 second behind.

There was pandemonium as the riders fought each other hard, until Yokeshwaran K (#6) from India crashed hard just after the apex for Turn Two, causing the field to slow down and string out.

Malaysian Luth Harith B. Erwan (#38) picked up the final podium spot.

SUPERSTOCK

As opposed to Supersport, the Superstock class consists of 1000cc sportbikes.

Azroy Hakeem’s (#5) aggression worked well to allow him to decimate the field of 17 riders. He crossed the line a full 30 seconds faster than Amirul Hafiq Azmi (#80) of TOC-HKM Racing Team in 2nd.

Ahmad Khan (#66) came home in 3rd.

SUPERBIKE

With so many races lined up throughout the day, the premier Superbike class started at 6.15pm. The weather had cooled tremendously by this point, much to the relieve of the riders and tyres.

Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (#25) of Chia PJ Kawasaki knew he had to contend with MSBK’s ex-champion, Rajini Krishnan (#67) who hails from India.

Indeed, the two rode in close formation at the head of the field from the start, with Rajini poised to capitalize on Azlan’s mistakes. Their teams and spectators held their bated breath as Rajini started to close the gap. The pass was going to happen soon.

But Azlan dug deep into his experience in the Asia Road Racing series and turned on his beast mode and started attacking every corner aggressively to open up an immense lead.

That forced Rajini to ride safe and he backed off his pace by the end of the race as he has a comfortable cushion over Jonathan Serrapica (#48) from Switzerland.

The trio completed the race in that order.

It was however, a day to forget for TOC-HKM Racing Team as both riders crashed in the race. Amirul Hafiq Azmi was holding on in 3rd when crashed heavily, destroying the bike. Fortunately, he was okay. His teammate and championship leader, Muhammad Jamalul Tarmizi (#89) was fighting for 4th place with Michael Muesel (#78) of Thailand when the former low-sided into the gravel trap. He was able to remount his bike and finished in 15th for a single point.

 

The 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) Round 2 concludes tomorrow.

 

  • Round 1 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) got off to a great start.

  • The long holiday did not deter teams from competing without much time for set ups.

  • Competition was close and exciting in a few classes.

The country may still be having a hangover from a people’s victory from the General Elections, but the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) got off to a rousing and positive start, nonetheless.

The General Elections and subsequent holidays had shortened the time available to the teams to set up their bikes for the race. Yet, all teams showed up and used the practice sessions to speed up the process.

But it was refreshing to see that it was very much a family-oriented race series. Most riders and team members had brought along their family along with their spouse and children to the paddock. They ate together. They shared the victories, defeats together. They prayed together.

There are four classes contested this year: Superbike, Superstock, Supersport, and Super 250. Each class is further subdivided into Open and Rookie categories, run together in each race.

Saturday had started warm and proceeded to being blistering hot even before the noon hour. The riders who came back after practice all look beat, yet there are fitter than most of us. There were a few teams that set up inflatable pools behind their pits as contingency in case their riders suffer heatstroke.

Qualifying was subsequently run in scorching heat, yet lap times were surprisingly quick. For example, Chia Motor PJ’s new signing, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman locked down the Superbike pole position with a time of 2:09.506, more than 0.8 second quicker than 2nd placed qualifier Ramdan Rosli of TOC HKMTOYO Racing Team.

Ex-MSBK champion, Rajini Krishnan who runs his own Team RACR now, returned to MSBK competition on a Yamaha R-1M qualified third with a time of 2:11.157.

Qualifying times in all other classes also followed the same template.

However, all the qualifying effort almost amounted to nothing for a few competitors on race day.

A heavy shower in the morning inundated had the track. With heavy cloud cover ahead, the track stayed wet for most parts of the day until later in the afternoon.

For anyone who had ever ridden or driven around the Sepang International Circuit before, the track may look dry as if unmolested by a single drop of rain, only to discover it’s actually soggy.

The first race of the day, Superbike Race 1 got under way under after been declared a WET RACE. While the leaders slipped and slid all over the track, there were six crashers behind them on parts of the track where there was no standing water.

Rajini pushed as hard as he could at the front and won the race commandingly from Ramdan Rosli and Azlan Shah.

Competitors in subsequent categories raced on a wet track, but it was the Race 1 of the Super 250 class which proved to be the most entertaining. The rulebook did not separate the single-cylinder and two-cylinder bikes but it was the former that were faster despite Sepang’s long straights. A six-way battle for the lead developed in the closing stages with some hard passes and kamikaze dives inside each other. And it was that which decided the final results at the last turn on the final lap, when one rider misjudged his brake marker and torpedoed the 2nd-place runner into the dirt. 16-year-old Indonesian rider Surya Narayana fought hard with all comers and came out tops in all three races. On a borrowed bike.

The track started to dry out by Supersport Race 2 and it was the first time that slick Pirelli tyres made their appearance of the day on the Superbikes. Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin of Hong Leong Yamaha Racing won Race 2, following his crash in Race 1. The team worked throughout the interim to fix his bike.

Azlan Shah showed the way in Superbike Race 2 as Ramdan ran into brake problems, while Rajini crashed at the start of Lap 3. Rajini managed to remount and fought his way back up to 5th at the flag.

In the Superstock 1000 races proceeding the superbike races, Azrol Hakeem of Fastthrottle Motorsports rode in commanding fashion to dominate both races.

In closing, it was a great weekend of great racing. Unfortunately, as many were still making their way back into the Klang Valley following the long holiday, there were not as many spectators as expected. They had missed a great spectacle.

Until Round 2 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship, Selamat Berpuasa dan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

  • Chia Motor PJ has been involved with racing for many years.

  • Recently signing on Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, this was their first race together.

  • With one 3rd place and one win, Chia Motor PJ heads into Round 2 in second place.

It had been a start of sorts for Chia Motor PJ but what mattered at the end was the win they had expected in Round 1 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK).

The team’s new rider, Azlan Shah Kamarulzaman, who also races in the Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) and previously Moto2, had dominated practice and qualifying before the start of today’s proceedings.

But a heavy downpour in the morning prior to the start of Race 1 of the Superbike category made the going around the Sepang International Circuit tricky. As anyone who had ridden at SIC before could attest, while the rain had stopped when the pitlane opened, the track was still wet with many unseen wet patches. One corner may be dry but charging into the next one could have you highsided into space.

The race was declared a WET RACE and pit crews hurriedly mounted full wet Pirellis onto their motorcycles.

As the crew took to the starting grid, there were cautious smiles, if you could call it that, since this was Azlan’s first ride for the team. Each rider has a peculiar riding style, hence settings to the next guy and it takes time to develop a trust: for team, the rider, the bike, the equipment.

As soon as the lights turned to green, Azlan’s rear tyre was clearly spinning away and fishtailing. It was also apparent that his bike was squirming around under braking. There was even speculation that Azlan had gone out on slicks.

The affable rider was forced to slow down.

In the pits, worried faces crowded around a TV monitor as MSBK ex-champion and ex-Chia Motor PJ rider, Rajini Krishnan overtook Azlan and pulled a healthy lead. Even the ever-smiling Team Boss, Keith Chia (better known as “Ah Kit”) was glum. The entire team was quiet – dropping a spanner now would sound like an IED going off, despite the howls of bikes passing at high speeds.

Afterwards, Team TOC HKMToyo rider, Ramdan Rosli managed to catch and pass Azlan into second position the closing stages.

Azlan was soon on the verge of falling into the grasp of the fourth-placed runner, but managed held on.

At the checkered flag, it was Rajini first, Ramdan second and Azlan third.

“We couldn’t get the proper level of traction control dialed in for the first race. The Kawasaki ZX-10R is a really powerful bike and the rear tyre started to slide around as soon as Azlan touched the throttle,” said Keith after the race. “It’s better to finish and earn some points,” he continued.

That’s right, to win you have to first finish the race.

Later in the afternoon, all eyes in the Chia Motor PJ pits were again glued to the TV monitor in the pits during the SuperSport race, which preceded Superbike Race 2. The did so to observe the track’s condition and behavior of the bikes currently racing, in order to base their last-minute set up and tyre choice for Race 2.

Some sunshine filtered through the clouds halfway through SuperSport Race 1, sending the Superbike teams into another frenzy of activity to replace the wets with dry tyres.

Azlan, Ramdan and Rajini aced their starts and pulled away from the rest of the field almost immediately. Azlan led past the line to start Lap 2, but suddenly Rajini was missing and the camera picked him up in the gravel trap at Turn 1.

Ramdan tried to give chase at that point but the combination of Azlan’s riding skill and the Kawasaki prepared by Chia Motor PJ proved too much – Azlan went 2 seconds faster per lap to claim the checkered flag.

Chia Motor PJ was elated at the results and Azlan stands in second place in the championship as the Malaysia Superbike Championship breaks for Ramadhan and Hari Raya Puasa.

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