Husqvarna is very much well-known for their dirt bikes, but the manufacturer has recently forayed in road motorcycles. The recently-launched Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Husqvarna Vitpilen 701, Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 have made their way to Malaysia.
The Swedish brand is now under the KTM umbrella. They produce their own motorcycle line-up, although their engines share the same architecture as KTM’s.
We found the bikes listed in Chia Motor PJ’s Facebook page. So please refer to the attached links for more information.
Husqvarna calls the Vitpilen 401 as a fresh and simple approach to motorcycling. It is subtle and style focused, stripped of everthing superfluous.
Those are the company’s lines, produced by a copywriter. We see the bike as a modern interpretation of the evergreen café racer layout.
As the name suggests, the Vitpilen 701 is the more powerful version of the Vitpilen 401. However, there are many styling and component differences between the two models.
The Svartpilen 401 is the “scrambler” of the line-up, with a higher handlebar and knobby tyres. Its lines follow those of the Vitpilen 401 but with differences in the details. The seats are longer and lower, too.
Chia Motor PJ held a special event called Chia Motor PJ Kawasaki Appreciation Night.
The occasion celebrated their success of their rider Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman capturing the premier Superbike Category in the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK). The Chia Motor PJ Kawasaki team had also won the Teams’ Championship.
The event began with Chia Motor PJ’s proprietor, Keith Chia thanking the sponsors and contributors to the team. It started with Dato’ Jeffery Lim, General Manager and Director of Kawasaki Motor (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. Keith mentioned that Kawasaki Malaysia had been instrumental the team’s success throughout the years. Indeed, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R was the weapon on which Azlan Shah destroyed the competition.
Next up was Kratos Motorsports Sdn. Bhd. who are the official distributor of K-Tech suspension systems in Malaysia. Kratos works hand-in-hand with Chia Motor PJ to supply K-Tech suspension solutions to motorcycle owners who demand the best in suspension technology and handling from their bikes. Azlan Shah’s racebike was fitted with K-Tech suspension components, consequently.
An award of appreciation was also handed to Bikes Republic and Moto Malaya as we covered the team’s journey through the entire 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship season. It was a real honour observing the professionalism of the team in carrying out their duties. Managing Editor Keshy Dillon received the award from Keith Chia.
Next up was Mr. Edmund Lim, the Director of Octo Galaxy Sdn. Bhd. Octo Galaxy is the official distributor Eurol Lubricant and products. Eurol sponsors the lubricants used in the team’s Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.
Lastly, a special appreciation award was handed to Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman. Keith was full of respect for the rider MSBK lap record when he qualified on pole for the two final rounds. His lap of 2:07.708s was only 2 seconds away from the times recorded in the full-blown World Superbike Championship round at SIC.
Keith also iterated on how proud he is to be a Malaysian for having a team consisting of all races and religions working together to achieve the highest accolades.
Scores of Kawasaki owners showed up for the evening, too, despite the heavy rain.
The night continued with dinner, a live band and lucky draws.
Round 2 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) saw a continuing dominance from the partnership of Azlan Shah Kamarulzaman with Chia Motor PJ. Azlan Shah had qualified for the premier Superbike class on Pole on Friday and converted it to win both Race 1 and Race 2, for a clean sweep through the weekend.
The partnership looks to be perfect as Azlan Shah brings a treasure trove of racing experience to team. Likewise, Keith Chia, the principal of Chia Motor PJ himself was a racer as recent as a couple of years ago in the AAM Malaysian Supermoto Championship.
For Azlan Shah, it seems that the only thing he knows how to do was to go fast. But it was further than the truth as he knows when to put the hammer down and when to back off to conserve the bike and tyres. Such calculated coolness results in pressuring his opponents to ride harder and sometimes over their limits.
As for Keith Chia, one only has to take a look at the racebikes he meticulously prepared for Azlan. They looked great, sounded great and most certainly went great. He was also receptive to the rider’s input regarding the issues faced after the latter has gone on track.
Azlan made the perfect start in Race 2, pulling a couple of bike lengths from Rajini Krishnan by the time they arrived at Turn One. From then on, the lanky rider maintained a steady pace which was 1.3 seconds ahead of the 2nd-placed man.
Rajini stayed close to Azlan for a number of laps before making a mistake, running off Turn Nine. The loss of dropped him down to 5th. He would eventually fight back up the order but overshot the same turn again to finish 3rd.
Azlan Shah and Chia Motor PJ were elated with the dominating results, of course, and they now lead the championship.
You may visit Chia Motor PJ’s Facebook page for more information or visit them at the location below.
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.
One of Malaysian most renowned motorcycle racer that is Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman has inked a deal with the Chia Motor PJ Kawasaki Racing Team. The newly-formed partnership will see the star rider piloting the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R in the 2018 season of the Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSC). (more…)
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